A Generalized Life Update #3

Kelly: I realize, well...we both realize it's been a while since we've written last. It's kind of surreal to me how fast this month has already gone by, and it has literally gotten away from us. A lot of things have come up and unfortunately, time on this blog has been placed on the back burner. I suppose that's how it goes, right? Anyway, I've been dealing with some personal struggles, mostly with my ongoing foot/ankle pain, and ever since yesterday I'm back in a boot. It kind of stinks, and I'm already struggling with my limitations and what I can't do and what I shouldn't do. Not to mention the unwelcoming stares of passers-by as I thump along, and it really just gets old after the first few times. Might as well hold a big sign up that says "YES I AM IN A BOOT PLEASE STOP STARING AT ME." I'm starting to feel a little discouraged, but your prayers, silly comments and humor are really helping, so if I haven't said thank you, then thank you. I read everything that you all post for me, and you have no idea how much they mean to me. It's those little things that keep me going. So again....THANK YOU! :) 

Sis and I just finished another stint of house/critter sitting for I believe the fourth year in a row. It's always nice to just get out of your own place for a while and have some adorable yet sometimes rambunctious pooches just love on you while you love on them right back. Our only living grandparents aren't in the best shape either. Granted they're 89 and 90 and I think it's finally starting to show. It's been a few years since I've seen them, but judging on the conversations I've had with my folks, it's evident that times are changing. They're changing, we all are, and a lot of what's been going on is something new we've all had to learn to navigate. How fast this month has gone has been a reminder of how quickly time just seems to get away from us, and suddenly those little things we take for granted are gone and then we realize how much we miss them. Let that be a reminder for all of us; be thankful and grateful for right now. But all things considering, we're doing all right. The weather is MUCH cooler and sis and I are looking extremely forward to some family time in Ohio this weekend for 4th of July. 

Holly: I do a lot of blog/newsletter writing for work and for an earlier blog I wrote, "Hi, can anyone tell me what happened to the month of June?" Time just flies, and we are already halfway through to what's, for me, been a pretty great year! 

Speaking of work, I've been doing quite a bit of traveling. One of the components of working for GA HQ is partner site visits. This year all of our partner sites are divided up into regional groups, as much by geography as possible (we have a few outlying sites), and so my group comprises our sites in Floyd, Wolfe, Breathitt, Owsley, and Menifee County, all in Kentucky. Yesterday I was in Wolfe county, earlier last week in Menifee, and Floyd at the beginning of the month. This is my first year making site visits and it such a rewarding component of the job! It's so refreshing to put faces to names, to put faces to numbers we spend a lot of time crunching, and to hear firsthand from the families we serve just how much of an impact this program is making. Very affirming, especially when the "daily grind" feels sort of like a grind. Mid July I'll be wrapping up my visits.

Things between my Aussie/the boy/J are going quite well. It's hard to believe it's been almost 6 months, and every day his heart and who he is as a person just continues to win me over. He was baptized last weekend, the 26th, and it was a powerful and beautiful moment. The Lord has really made Himself known to us as we continue getting to know each other, and I've learned so much about myself and what it means to be a caring and supportive partner. We have had some "serious" conversations and are looking forward to the future, but ultimately we're both praying for patience and wisdom and asking HIM how we fit into the plan He has for us. Oh....and he is coming with us to Ohio this weekend :)

Yoda and Wiley continue to delight us with goofy antics and plenty of cuddles and purrs. They're such joys!

Here, look at some pictures! It'll likely be after the 4th until y'all hear from us again. So be safe, tell your loved ones you love them (to their faces, not to Facebook), eat lots of yummy food, laugh, and hug someone.

30 Days of Writing: Something you always wonder "What if?"

Kelly: What if I don't find a job/don't like a job/become desperate and just take a job?

This has been a lingering worry of mine. Granted, I'm very open minded, and the field of nursing is opening SO MANY doors for me. I just hope that since I graduate tomorrow (!!!!!) that I don't just run to the first job I get offered simply because I'm desperate...eeek. But, I do graduate tomorrow, and I still do not have a job lined up, so I don't know. Maybe I will have to take the first job I get. I was watching the news last night and the unemployment rate is the lowest its been since December of 2008, so that definitely gives me hope. But yeah...not working. I suppose for now I will do my best to enjoy this time of not working, keep looking, keep praying and hoping that God will put me where He wants me to go!

Holly: What if God calls me to leave Berea and start over again?

I am aware that this is a possibility and that could happen.  But right now, I'm so happy here.  Kelly and I just moved to an awesome new apartment, I have an amazing church family that I would be utterly devastated to leave, I have a job that I really enjoy, and all our friends and support network are here.  Berea is less than a day's drive to our parents, everything is easy to get to and not far from...well, anything, really; I mean, 10 minutes away is Richmond, and 20 more minutes and you're getting into Lexington.  I honestly wouldn't even mind living in Lexington someday.

I don't know...it's funny, really, if you told me 5 years ago I'd end up living in somewhere like Berea, I'd laugh in your face.  Now I can't imagine being anywhere else.  I guess we'll see where God leads me, but for now, I know I'm supposed to be here.  :)

What's your appleseed?

Kelly: There is a reason for the crazy title that will be explained in a little bit. Anyway, the topic for this blog today is regarding fear. What in the world are we so afraid of? I could rattle off a few things, such as snakes, falling off really high places, and stinging bugs. Yeah. But if there was something that REALLY got me bone-chilling afraid...it'd be this.

Pain. Never knowing again what not having pain feels like. Yes, I am talking about my ankle...again. Now before you automatically disregard this, please don't. I've been thinking about how to describe what I'm so afraid of for a while, but after today at church I finally understand. I am afraid that I will never be pain-free again. It's not a phobia, but yeah. It does scare me. I have felt on numerous occasions that I will be the way I am for the rest of my life. And I haven't accepted that yet...because I'm afraid to. See where all the fear is coming from? But today, I've thought of something different. Something in a way that I haven't heard before.

Hope.

There is. There always is. And God...my God...is so much bigger than your fears. Than my fears. Than all my pain and worry about never knowing no pain. And that gives me hope. That is what has fueled me in all the areas in my life; that hope that God is so much bigger than all my junk that He has erased and freed me from! It is not His will for us to live in fear; to live in bondage of this and that and then some. But...it's a choice. I am trusting Him, or at least learning to trust Him more. It hasn't been easy. Some days it's easy to trust God; some days, most days, it's really hard. But I make a choice. Daily. So now I ask this; what are you afraid of? What are you doing about it? Are you ok with living in fear or is today the day you're going to decide that you don't have to? That it's not your will to do so? Yes. I'm still in pain. But God is bigger than pain.

Holly: The title comes from the sermon today: our pastor mistaking a bed bug in his 2-year-old daughter's bedroom for a mere appleseed (the story is much more humorous than I'm letting on).  But what I'm getting at is this: why do we WORRY???????????? All. The. Time?          qwvgbsegbf (attack of the Yoda...sorry)

We get so bent out of shape with worry and fear that it distorts reality...we see things that simply are not there.  We get crazy ideas planted in our head, we have visions of crazy things that could, should, might happen.  And then what happens, 9 times out of 10, is that we worry over absolutely NOTHING.  Kelly used to get herself physically sick over worrying; kid you not.

The challenge from today was what if Christians, PEOPLE, lived in simple faith and not fear?  That doesn't mean that us as Christians are going to have hard times and struggle.  But the difference is that we can choose to trust in the One who knows all, sees all, created all, and dealt with it all whenever we have a hard time.  Whenever we feel that age-old fear creeping up again.  It's a choice, like Kelly said.  We can either choose to continue to let fear cripple us to the point of distorting reality, or we can do something about it.  If you know that something in your life is causing you worry, pray about it.  TRUST that God will see you through it, and REFLECT on all the things that God has already carried you through, and then IMAGINE all the things that God is going to carry you through in the future!!!!

How's that for making an appleseed into an apple tree?