TGIF

Oh my goodness gracious alive. Or, as Jeffrey would say, "Holy Christian Santa Claus!" (don't ask...)

I can't tell you how thankful I am it's Friday. I absolutely love my job and how I spend Monday - Friday, and most of the time I enjoy the work week just as much as the weekend because I've been learning how to engage God during work and have fun while doing it, but today I'm just so happy to have a weekend coming up.

Last night I got home from work, mentally exhausted, and plopped down on the couch, hoping to rest for 10 minutes before getting up and going for a run. After 5 minutes, at about 9 pm, I pulled myself up off the couch, made a smoothie, drank it, and went to bed. I woke up, still sleepy, at 6:20. This has happened about 4 times in the last 3 weeks (sleeping 12+ hours consecutively). Two weeks ago I blamed it on being sick, which definitely was a factor, now I'm realizing I just need to get more of God because life in general is weighing a little too heavily these days!

There are quite a few impossible situations at work that just need to become possible. That's really the truth in it all...

This morning I read a scripture that was very comforting:
Heb. 2:10 : For it was an act worthy of God that He, for Whose sake and by Whom all things have their existence, in bringing many sons into glory, should make the Pioneer of their salvation perfect - should bring to maturity the human experience necessary to be perfectly equipped for His office as High Priest - through suffering.
Heb. 2:18 : For because He Himself in his humanity has suffered in being tempted, He is able immediately to run to the cry of those who are being tempted and who are therefore being exposed to suffering.

I thought it was very interesting that the suffering Jesus went through was temptation. Of course, the death on the cross seems like enough suffering, but it is always confounding to my pea brain to imagine that Jesus was tempted in every way that I am solely for the purpose of being able to sympathize with me and become a perfect sacrifice. There's so much humility in what he has done, lowering himself just so he can become like us, so that he can die in our place. And even though in every way he is absolutely God, in many ways it is right for us to think of him as being like us so that we will cry out to him in our time of need!! And that's just where I am.. needing help!

So, let that be a comfort to you too! No matter where you are, you're not alone. There is at least 1 person who has felt exactly what you are feeling now.

Thanks to our troops...

While I *am* really grateful to all of our military personnel for everything they've done, it seems like I appreciate them even more when I get a holiday out of it. And not just once, but every single year!

Annalee came up on Sunday just for one day and it was so wonderful! It was one of those times when time seems to be going really slowly and you have lots of great experiences in a very short amount of time. Good conversations, good food, lots of walking and talking, and we even made it to the beach for an hour. The water felt like ice water, so we opted to stay on the sand this time around. Here's a picture... Anna actually is wearing her swimsuit, she's just doing some clever maneuvering to work on her tan lines. You know what I mean.


I asked her if she liked this picture and she said, Ash, your eyes are closed! And I said, "Are you insane?! If I could shut my eyes even more than I am already, I would. This sun is SO bright! I can hardly stand to be laying on my back. I'm going to roll over."

It really was very bright.

Random comment: I saw a very good movie on Saturday called In the Shadow of the Moon. I highly recommend it. It's a documentary about the 24 guys who went to the moon in 1969. Very informative, especially if you weren't alive in the 60s.

Direct Deposit from the IRS

Aren't those the best?! Today when I looked in my checking account I found the $600 stimulus check from the IRS, such a pleasant surprise. Now I just have to go through the arduous process of figuring out what to do with it. So many ways to spend free money... Whenever money like this comes into my hands, I always get very concerned about making sure to hear exactly what God wants to do with it (since it feels much less like "mine" than all the other money I come into). Sometimes I make it more complicated than it actually is...

In other news - I'm coming to DC the week of June 2. I'll actually be there probably May 31 to June 6/7. I'm going to be watching the cutest boy, Lukie B, that week while Em takes a prep class for the bar (see www.richandem.com to verify the cuteness) Soooo.. if you want to get together that week, please let me know! Of course, in my naive mind, I'm thinking I'll be free for lunch and dinner and whatnot, but I'm sure I'll be shocked at how much constant attention Luke requires. This is going to be like Parenting 101 - The Life of A Stay at Home Mom. And as I leave, I'll be telling Em (and every other mother) over and over again how incredible she really is.

In closing, here's an appropriate quote for my current feeling:

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"
Winnie the Pooh
A.A. Milne