Intern numbers and holiday visitors

There have been many new things going on in my life recently. For starters, Matt and I have started a community group in our home. We've invited friends from church and other places. It is still small and we hope that it will grow into a group that welcomes people from all walks of life, people who have a relationship with Jesus, those who are just curious, and everything in between. It has been interesting embarking on the small group journey, never knowing who will show up or how the evening will go. It has caused me to give up control and just let things develop as God leads them. As you think of us, please pray that this small group with develop as we seek Christ and his kingdom.

The other new thing in my life is my new job, as I have shared previously. I love this job! I find it so rewarding. I get to be that adult that is excited to see the kids and make them feel like they are the most important thing in my day. Their faces light up when I walk in their classrooms---seriously, it doesn't get any better than that! Some have told me how happy they feel when they talk about the "secret things," and I know what a privilege it is to listen to their broken lives and be a caring and listening adult. On a further note of praise, I received something very important and long expected today in the mail. I have been waiting with baited breath the last four months to get my intern number which allows me to start billing hours towards licensure. For most of you this won't make much sense, but rest assured it was a major hoop that I jumped through. God has allowed my counseling career to blossom in tremendous ways in the last month and a half. To commemorate the thrill of the white envelop sitting in my mailbox waiting for me to discover it, I took a picture with the official slip stating I am now a marriage and family therapist intern in the state of California. I know it's kind of goofy. I was left wondering why I always get "fat-face" when my picture is taken.

On to holiday news, Matt and I are excited about the arrival of family over the next few months. His parents are coming for Thanksgiving and mine are coming for Christmas. We are so thrilled to have family making the long trek to see us and what our lives are like out here. Yay for holidays spent with family! I also followed up on a book tag I received months ago from two of my sisters in law. Sorry Kelly and Megan it has taken so long. Here is the book tag I promised I would complete.

1. A book that changed your life: The Ragamuffin Gospel (Brennan Manning). This book was an incredible and risky dive into the depths of grace. Radically changed my faith during college!

2. Book you’ve read more than once: Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (Mary Pipher). This is such a good resource for parents, youth pastors, teenagers, anybody who has ever been an adolescent girl, had an adolescent sister or dated a woman who was once an adolescent girl. (I think that covers everyone.)

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: One of those trick books that when you open it up has the inside carved out so that there is room for objects. What would be the objects you ask? A satelite phone, a compass, and one of my Dad's famous rolls that as kids we all thought we could live off of for a week because they were so dense.

4. A book that made you laugh: I haven't been in the habit of reading books that make me laugh...maybe I should.

5. A book that made you cry: Ragamuffin Gospel, again.

6. One book you wish had been written: The Answers to Alina's Teenage Years Dilemmas, by God.

7. One book you wish had never been written: The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands (Dr. Laura Schlesinger). [Puke, gag, blech]

8. Book you’re currently reading: I actually just finished a book called White Oleander (Janet Finch). I am loving the newfound pleasure and relaxation to be found in reading for fun and not for assignment. This didn't turn out to be a lighthearted, relaxing read, but it did further stir my passion and desire to adopt a child one day.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Swan (Francis Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun).

Waffle House part duex

Sunday we had our second installment of the waffle house tradition. The batter was more easily prepared, table set in advance, waffle iron put out fewer waffle gems. All in all, this edition of the waffle house was smoother. We thought through ways to make it more convenient so that we wouldnt become burnt out so easily on this feast. It was a lot of fun and it seems to be a hit among people, even if it is carb-overload.

Things have been going well here at the homestead. Matt is hard at work starting his computer business, on top of the work her does for the church. It is a busy time of life for him, and quite honestly it probably wont slow down for him anytime soon. He is such a hard worker, and I immensely admire his determination so much. We have been attacking our debts with a vengeance and it is really starting to get us excited at the prospect of becoming debt-free in the next couple of years. My counseling job is getting off to a slow start as I wait for the parental consent forms to trickle in to my school mailbox. I saw my first student on Tuesday and I loved it. I was a little nervous going into it being that it was my first time. But the student was adorable. He didnt speak very good English so I had to rely on my rusty Spanish. The session looked more like an episode out of Spanglish. It was soooo fun. I am really motivated to learn Spanish this year. Matt and I both want to. Our area is 30% hispanic and we feel it is an inevitable fact of life that we must be bilingual. We have both been wanting to become fluent for some time but recently felt the necessity. We have some elderly neighbors who are Colombian who we are going to ask if we could come over once a week to converse with over a cup of coffee and practicar mi espanol. Another motivation would be the ability to talk with my grandmother and grandfather, both of whom know very little English.

Well, that is all for now. It is hard for me to post without an accompanying picture, but I have none to share. And for some reason my apostrophe key wont work--my grammar efficient mind can barely stand it. Have a great day!

In love with Autumn

I don't know about you guys but every season that hits I think, "I love this season. It is definitely my favorite." Oh but what an unfaithful person I am because that next season hits and I abondon my true love and claim my new favorite in that season. Well, once again, I have decided fall is my absolute favorite season. Here in California it is quite a bit more muted than on the east coast. Things here actually get more brown than they normally are and eventually turn green in the winter. It's backwards, and yet I am growing accomstomed to its unfamiliar beauty. The temperature has dropped some and that gorgeous golden sun is casting its rays. I also love how fall brings the anticipation of all things scheduled and busy (i.e. school, holidays, etc.).

But I am also enjoying my fall for more reasons than I just mentioned. Many of you know how difficult my job has been for me (6,000 miles put on my car in 2.5 short months, overnight watches of assaultive children, schedule changing at the drop of a hat). On top of these stresses, I just found myself feeling like I wasn't liking what I was doing. The job required me to do things that felt outside of my realm of passion, gifts, likes, training. But it was what the Lord provided for me, and I was thankful for the job and income I could provide. About 3 weeks ago, after probably the worst day yet on the job, I got a random phone call about a position I had applied for 6 months prior. It was an internship with 2 elementary schools located 1-2 miles from my doorstep providing counseling. Long story short, I am now a school counselor 25 hours a week and I still do 10 hours with my old job working with clients I already know and have a relationship with. Throughout the interview process, I couldn't believe how wonderful this position sounded to me. From my love for little children, my desire to work in a neutral environment like a school setting, my desire to do actual therapy, and the prime location, I prayed Hannah's prayer that God would give me this desire of my heart and help me if he didn't. God did give me this, and here I am getting hours for my Marriage and Family Therapy Lisence and gaining awesome experience. I am still in awe of God's blessing on my life, and I wanted to share my joy with you all. God does answer prayers, and in this case his answer was "Wait for it...wait for it...ok, here you go [a long, hard year later]." There were so many times I was angry at God for not providing me with a counseling job. I expected I would easily find a position once I had my master's degree. Well, a lot more hard work and humility was to come my way before I would land this awesome position. I am grateful for God's hand in all of this, and once again I see the beauty of trusting in Him.

Changing the subject slightly, Matt and I just spent the weekend with the youth group camping at a nearby lakesite campground. It was a nice transition point for me from the old work schedule to the new schedule. I love taking a few days to live outdoors around a campfire. It was nice and chilly throughout the weekend, making the campfire a thing of beauty. I snapped a few shots and thought I'd share the highlights with you. Hope all are well. Thanks for holding out for the update.

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