My People

I hear Auny talk about her "village" sometimes, and it makes me long for that kind of close-knit group. I feel like since Steven and I got married, our "village" sort of disappeared. Everything changes, you know, when you tie the knot. We're part of a great Sunday Morning Bible Study, but I haven't really bonded with too many of the girls, and the ones I do have a connection with, I don't get to spend time with very often, so I don't really feel like a part of their lives yet.

Yesterday was a really long day for me (after an entire week of really long days). I had to work, of course, and on my lunch break I had to go buy a couple things for a baby shower I was co-hosting, then run to the church for a practice. Then after work I went straight to the shower, and directly after the shower I had to go back to the church for Overflow practice (Overflow is the new contemporary worship service we're starting at GABC). After all that, I knew I wouldn't get home until about 10:00, and I knew I would be completely exhausted. I was dreading it, frankly.

True to my prediction, by the time I drove up to the church I was so tired I wanted to cry. I really just wanted to turn my car around and GO HOME! But I didn't. I'm glad I didn't. When I walked into the "Big Room," our venue at the student center, what I saw filled me with joy. The guys were on stage going over a song that Julie I won't be singing on, and everyone else was hanging out at the back of the room. Julie greeted me at the door, and her kids, Riley(6) and Tate(2), were running (literally running) around the room. Her husband Jason was sitting on the steps below the sound booth with Meg, our Girls Ministry leader and Matt, our new Student Music Minister. Justin eventually greeted me with a joke from on stage, and when Riley and Tate saw me, they ran up and gave me hugs. I took off my shoes and sat cross-legged on the floor by everyone in the back and just joked and played air guitar with Julie and laughed at her strumming it like she was playing a piano (silly Julie). Then we all laughed together watching Tate copy every single thing his big sister was doing...even to the point of attempting a cartwheel.

Then I had a moment. I looked around and thought, "These are my people. These are people around whom I know I can relax and be myself. Most of the people in this room know me well enough not just to know my personality, but my heart. They know my hopes and dreams, and they know that I have a passion not just for singing, but for worship, and they share that passion. They know and love my husband, and one or two even know my mom and dad." That was a good feeling, and worth all the busyness that propelled me into that moment. Praise God for friends, for a circle in which there is true unity and fellowship and just plain fun.

Weary

I know it's been FOREVER since I posted anything! I've just been so incredibly busy at work. I used to write my posts during the lunch hour, because once I get home, sitting down at the computer for ANY reason just feels too much like work. But lately I've been working through lunch every day...excuses, excuses...

I've been in high gear ever since I found out we are going to Colorado on vacation. I knew that leaving the office for a whole week during this time of year would be a really tough thing to do if I didn't prepare accordingly. So I've been working like a dog to get homepages scheduled to automatically change while I'm gone, taking 200,000 pictures of fall merchandise so my new helper can optimize them while I'm gone (OK, it was literally more like 300), and launching a new fashion collection section that had to go up before we ran out of the clothes. Believe it or not, I accomplished all that in three days. I was so afraid I wouldn't get done with it all, and now I find myself sitting at my desk with a little bit of free time today. Wonder of wonders.

But I'm weary. Bone tired. My brain is exhausted, my body is exhausted (taking pictures is actually very physical work), and I think I had too much espresso this morning. Please pray that I will be able to relax on vacation, and that we'll find lots of fun things to do without actually having to follow a schedule. Steven tends to start "planning" whenever we take a trip, so we always risk becoming more busy during our time off than we are at home!

My in-laws are going with us, though, and they usually stick up for me :) And I'm super excited to see them enjoy this experience. It will be their first real vacation ever in their entire lives! They have done weekend trips before, but they have never just gone on a week-long trip to see the sights somewhere far from home. They have never been beyond Dallas in the westward direction, in fact, so they are in for a real treat.

I'll try to post some pictures when I get home :)