Monthly Archives: May 2010

What a weekend!

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What a weekend this has been! I am really tired out but happy with all that we’ve accomplished and the fun that we’ve had. In just the span of one week, Michele, Keegan, and I managed to transform most of the main floor of our house into something presentable again. We painted everywhere, repaired walls and floors, hung pictures, cleaned and reorganized, and more. I had to take off three days of work last week for us to be able to get it all done, and even then we were working up until the last minute, but it was worth it. The reason for all of this work was Keegan’s high school graduation was yesterday and we had family coming to visit for the first time in a while.

It is surreal to think that my eldest son is finished with high school, but he is. The ceremony was held outdoors on the high school’s football field, so that meant that there were no restrictions on the number of family and friends that could attend. The weather was beautiful but very warm and sunny, and as a result, I got pretty sunburned on my face. My sister, who had just had a surgery a week ago Friday, had to spend most of the ceremony in the car and the whole thing really taxed my mother, but fortunately the whole ceremony only lasted 55 minutes. That’s pretty amazing given there were 384 people in Keegan’s graduating class. We are really proud of him!

Afterward we took pictures and then hosted everyone for lunch at our house. We spent the rest of the afternoon just sitting around and talking. It was a nice, relaxing time.

Yesterday my brother, Dan, invited us to come up to Milwaukee to go out to eat with him and my mother, my brother Jeff, and my sister Debbie. We went up there a little early and spent some time at nearby Doctor’s Park. The kids really enjoyed running around on the beach and playing in the water.  Dan took us all out to a fabulous Chinese restaurant. We had a lot of good food and all of the children really loved it. We had Hot and Sour Soup with Seafood, Sauteed Beef with Crisp Dumpling, Steamed Mussel with Minced Garlic, Soft Shell Crab with Spicy Salt and Pepper, Spicy Salt and Pepper Fish Fillet, and Hong Kong Fried Rice. Yum!

Today is just a day for rest and relaxation.

Where I’ve been

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I haven’t written a blog post in a very long time. So long, in fact, that even my father-in-law complained to me that he was sick of seeing the previous post about long ago pets.  So where have I been?

I’ve been out of sorts and very preoccupied, that’s where. And not much has happened to improve the situation. Among other things I’ve been contemplating is how utterly futile it can be to look to one’s job or career for fulfillment and satisfaction. Which is too bad, since the time I spend at my job far exceeds the face time I am able to spend with my family. I’m not saying I should get more satisfaction in my job than I do with my family. But there should be SOME measure of satisfaction in one’s job or career, right? Well, not always.

I’ve been praying for answers and direction but don’t have any yet. I think I am supposed to just sit and wait. That’s a hard thing for me to do; I tend to feel trapped and like Jacob in the Old Testament, I try to do my own thing to accomplish what I think is God’s will for me. I think of the well known scripture verse, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) This is a hard lesson for me to learn. Another reading I particularly like about this issue is in Streams in the Desert, the entry for May 2, which talks about Numbers 9:19. Readers of this devotional are exhorted to simply wait until a direction is clear.

I feel confined, frustrated, with mounting troubles. These are not new and I’m sure they’ll always be with me as long as I live. I need to learn to be patient and wait upon God for everything.