Oh, hi there…

It has been quite awhile since I’ve dusted off the blog. Work and life in general have been so insane lately that I am lucky if I have time and energy to cook a healthy meal, let alone blog about it. The past six months have been a rollercoaster, at the Large Unnamed Banking Institution, at home with my health and money matters, and in our social life as we try to balance our need for rest with our desire to see friends and family as often as possible.

But I turned 29 yesterday, and if that isn’t a good time for some thoughtful reflection, then what is? Besides the 30th birthday (eep!) coming up next year. Anywho, this week I received an amazing compliment from a coworker, a fun gal who is not that much younger than me. She said that she would like to be in as good of a place as I am on her 29th birthday.

And I thought, wow, yeah, I am in a damn good place, aren’t I?

Yes, this has been an incredibly stressful year at LUBI. But it’s also probably my last, as I plan my retirement from corporate America and my foray into the world of housewifery. No, my health has not been the greatest, but we have been sustained through some life-threatening moments and now have a good plan to keep me symptom-free. Beyond that, we have had some words of encouragement from many prayer partners who have reminded us of God’s promises and assured us that this season of struggle will soon make way for a time of freedom and peace. Our financial situation has improved such that we have no debt except that tied to our house, and we are able to live off Jer’s salary alone. We’re hoping to start a family sometime soon, an idea which sends both my mother and mother-in-law into fits of ecstasy. And through all the highs and lows, I have been gifted with an amazing husband, who is loving, caring, patient, and strong.

God is good, and His mercies endure forever.

So yes, I may be entering the last year of my twenties, which some would say represents the end of my youth. But when I look back at how I have grown and how I have been blessed, I am happy to say that life is better now than it has ever been. I have faith that not only will 29 be the best year of my life, but that it will be followed by many more years filled with the goodness of God.

All Will be Well

I haven't felt much in a writing mood lately. Haven't even been putting stuff up on Jerbecca. It's been a tough few weeks. Over a span of a few days we lost many people in our lives-coworkers and friends lost a mother, a grandfather, and a niece, and my in-laws lost a cousin and a dear friend. Both of Jer's grandmas have had bad falls, and his dear aunt Stephanie, one of my favorite Anderson relatives, had emergency surgery. Praise God she and the grandmas are recovering well.

In the midst of all this I have had a relapse of the virus that put me in the hospital a few months ago (not as bad, but still distressing), work has been extremely stressful, and now we are faced with the tragedy in Japan and the losses not only in the past few days bt still to come, as rescue workers are still searching and nuclear reactors are still melting.

Despite all this, we have hope. God is good, grief passes, healing comes. I've been watching this video all weekend, and it has been a great comfort. I hope it is to you as well.

The Opiate Mass from The Other Journal on Vimeo.

All will be well. All manner of things will be well.

Dear Body. You're Pretty Cool.

I've been pondering my new year's post for three weeks now. Work has been insanely busy and making time for family and friends never stops, and I've got to sleep, so blogging has been low on the priority list.

Fortunately, I ran across a post yesterday in my skimming of my Google Reader that captures what I think my resolution should be:

Dear Body...from now on, I'm going to listen to you. When you ask for food, I'm going to feed you what you need. When you tell me you're tired, I will rest. When you want to move, we'll do something that brings us both energy and vitality. And when you need a break, I'll give you one.
I don't care what you weigh. I don't care what your pant size is. I don't care if you have scars and stretch marks and pimples. You still deserve to be respected.
Dear Body, as far as I'm concerned, you're pretty cool and I'm glad I'm stuck with you. Thanks for putting up with all the garbage I've put you through. You deserve better and that's what you're going to get from now on.

Read the whole thing here.

To a wonderful 2011!