Now is the time!: As of late

Is it really almost September?! Where has this summer gone?? I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything on this little blog of mine in such a long time. Since we moved to Waco in early June, the weeks just seem to be flying by. Residency has definitely kicked into full gear for Bill, and I’m quickly having to adjust to the fact that I won’t get quite as much quality time with him as I did in med school (and I thought it was crazy then!). It definitely hasn’t been the easiest adjustment for me, but we have also learned to appreciate time together more than we ever did before. I’m so proud of my husband and how hard he’s working as a doctor to support our family. Bill has been functioning on verrrrry little sleep the past several weeks and yet he’s still as patient, loving, and kind as ever. Thank you, Bill, for all you do! Scarlett and I appreciate it more than we could ever express in words (or barks and licks on the face)! J

Now for what in the world I’ve been up to in recent weeks. First off, I’ve now been working at my dad’s insurance agency for just over two months, and I’ve been surprisingly very busy at work! Who knew one was supposed to actually work so much at work?? ;) As I’ve told many people recently, the insurance industry is a whole new world for me, so while I’m learning more and more each day, I know I still have so much more to learn. Hopefully it’ll all make sense at some point. In the mean time, I'm thankful to have a very patient and understanding boss!

Other than work, the weekends lately have been busy and fun. First off, although it wasn’t technically a weekend, Bill and I enjoyed a great, very relaxing 4th of July. We started the day by attending the cutest little parade in the Castle Heights neighborhood with our close friends, Hannah and Ross. After lunch at Rudy’s, we picked up Scarlett and went for a walk along the Lake Waco Dam before going down to the lake to watch Scarlett frolic around in the water for her first time ever in a lake. Scarlett has never been a huge fan of swimming in a pool (we’ve tried to persuade her countless times to love it in the past), but she adored the lake! She never went deeper than where she could stand, but none the less, it was a great experience for her and we can’t wait to take her again! Post our little lake excursion, we got snow cones before heading home for the evening. That night, Mom and Dad came over and we grilled out hot dogs with baked beans, salad, chips, and a delicious strawberry pie!

Other weekends have included a visit by Bill’s mom and dad to see our new house (thanks for the great mantle they bought us for a house-warming gift!), a visit by Stephanie, one of my best friends from our days in Lubbock, a solo trip to the ranch with Mom and Dad while Bill was working nights, another solo weekend spent in Fort Worth visiting Erin, Sam, and my adorable niece Juliet (while Bill was still working nights), and most recently, a weekend spent in Waco for a girl’s reunion with some of my closest college friends from Baylor.

Now that summer is winding down, and while I wish the heat would also wind down for good (at least we had one day this week with a high in the seventies!), I’m ecstatic that football season is almost upon us!! Baylor kicks off their first home game next Sunday before Labor Day, and to say I’m excited would be an understatement. J We will miss RGIII, but after hearing our current quarterback, Nick Florence, speak at church a couple weeks ago, I am so excited for this season’s team! There’s just nothing quite like fall and college football season which is hands down one of my favorite times of the year.

So, to wrap this post up, I will say that I am very thankful for this season in our lives. It has its challenges just as every season does, but all in all, I feel very blessed. I look forward to finding ways to get involved with this community, settling on a church home, strengthening old friendships and developing new ones, and just embracing this chapter. It’s so easy for me to constantly look to the next thing on my “to-do” list and then miss the joy that can be found in the present moment. I hope to do far less of that and far more of finding joy in the small things and simply enjoying the moment however dull or exciting it may seem. As my dad always loves to say, “NOW is the time!”

After hearing a very challenging sermon recently asking everyone to think about what we are doing on earth that will benefit eternity, I was really convicted that I need and want to do so much more. I desire to challenge myself to share the love of Jesus with those around me like never before. Why does that seem so difficult sometimes? In a community like Waco, it can be easy to feel like there’s a church on every corner and as long as I’m going to church, studying the bible, and feeding my own spiritual appetite then I’m doing just fine. However, I know I am called to do more than just strengthen my own walk with the Lord. While definitely important to my faith, I believe it’s equally important to reach out to the poor, broken-hearted, lost, and suffering in this world and in this town. Hopefully in coming weeks and months I will be able to say that I am doing more and more of that on a daily basis.

I’ll be the first to say that I can be wayyy too selfish a lot, if not most, of the time. I want what I want, the way I want, when I want it far too often. Well, it’s about time that I throw that behavior out the window so I can focus on others’ needs and what I can do for them rather than what I can do for me. As the Bible says, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God stands forever.”

All right, I know I said I was wrapping up this post earlier, but now I really will. I hope whoever may be reading this (family members and a few friends primarily J) will enjoy this day that God’s entrusted to each of us. Much love to you all!