Confessions

I hate having to ask for help. I always feel that now that I'm almost 32 {really? is my birthday really just over a week away?} that I should be able to take care of myself and my family. For the last week & a half, Ben & I have been down to one car. (Sometimes I really hate cars, but mostly just when they stop working.) Ben started his new job yesterday. {BIG YEAH!} But that job is in Tampa, which is almost an hour away. And he has to be at work at 6:45a. That means that I have to find a way to get to work and to get home from work on nights that he has class over in Tampa (like tonight). I'm having to ask friends for rides and it is killing me. I hate inconveniencing my friends. I even had to ask my boss today if I could borrow his truck next week while he is out of town so that I can make it in to work and take care of any errands for the office since I'm one of the few that will be in town for the week. I know that at the heart of it all it is because of pride.

Proverbs 29:23 ²³ One’s pride will bring him low,
but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

And I feel like I am being brought low. It's affecting everything. My mood has been ornery at best. I find myself crying for the stupidest reasons. I've gotten angry at Ben for turning the car into a toolbox on wheels. I mean, seriously, where ELSE is he supposed to put his tools that he needs for work than in the vehicle that he is driving TO WORK. Work that he hasn't been able to go to for 7 weeks. I should be thrilled that the car is full of tools and that my husband is working. But no, I turn into Mrs. Snippy-pants and complain that I don't have a backseat.

Philippians 2:14-15 (ESV) ¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or questioning, ¹⁵that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

That one was one of our memory verses a few weeks ago. Talk about things coming back to bite you...

1 Peter 4:9 (ESV) ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

I've done quite enough grumbling. I need to be thankful for my friends who have shown us their "hospitality without grumbling." I need to be able to admit my need for help. I am not self-sufficient.

2 Corinthians 3:4-5 (ESV) ⁴ Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

And so I have something to work on. Dependence. It isn't a dirty word. It is a beautiful word. And here I thought that I had gotten pretty good at the whole "dependence" thing as we dealt with Ben being without a job! But here we are. He's peeled back another layer of the onion and there is my sin stinking up the place again.

Would you pray for me? Pray that I will be able to work through whatever it is that is keeping me from depending. Pray that I will continue more and more to lean on Him. That I will be able to admit my needs. That I will not be stubborn and think that "I can handle this myself." Pray that I will let myself be blessed by my friends. That I will not deny them the opportunity to be a blessing.

Thank you, friends.

Color love

I have been trying to be a little more ambitious with regard to the design of our church newsletter. I don't want it to be something that looks bland and therefore is disregarded when it comes in the mail. In the past few issues, I've been looking to Design Seeds for inspiration.

These were the palettes that I used for the November Newsletter (available for download here:


{Autumn Gold}


{Color} Barked


Autumn Gold

Now I'm working on the December Newsletter and trying to figure out which way to take it. I need some color inspiration! I don't want to take it too "holiday," but I don't want to make it too "winter" just yet. Comment with some of your favorite color schemes (with links or color names) for the coming season. I'd love to find something that I can use!

Really, I'm still here

I promise. I am. I know that I haven't blogged in for.ev.er. I've been really crazy busy working on fabulous things like this and this for work. We (not as much me, but I've been helping with some of the admin stuff) have also been working on an App for Trinity and Community Bible Reading. {Available on Android right now and on iPhone soon!} We also just finished the October Newsletter!

In other news, Monday was Ben’s and my 2nd anniversary! {P.S. I hate trying to figure out the proper way to write that. I know that is the correct way, but it looks weird} Things are a little tight right now, as Ben hasn't had a job since the 23rd (*see below), so I tried to make an anniversary dinner at home for him. It didn't turn out so well. Thankfully, I knew that my parents were sending us some money for us to go out to dinner, so we did just that! Ben took me to Smokey Bones where we watched the Rays lose Game 3 of the ALDS. {Note: This is the other thing I've been spending time on - watching and cheering on my Rays!}

*Yeah, I forgot to mention that. The company that Ben was with since July didn't have enough work to support the employees, so they had to lay them off. It stinks, but God has been faithful in providing other opportunities for Ben to do small jobs (and some not-so-small jobs) here and there.

Moving on! My mom, my aunt Donna and I also went to The Barn for their Fall Opening on Saturday! The morning was absolutely gorgeous and when I left the house it was 57 degrees. In Florida. I know. We walked around and looked at beautiful things like this:


And when we got hungry, we stopped on The Back Porch for a little lunch.


It really was a fabulous day. I love getting the chance to hang out with my mom and my aunt.

And now comes the part where I say that I won't let it be a month before I post again. Really. I'll try really hard.

winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Look at the beautiful print that I won from Caroline of {good times never seem sew good} and Bethany of Red Robe Designs!



This is going up somewhere on the wall in the bedroom so that I can see it first thing every morning. Between that and the "Who can I bless today?" print from Cap Creations that I have at my desk at work and at home, my attitude will hopefully stay positive!

{"winner, winner, chicken dinner!" courtesy of Caroline when she tweeted that I won the giveaway.}

Inspiration Workshop {Week #10}: A Day In My Life

I'm linking up again this week with the Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop! The prompt this week was: "A Day In My Life!"

My day starts early since Ben has to leave for work by around 5:45. Every morning starts the same way:


Start the kettle so that I can fix Ben some hearty oatmeal.


Hearty oatmeal
(Note the early time. They really do have one of those in the morning too!)


Make sandwiches for Ben's lunch.


Pack lunch.

Then Ben makes his way out into the kitchen to eat breakfast.


Holly-dog has to make sure that no oatmeal gets on the floor.

Ben leaves for work and Holly-dog and I go back to bed for a little while. I know. I keep saying that I'm going to try to stay up after Ben leaves for work, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm really hoping that now I'm getting a good night's sleep on our new bed (thank you, Ikea! LOVING this thing!), I will be able to do it. Monday is the day. I can feel it.

6:45 rolls around and I get up and start getting myself ready for work. Lately, it has been so hot that my hair ends up in these:


Re-purposed matchbox from my favorite curly-haired Italian.

I feed the Holly-dog:



Then it's off to work!


Trinity Presbyterian Church, I'm the Administrative Assistant.

Desk essentials:


Water and coffee (cup from Monogram Chick)

Looking in:


(Don't be confused by the Windows toolbar down there. Just running Parallels on the Mac so that I can open all of the Publisher docs that some of our staff still use.)

Looking out:


Hard at work, I'm sure.

No, really. This is what I've been working on:


The August edition of the Trinity Newsletter was mailed out on Tuesday afternoon and I just finished up the Worship Folder draft Wednesday afternoon when I took this pic.

At lunch I run home, take out the Holly-dog, and grab some lunch.


She's just too darn cute! Wish I could have her with me at work!

Wednesday night means Worship Team rehearsal:


Some of the music we're working on. For a list of all the songs that we do in Worship right now click here.

Last night I had to run to the store after rehearsal. I love my Publix supermarket.


Trying to remember to be green.

I came home to find Ben working on a tool review for a friend of ours. Pretty nice deal, actually. Ben gets some tools for work and in exchange writes the review. Holly apparently thought that the box that the tools came in was supposed to be used as a platform for her to reach the bed:


Again, could she get any cuter?

I finished up the day by doing some laundry so that Ben had clothes to wear to work:



Then I did the dishes and got coffee ready for the morning:



After that we headed to bed (in our NEW BED!) to get a good night's sleep so that we could start all over again in the morning!

It's not a very exciting life, but it's our life and I'm thankful for what God has for me right now. I need to remember that when I feel like I'm not doing a lot or that I'm not making a huge difference in the world. I'm doing the work that God has called me to right now. If I'm glorifying Him in what I'm doing, I AM making a difference, great or small.