Changing Seasons

Friday marked two changing seasons in my life... the first, obvious one was the first day of fall! I love fall... how can you not? Fall brings cooler weather to provide relief from the sweltering summer - even if that relief is mid 90s instead of mid 100s... I'll take what I can get! The days are still getting hot but the mornings have been cooler and some days even less humid. Starbucks celebrates the start of fall by bringing back their Pumpkin Spice flavor - I had to settle for an iced pumpkin spice latte today, but it still made me feel good. I got my first "Lincoln Park after Dark" mani/pedi of the season which I always look forward to. I've even been wearing long sleeves occassionally - just try to ignore the sweat stains!

Fall brings with it football - and no, I am not a hardcore fan, but I have actually grown to enjoy it over the years... in small doses, that is. Richard has forced me to watch enough games that I have a better understanding of the plays and all that jazz. We had the good fortune to randomly receive free A&M tickets from a stranger at Buffalo Wild Wings a couple weekends ago and got to watch TAMU BTHO Idaho... whoop! From the 1st deck, 27th row at the 30 yard line - amazing seats. It was so fun to be back on campus and point things out to Richard. I educated him and the LSU fan on my other side about the yells, wildcats, corps of cadets, etc and it renewed my love for the school and its traditions. I felt old as I couldn't recall where things were and saw the students run around (looked like junior high kids!) I took him to the Dixie Chicken because really... isn't that where all Aggies hang out? Oh wait... not me - I think I had been there twice as a student, but R enjoyed the atmosphere and our greasy burgers. I also managed to get us a little lost on the way home - just like old times ;)

Friday also marked the changing of a season in my career... I resigned at my job of the last 4 1/2 years and officially accepted a new position with another company. I have said many times that life has been so good, I was fearfully waiting for the other foot to drop, so to speak... just waiting for when God was going to reign in all the blessing and give us a trial or two. Well, He certainly has not stopped blessing us but he has begun to throw a few wrenches in our plans for where our perfect lives are heading. R decided to step down from his full time managment position with our company and work on the floor as needed so he could focus on school with less stress - which meant taking a significant pay cut. Eek! We've been holding on to that so tightly but I tried to be cool about it - well, God provided a really sweet 24 hr/week job for him as a clinical instructor on the weekends that Richard loves and is absolutely thriving in, not to mention is a great add to his resume for the future. He is making up the remaining hours with prn work which can be inconsistent and is a little hard for me to just take as it comes, but I'm learning. It was a great reminder that the companies we work for are not the ones who provide for us... God is. He often does it through employers, but He sees our needs and feeds and clothes and shelters us. We'd pretty much been acting as though we were providing for ourselves and left Him out of the equation. Our situation could be so, so much worse - I thank God that he is merciful to only throw us small problems to deal with because plenty of people don't have jobs at all, or are dealing with far worse things - death of loved ones, terminal diseases, that make slightly less steady income seem so insignificant.

So that was a little inconvenient... then R's school got pushed back a semester. We were both so focused on the craziness ending in December, willing ourselves to get through it. Circumstances changed and this was not in our plans - again I think God wants us to realize that He is in charge, not us! Another opportunity for Him to prove Himself faithful to us.

Then all hell began to break loose at my job with changes in our corporate structure and a crazy administrator... people quitting left and right, patient care suffering, finally my boss resigning and my position being put under above crazy administrator. Not many people read this blog, so if you are close enough to me to know that it exists, you have probably heard me complain about my job many times over the years. It's not an easy place to work - but it has been an incredible growing experience for me professionally and personally. Professionally, I have developed many new skills and personally - I met my husband! I love many people there and have ridden out many storms (figuratively and literally - Hurricane Ike!)... but God in his loving kindness orchestrated dropping a job in my lap at the same time it became abundantly clear to me that now was the time to leave. So, over the next 4 weeks I will be transitioning out of my current position and preparing to start a new, exciting season in my career. It should be a relatively smooth change - I am in the same territory with several people I have worked with in the past and I am excited about working for this administrator. The new job actually pays less and has less time off - but I've had to realize that my sanity, my marriage, my physical health, my good conscience are all more valuable than a few dollars. Remember, Beth, God is the one who provides... not your employer!

R and I are quickly approaching our one year anniversary - and I am thankful for God putting him in my life every day. He makes my life more complicated sometimes, but so much more happy and complete. We're learning so much about how the other works, how to communicate, how to fight, how to love and support each other well... This is a great season of life to be in. A year ago, I was going crazy over the last details of wedding planning, so glad to be past that! Two years ago, we were newly dating and marathon training... three years ago, I was single and convinced God was never going to end my misery of singleness! Can't wait to see what God has in store for us over the next year - we are certainly going to have to trust him to see us through it.

Much Love,
B