God is good!

As most of you know, I am now working full-time.

Let me clarify...

My day job, at BXWA in North Everett, is allowing me to work whatever hours I can between 7am and 5pm (open & close of business at our work), Monday-Friday. That basically means that if I'm not at school, I'm there. My nights/ weekends job at H & R Block in Smokey Point is having me work Friday-Tuesday. (I don't work Wednesday & Thursdays because we have AWANA at church on those nights).

So, I just completed a 47-hour work week last week. I also squeezed in a dentist appointment and working from home, too. It was busy, but I never lost sleep (I get a minimum of 8 hours a night), and I'm feeling pretty good. My body is tired, but I'm not sick, and I feel like this is finally starting to look good for me.

I had kind of a depressing Saturday at work, and I called my dad to get a little perspective. I felt like I was just spinning my wheels. Almost like working all those hours was worth nothing.

But I've since dropped the "pity me" attitude, which is lame and unproductive, neither of which I wish to be. I'm just saving up money and trying to pay off my car.

So YAY! Things are going really well, and I hope that it continues this way. Please pray that it does.

Attitude Adjustment

So, we had a business meeting at church on Sunday night. During that meeting, Grandpa Crombie was talking about how he was working at a jobsite years ago, and something he noticed ended up being something he never forgot.

He was talking to one of the workmen there, and asked why there was a screw sticking halfway out of a post on some days, and other days it was all the way in. Additionally, he wanted to know why some guys came and gave it half a turn and then walked away. It seemed to have no purpose.

Little did he know....

The man told him that it wasn't without purpose; it was an attitude adjustment! Every time one of the guys had a problem, they went up and gave it half a turn, or a whole turn, or whatever they needed to adjust their attitude visibly. Then, when it got screwed in all the way, they'd turn it half way until it was all the way out again, and start all over. Grandpa Crombie said it was one of the best crews he's ever worked with.

Just something to think about. :)

A penny, a planner, and a pint of cocoa

Sometimes, I forget to stop and enjoy life, rather than just live it.

Yesterday at school, God opened my eyes to some simple yet pleasing occurrences that really made my day. It wasn't anything spectacular, or even anything that most people - including myself - would think twice about.

This quarter, I am on campus 5 days a week. I'm also working 2 part-time jobs, and so my course load is heavy, and my work load is heavier. Thus, when I drag myself to school every day, it's always kind of mundane.

But yesterday was different.

Actually, let me start with October.

My car was burglarized on October 30th. Stolen items were: laptop, backpack, class notes, homework, textbooks, day planner, etc. I had to re-purchase all of it. Well, I was able to do so, thanks to the help of my dad and my fiance.

Long story short, I was not able to replace the amazing day planner I had to begin with. The University Bookstore had run out of them - all locations.

That brings us to Tuesday night.

I don't know why, but I just thought, "what if I just call the Seattle bookstore and see if they have them in? Couldn't hurt." So I did. They had ONE box of them left, and they shipped one to my school for me the very next day, free of charge AND 20% off!

So, I purchased my new/old planner from the bookstore between classes. It put a smile on my face, and brought to mind the realization that the Lord wanted me to be patient and adjust to a massive change. Sure, the day planner is part of that, but the big picture was my stuff being gone. (However, my laptop is worthless to anyone who has it but me, it's all locked down).

Then, as I was leaving school, one of the UW clubs was giving out cocoa and cider and chowder! I decided a cup of hot chocolate was just what I needed to lift my spirits. You wouldn't believe how much it made me so happy! It was nearly ridiculous, but I was just so excited.

More than that, I was worried that I'd not brought enough food with me for the day to school. During one of my classes, a classmate shared his crackers with me, and I kept finding more food in my lunch bag. The cocoa was just the icing on the cake. :)

As I hiked up the hill to walk 1/4 mile to my car, I stopped after I crossed the street. There was a penny in front of me. I was talking on the phone, so I waited until I was done, hung up, and picked up the penny.

I feel like it was God's way of telling me, "Well done, My child." I've been trying really hard to save more money and not spend it, and that penny just made me thrilled. (Last week I found a dime on the ground, too.)

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you all.