Friday, March 24, 2006

Sugarmama has found her sugar!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! I have now officially entered the rat race of the working world. What the heck is a rat race anyway? But whatever it is, I've been in it since Monday! By God's gracious provision for our family, I was offered a position at a law firm located in downtown Louisville. It is a personal injury law firm. Those are the lawyers that advertise on daytime TV during shows like People's Court and Jerry Springer and tell people that they deserve a lot of money for their accidents. Here are my top 10 favorite things about the job:

10) For the rest of my time in Louisville, I will be full of interesting stories about our cases and clients.

9) Replacing my wardrobe of the last two months (jeans and my Yale sweatshirt) with fun clothes. And, yes, it is possible to wear three inch stilletos for 8 hours in a row.

8) Being one step closer to a routine. Though this is yet another transition in the line of many for Kev & me, we are striving to develop a sense of normalcy and expectancy in regard to our daily lives.

7) Seeing what life can look like if it is dominated by a love of money. I am saddened to see how fleeting life can be when it is fueled by temporal things, yet it makes me thankful for hope & purpose in Christ. Life truly is richer and deeper when committed to something beyond yourself.

6) Finding a new ministry or prayer & relationship with those in my office. There are some very dynamic personalities and lots of opportunities to love, serve, and share.

5) Getting to use my mind at my job. It is very certain that I will never be bored while I'm at work. That in itself, I've learned, is a blessing.

4) Working downtown. Lots to see...there's a new hotel that I drive by on the way home that has three-foot tall red penguins in the doorway. It makes me smile every evening.

3) Getting to come home to my wonderful husband at the end of the day. With Kevin working, there will be days that we won't see each other until 10 or so at night. That's not our preference but seeing the way he lights up when he talks about relational opportunities with his co-workers makes it worth the sacrifice.

2) Serving my husband in such a specific way. The sugarmama does the working so that papa gets to go to school. Kev is so sweet to thank me for going to work that day, knowing that my job enables him to be in class and move us one step closer to where we want to be in life.

1 1/2) The space heater that goes under my desk. My little toes (we call them toe-sicles here) appreciate it when it decides to snow on the first day of spring...sigh.

1) The wonderful woman who is training me. Let's go ahead and show her beautiful face:



For those of you who don't know this lovely face, please meet Beth Wilson. She is an acquaintance from college who has quickly become one of my best friends here. In addition to being a fellow 24 enthusiasts and step aerobics partners, we are now co-workers! I am so thankful to have her sweet spirit, encouraging words, and love for the Lord throughout the working day.

Here are some ways you can pray for us regarding this:
* that the Lord would use Beth & me to display Christ in words & actions to our co-workers.
* that Kevin & I would develop routine & learn how to save time for each other everyday. The mornings are especially important to us as we like to spend our individual time with the Lord and also spend time together over breakfast. That means an early start to the day! Please ask for desire and strength to leave the warm bed in the morning.
* that Beth & I would be able to love each other well at work. We both know that spending so much time together might have a negative effect, so please ask that the Lord would help us in this.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Our first house guest

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong. Can you find the face that doesn't belong in our normal day-to-day in the great state of KY?



Well, let's do a little meet n' greet. On the left you have the Wilson's. Yes, you've met Mrs. Wilson. (By the way, Beth, please don't hate me for dispersing such a huge picture of your face into the blogsphere). That strapping young lad is her husband, Lee. Moving to the right...oh, it's those Peeks. Oops...I thought I told you I traded in that Yale sweatshirt for the biz-cas at work. Old habits die hard I suppose. Or don't die at all (which we all know will be the case with me and my sweatshirts!) Finally...hey, it's Ms. Vanessa Brooks, hailing from Aggieland, TX. You might remember her from such life experiences as Chiner '05 and roadtrip to Louisville '04.

Vanessa is starting school here at Southern in the fall, and we were pleased to offer her the title of our first official house guest during her visit here uuring spring break. Though her main purpose in coming was to look for housing for the fall, she blessed our home with her curiousity to learn from our new marriage and her eagerness to encourage me. We are thrilled for her to move up here to join us for the fall!

By the way, for anyone else visiting the Louisville area, Hotel Peek is also available to you!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Classic...just classic

I tried to go to Wal-Mart yesterday. I ended up in Indiana. What more can you even say?

Friday, March 03, 2006

The victories & trials of the working world

With the sugarmama (that's me!) still looking for a job, we are so thankful that the Lord has provided Kevin with a job and thus income for the both of us. He will be a server/cook at a restaurant called The Melting Pot. It's a fondue restaurant with all sorts of cheeses and crazy stuff like that. Neither of us have ever eaten there (nor am I sure that I'd really like to!) but we've heard it's pretty tasty and pretty fancy. After looking at the menu, it's obvious that it's pretty pricy as well. The interesting thing about the restaurant is that Kev will not only serve the food but will cook it in front of the customers. It has the possibility to be a lucrative job, but what he's most excited about is building relationships among the other waitstaff in order to get to love on them & share the gospel. The seminary environment can be incredibly stifling to be constantly surrounded by Christian culture, so we are definitely looking forward to this opportunity to connect with people who don't know Christ.

My job search is slow moving but still in motion. After receiving a couple of rejections (not fun), I decided I need to put forth more initiative to get employers to give me a chance. But still the Lord has brought me back to the truth that His sovereign goodness will provide a job in His time. That doesn't nullify my efforts in searching or give me permission to be lazy (though often it's a temptation), but it brings my heart to rest to know that I will find a job "not by might nor by power but by God's spirit" (Zechariah 4:6).

Here are some ways you can pray for us:

1. Kev's new job-that he would be a loving, gentle, and bold man toward his co-workers pertaining the gospel.

2. Beck's job search-that she would have favor in employers' eyes as they review her resume and hopefully offer an interview and a position.

3. our home & marriage-that Kev's time commitment to the new job would not distract from our marriage; that the Lord would continue to give us leading regarding our church home.

Thanks & we love you!