I wanted to shout this news on Thursday night when we found out, but hubby made me wait until today. I don't know why...We each have told multiple people! HA! (We're really bad at keeping our own secrets!)
Tony has been offered the job in Phoenix! He'll still be working as a news photographer, just in a bigger market. I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments over the years. To see him start in tiny Wichita Falls, and just continue to work his way up, I'm so incredibly proud of him. Now he has to buy shorts, and short sleeve shirts! It's already in the 90's down there and we're still wearing winter coats and fleece up here! Don't we have amazing timing? Just in time for summer!
Zoe was complaining today about the wind, coldness, and rain. I told her we would be moving somewhere totally opposite very soon and then she could complain about how hot it is.
With this new job, I will be able to stay home with the kids. Although I am thinking of getting a part time job just for a little extra money in my pocket, and so I can have some time outside the house. But I am looking forward to being close to old friends, who have kids now too. I imagine I'll find things to fill my days.
With this move comes a lot of transitions...Obviously. Tony is leaving for Phoenix in a couple weeks..(Literally two weeks from today) and the kids and I will be in Indiana for a while so we can save up some money to really get a home we love and to save up for some new furniture that we desperately need. It'll be hard to be away from each other (especially for Z-she's a total daddy's girl) but we know it'll be worth it in the long run.
We are so excited and blessed for this opportunity and while we're nervous about it, we're incredibly excited. It'll be great to be back in a big city! I will miss Oregon. It's always been home and it will always be home. Oregon has been great to us over the last 4 years. We're truly blessed.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
listening, following, moving ...
For those of you who don't know, I grew up Catholic. Well, okay, I spent a majority of my life being Catholic. Before I started attending Catholic school when I was 6, my parents and I went to various Christian churches (Nazarene, Baptist, etc) and they would drop me off at Sunday School while they went and had breakfast. Don't ask...If you knew my parents you'd probably understand though.
Anyway, when I was 9 or 10, my parents finally became Catholic and attended Catholic church faithfully every week. In all the years I was Catholic, I hardly remember opening a Bible. I think I was a freshmen in high school before I remember taking a Bible study class...We always had religion classes, but I don't remember ever having a Bible in school. We went to Mass...We knew about the sacraments, Saints, doctrine, etc, but actually reading the Word was not a part of our daily education or lives.
Over the last 4 years since I started going to Church again (at a Nazarene Church) I have been much more diligent about reading the Bible. And I'd say since the beginning of this year, I have made sure to open it EVERY DAY. It was hard for me at first to find the time to really read the Bible and focus on it. But now, it's a habit. Now I need it. Now I crave it. I don't think I realized how important reading the Bible was until I really started to make it a part of my daily life. I hate to say that it's taken me until I was 28 to really get into Bible reading. I will also admit, that sometimes to be able to get the time with as little interruption as possible, it means turning on Curious George, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, to distract the kids. Not always, but sometimes. But it's important I get the time in. It's important I don't just skim it. I have to really focus. I have found a great blog (she's a mom to five and soon to be 6 kids) and often times she gives me scriptures and things to think about. I thoroughly enjoy reading her blog. You can find it here. She has an amazing gift and I'm so glad I found her blog.
I have started reading a devotional, "Made to Crave" and it gives me a little something to think about every single day. I have realized that over the years I have used food to try and fill this emptiness I feel somewhere in my soul. I have used food to deal with whatever is going on in my life, when in fact I need to be looking to Jesus and to His Word. As I read today, "Food can fill my stomach, but not my soul." My soul was made to crave Jesus...Not food. I have so many layers covering up me...Covering the person I really am. The person I know I'm supposed to be. I've been hiding underneath all these layers and it's time I shed those layers.
I can tell you that everyday I feel a little stronger. I feel a little more healed. I feel a little closer to Jesus. I sometimes forget that Jesus loves me. That He died on a cross for ME. On Easter Sunday we were singing about how much Jesus loves us and how we'll never know or understand why. And it's true. I've always thought about Jesus in an authoritative way and never really in loving way. I mean I've always known He loves me. But, I don't think I realized I could have this intimate relationship with Him. I realize that Jesus loves me always. He's seen my worst. And He still, somehow loves me. If Jesus can love me, surely I can love myself too.
With all that said, I'm trying to be better at listening, following, and moving. Lately with all this talk about possibly moving to Phoenix, I myself, have stopped moving. I've put life on hold in case we get a call and things move quickly. And today it's been on my mind and on my heart that I can't stop. (And I know, I know it's the Holy Spirit) I have to keep going forward and living life as normal as possible. It's our job to just keep moving. God will provide the direction. It's our job to listen and move. (I hear Dory from Finding Nemo in my head...Just keep swimming!) Whatever the decision is...To move or not, we know with God leading the way, it'll be the right decision.
Well, this is a very long post! And I probably didn't articulate all this in the best manner. It's taken me all day to write this one post, so I've had various thought processes each time I sit down!
How about some pictures?
Anyway, when I was 9 or 10, my parents finally became Catholic and attended Catholic church faithfully every week. In all the years I was Catholic, I hardly remember opening a Bible. I think I was a freshmen in high school before I remember taking a Bible study class...We always had religion classes, but I don't remember ever having a Bible in school. We went to Mass...We knew about the sacraments, Saints, doctrine, etc, but actually reading the Word was not a part of our daily education or lives.
Over the last 4 years since I started going to Church again (at a Nazarene Church) I have been much more diligent about reading the Bible. And I'd say since the beginning of this year, I have made sure to open it EVERY DAY. It was hard for me at first to find the time to really read the Bible and focus on it. But now, it's a habit. Now I need it. Now I crave it. I don't think I realized how important reading the Bible was until I really started to make it a part of my daily life. I hate to say that it's taken me until I was 28 to really get into Bible reading. I will also admit, that sometimes to be able to get the time with as little interruption as possible, it means turning on Curious George, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, to distract the kids. Not always, but sometimes. But it's important I get the time in. It's important I don't just skim it. I have to really focus. I have found a great blog (she's a mom to five and soon to be 6 kids) and often times she gives me scriptures and things to think about. I thoroughly enjoy reading her blog. You can find it here. She has an amazing gift and I'm so glad I found her blog.
I have started reading a devotional, "Made to Crave" and it gives me a little something to think about every single day. I have realized that over the years I have used food to try and fill this emptiness I feel somewhere in my soul. I have used food to deal with whatever is going on in my life, when in fact I need to be looking to Jesus and to His Word. As I read today, "Food can fill my stomach, but not my soul." My soul was made to crave Jesus...Not food. I have so many layers covering up me...Covering the person I really am. The person I know I'm supposed to be. I've been hiding underneath all these layers and it's time I shed those layers.
I can tell you that everyday I feel a little stronger. I feel a little more healed. I feel a little closer to Jesus. I sometimes forget that Jesus loves me. That He died on a cross for ME. On Easter Sunday we were singing about how much Jesus loves us and how we'll never know or understand why. And it's true. I've always thought about Jesus in an authoritative way and never really in loving way. I mean I've always known He loves me. But, I don't think I realized I could have this intimate relationship with Him. I realize that Jesus loves me always. He's seen my worst. And He still, somehow loves me. If Jesus can love me, surely I can love myself too.
With all that said, I'm trying to be better at listening, following, and moving. Lately with all this talk about possibly moving to Phoenix, I myself, have stopped moving. I've put life on hold in case we get a call and things move quickly. And today it's been on my mind and on my heart that I can't stop. (And I know, I know it's the Holy Spirit) I have to keep going forward and living life as normal as possible. It's our job to just keep moving. God will provide the direction. It's our job to listen and move. (I hear Dory from Finding Nemo in my head...Just keep swimming!) Whatever the decision is...To move or not, we know with God leading the way, it'll be the right decision.
Well, this is a very long post! And I probably didn't articulate all this in the best manner. It's taken me all day to write this one post, so I've had various thought processes each time I sit down!
How about some pictures?
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| Waiting for lunch after Church on Easter. |
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| Tired of waiting for lunch. |
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| A semi-decent picture of Zoe and I. |
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| Some hilariously bad pictures of the kids at the Easter egg hunt. |
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| The kids were really mean to each other all day...Until they started playing with the shoes and then the house got weirdly quiet. |
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| Zoe gave dinner a thumb's up! It was bow tie pasta with a creamy tofu sauce, garlic, and spinach. YUM! |
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| Watching the nice neighbor mow our lawn...He thought it was the coolest thing ever! |
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| "Daddy sleeping. I need to read to him." |
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