176/365 From Sadness to Joy

The verse is Philippians 4:8. It is the basis for the growth group Gil and I are leading this semester. Our first meeting was tonight.

As I’ve watched the Facebook and Twitter updates this week with news of our friends leaving on The Rock Boat…without us….I’ve been a little sad. Well, a lot sad actually. We have sailed away with our friends for the last five years and it’s been hard leading up to this week, knowing we’ll be at home and not spending time with our ‘chosen’ family.

It still amazes me sometimes how God’s plan for us unfolds. We knew a year ago we would be taking ‘a year off’ from our annual Rock Boat Family Reunion. What we didn’t know a year ago when we made that decision was that we would be asked to lead this group. THIS very specific group. This group that started tonight. A night when most of our friends have already traveled to New Orleans for all of the pre-Boat festivities.

As much as I’m longing to be with our old friends tonight (and the next 5 days), I’m getting a feeling that we were exactly where we were supposed to be tonight.  For the next 11 weeks we will be making new friends and building relationships based on our study of Philippians 4:8 and on the principle of finding the joy in our lives.

I’m putting it into practice tonight. My day progressed with a sense of longing and feeling sorry for myself, wishing I was living large in NOLA and getting ready to board a ship filled with good times, good friends, good music, and tons of memories to be made. I’m wrapping up this day with a heart that’s overflowing with excitement about this small group of virtual strangers, gratitude for being asked to lead this group with my husband, hope for God’s grace in helping us to facilitate His message, and most of all, JOY. The joy – that comes from knowing that God is using me. What more could I possible want?

P.S. To all my TRB friends – I hope you all have the time of your life. Please know how much we’ll be missing you. Not the boat. Not the music. Not the port. Not the food and booze. We will be missing YOU because that’s what The Rock Boat is really about.

176/365 Green Grilling

After Natalie’s soccer game and several errands, Gil and I found ourselves at our new favorite place to eat out. It’s our new favorite because we can pretty much eat all we want for very few Weight Watchers points. Our menu item of choice – The Veggie Trio. Ruby Tuesday’s has this great menu item where you get three side items and the salad bar for around $10. I have fallen in love with their grilled zucchini and grilled green beans. I know there isn’t a lot of color variety here but let me tell you, the taste is amazing. And at 1 point each side, I could eat this every night.

 

 

175/365 Migraine

This was me last night and also the reason I failed to post. It was 2 days long and I can’t tell you the relief I had when I woke up this morning with only a wee little bit of pain.

174/365 Anticipation

173/365 Just the Necessities

 

We just got home from Publix. We popped in to pick up some necessities for our friend Lindsey’s visit.

Yep. I think we’re all set.

172/365 Snack Time

Big thanks to my friend Dana for hooking me up with nom noms from the state fair. A little bit of each made for a great low point snack this afternoon.

171/365 The Purrfect Workplace

For the first time in a really long time, I was allowed to work from. The picture is crappy, but you can still see that I have dual monitors and a cat in my lap for maximum productivity. What you can’t see is that I was still in my pjs. My job would be a thousand times better if I could do this on a semi regular basis.

170/365 Best Something

Best Director? Best Actress? Best Supporting Actor? Best Screenplay?

Gil and I volunteered for a video shoot at church tonight and I’m sure it will be an Oscar contender next year.

Just you wait and see.

169/365 Such a Novice

I love our new camera, but I have to admit, I’ll love it more when I have a few hours to kill and sit and get familiar with how it works. For now, I’ll just shoot on auto and hope to capture a few nice shots. This is the lone orange our tree produced this year. I think it’s about ready to NOM.

168/365 A Second Attempt

I got back on the treadmill after an initial bump in the road. Right after I completed Day 1 Week 1 of the C25K, I was derailed by a stomach thing. Then last week I had to focus more on kids and sports and cleaning so I didn’t make it a priority. I am back on track this week. Of course, my five pound weight loss was a pretty good motivator.  Yeah me!