This past Friday I had the opportunity to get together with 18 friends and former Salem staff to commemorate the sale of our station one year ago. It was so good to see all of them again... like a family reunion. However, it was pointed out to me how bad I am at sharing thoughts and updates on a regular basis... Evidently a few people actually read this blog - who knew?!
I guess the biggest thing going on in my own life right now is that I finished my graduate degree in December. I'm tempted to say, "FINALLY," but I know it only seemed like for-ev-er because I went straight through after college and was starting to feel really burned out towards the end (I partly expected to have a nervous breakdown - like the occasional marathon runner who collapses from exhaustion and/or dehydration just a few feet short of the finish line.) Well, I made it to the finish line and, for the first time in 20 years, there is no homework in my nearly foreseeable future (I'm eventually planning to pursue a PhD, but not until I've paid off my student loans and my brain has had time to recharge :) I have to say, it is a pretty amazing feeling to be 25 and be able to add "MBA" to the end of my name on my resume.
Speaking of resume's, I'm finding the search for a fulltime job to be quite elusive. It seems I am either too inexperienced or too overqualified for everything I apply for. It's mentally exhausting to be constantly searching and getting rejected (sounds like my love life ;) I just have to keep reminding myself that God has a plan and the right job will come along in His perfect timing - not mine. Patience has never been one of my gifts, as many of you have experienced first hand ;)
Hmm, what else is up with me? I bought my first car that is 100% mine. An older model vehicle with very low mileage and lots of bells and whistles... plus it's not one of Mom's old boats that I grew up driving... very exciting! My grandpa found her (yep, it's a girl - Geraldine, after Grandpa,) made a few repairs, and sold her to me for cost. Last week I put air in her tires (all four of them) all by myself - first time ever!
Other than that, I continue to baby-sit every day and am continually amazed by how quickly children can absorb information - like sponges, or ShamWOW's! I think I might be finally catching up on all the sleep I missed toward the end of graduate school, and I'm trying to re-learn the art of socialization... Not that I haven't always been on the more outgoing end of the social spectrum, but I've been such a nerd the last several years that I'm a bit rusty, a.k.a. boring... It's so tempting to just put my PJs on as soon as I can and spend the rest of the day vegging out and watching Netflix on my computer (which is not nearly as enjoyable when you don't have homework to procrastinate on.)
I guess that brings me to the closing, and a few prayer requests... First, for my Uncle Steve, who was recently diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (a cancer of the bone marrow) and is not only feeling the effects of the cancer (something like 4 collapsed disks in his back!), but is also starting a Chemo/radiation treatment program that is planned to last a year before culminating with a bone marrow transplant (the Docs will actually be re-planting his own bone marrow that was harvested and is being genetically altered as I write! The wonders of modern science!)
Next, that God will lead me to the right job, and that I would be patient and have the sense to follow where He leads. Also, for my parents, as the company my step-dad works for is being absorbed/closed. They aren't going to leave the rest of the family in the mid-west and relocate to Boston, which leaves him to search for a new position at a very inopportune time. I think it may actually be harder on my mom, if you can believe it. She just feels completely overwhelmed by their very large, empty house, and the desire to move closer to us kids, but knows that it is not really the time to think about trying to sell.
Finally, and most importantly (though I know all prayers are equally important in God's eyes,) my very good friend, Jon (who is doing very well, health-wise, since his heart problems this past fall :) and his family are in great need of God's comfort and strength right now. On Tuesday Jon called to tell me that the family had decided to stop his sister, Angela's, Chemo treatments. At the time they were giving her a month, but she had a really rough weekend and went Home to Jesus yesterday morning - almost two years to the day from her original diagnosis. The cancer was so spread throughout her body - she was so sick and in so much pain that the thought of how healthy and happy she is in Heaven now makes me misty, but my heart is breaking for her family, who will miss her so much. I know time will pass in an instant for her before she is reunited with them all, and her family has such a solid faith - they know they'll see her again, but her three little children who will grow up without her... it's almost too much, and that is exactly why they need to feel God's loving arms around them during this time of mixed emotions - the mourning and majesty.
