It Has Been Far Too Long

Merry Christmas! Oh, wait, this is 2011, not 2010 as some may surmise. Goes to show how long it has been since last posting one of my loquacious, witty, and thought provoking posts. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit. Okay, a lot, but anyway, at least I'm writing something. If the truth be told, I really did not mean to go a whole year without posting something, but the time has literally flown by.

Here I am warm and cozy on a lovely shabbat night, enjoying the peace of the day, and the serenity associated with family. I'm blessed in that respect. Not everyone can make the same claim regarding their family. Surprise, surprise, I actually enjoy spending time with mine! I miss my oldest sister, who is unable to celebrate Christmas with us this year, but am grateful for the opportunities she has been given to serve.

The biggest news of my life, and I think it is accurate to say that it is/was a very momentous process, which will continue for the rest of my life (because as we all know we never arrive in this category) is this...I'm engaged. Gasp! I'm very blessed to be in this position. It is not one I had anticipated being in at the beginning of the year, as I looked ahead to 2011; though it was a position I hoped for at some point in my life. It has been reassuring to see how God very clearly opened up the door to this relationship, especially when I had previously thought any chance (or "door") of a relationship was securely shut (locked in fact, with the key thrown away). As I reflect over the progression of our relationship, I am secure in the knowledge that God has been masterfully orchestrating the pieces together. I still have a long way to go, but wanted to convey my gratitude for how God has clearly been working as well as communicating how thankful I am to have this wonderful young lady in my life. It also makes for some pretty sweet news!

So what have I been doing this past year? Here is the quick blurb. I moved to PA to continue with my graduate education (Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling) and lived at several places, working for the school, before finally finding work and settling down. I began working for Math-U-See on March 21st and then took a second job working for Waterstreet Ministries on April 11th (part of my employment being I live on campus and room and board is provided). I completed my first semester of graduate work at the end of April and commenced the "official" courtship on May 9th. The rest of the summer was spent working the two jobs, which I had been working for both up to and moving forward from that point. So at this point I have two jobs and a relationship. Then in the middle of August I reduce some hours at MUS and went back to school for my second semester of grad-work. Two jobs, graduate school, and relationship. If you haven't gotten the picture yet, I stay busy, extremely so. Perhaps unhealthily so, but still, I'll chug along. I surprised my beloved by asking her to spend the rest of her life with me on December 8th, and here I am just before Christmas, on the other side of my second semester of graduate work recharging for the year ahead. That is the down-side of the "real world" scheduled time-off, and vacation days, and policies, and procedures, and, and, and. Well in the words of the APA style of writing et. al.

Anyway, life is still good. Phew! There is the update. Now I'm going to go along my merry way. Merry Christmas everyone!