blessings.

i seem to keep coming back to the same message in Scripture. the last time i wrote about it (post #1), it came out of Matthew. this time, it came out of Luke. Luke 11:9-10, to be precise:

”So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

i knew it was by no accident that i stumbled upon this passage again, so i paused and pondered over it for a bit and asked God to reveal to me a specific area in my life that i need to be bringing to Him in prayer. and it was quickly apparent to me:

finances.

the terrifying 'f' word. something i often worry about and, moreover, feel completely helpless about. i realized that i have not at all been giving it to God. (Hellooooo.) i need to TRUST and have faith that God will provide for us, that he won't leave us hanging by a thread. this is no easy task, of course. it is SO hard to let go of financial worries. so i spent some time in prayer. this was just last week, and God has already responded in obvious ways. namely, i was asked today by my supervisor at work if i could work this thursday, which is typically my day off, because she is taking the day off, and there are only a few people in our department. heck yes, i'll work! adding to that, i have made four sales on Etsy in just the past few days :) i am reminded that God always responds to our needs, if we only ask Him. i am reminded of His faithfulness. i don't know how i forget these things, but i do. frequently. it is so easy to miss the ways God blesses us if we are not in tune with Him.


• • • • •

A quick glance at the past few days:

My wonderful mom-in-law, Connie, and bro-in-law, Gavin, stayed with us Friday and Saturday night :) I believe it was the first time Connie had been to our house since we got married. We had a fun, relaxing time. I made a special belated birthday dinner and dessert for Connie. It felt really good to serve her because she is always the one serving others. You could definitely tell she wasn't used to it. She kept asking if she could help and saying she felt bad for not helping. But I convinced her to remain seated and enjoy her book (for the most part. She couldn't quite keep herself from helping out with some post-dinner cleaning :))

Maggs is finally cone-free. And thanks to the warming temperatures, his daily walks have returned. And he is pumped. Realllly pumped. Pulling me on the leash, out-of-breath, sounds-like-he's-going-to-pass-out pumped. I realized that some serious leash training is in order. I'm hoping Joel is better equipped for this than I am. (I have no idea what I'm doing).

And, of course, I cannot end this post without a picture of food.



Chicken Tzimmers with Butternut Squash -- a meal traditionally served during the Jewish New Year :) Random, I know. I just love trying new recipes all the time. I don't imagine that I'll ever have a standard rotation of meals -- you know, meatloaf on Mondays, spaghetti on Tuesdays, hamburgers on Wednesdays, beef stroganoff () in Thursdays... Not gonna happen. I just gotta mix it up.

Is this thing on?

Testing, 1, 2, 3. 

I think I'm on... It feels a bit weird to be doing this whole blogging thing again. It hasn't happened since the good-ole' Livejournal days, where my posts consisted mostly of song lyrics and "deep thoughts." But I have moved on from that pretentiousness, and will now be simply talking about every-day life happenings, at least that is my intention for now. Anyway, enough prefacing, let's get on with the damned thing.

I have always had in me an intense desire to CREATE, but have not been creating in any form for a very long time. Not even writing!! Perhaps this is why I have felt a little bit off, not quite myself. I'm determined to start now. I've already started setting up a shop on etsy, a fabulous, one-of-a-kind website where you can buy & sell all sorts of handmade goodies. I am starting off with earring-making, figured I can't go wrong with that. And, well, of course, I adore earrings. From there, I am thinking handmade felt creations of all types and sizes because I am really into felt lately. And who knows what else - the sky is the limit, as they say. Hopefully, my shop will be up and running within the next couple of weeks :)

That is what's on my mind most right now - I am really eager to start creating again. Other than that, I have been pretty frustrated lately with my funky work schedule and how it makes Joel and I's time together very minimal. On a typical week day, I just see him in passing and don't get any real time with him. We never get to have dinner together, go on dates or just relax together (with the exception of weekends, well, most) and this is very hard for me. I need a regular, consistent dose of Joel in my life.  To add to this crappy-ness, the insurance rates at my work just doubled, meaning I can't even afford insurance for myself, let alone Joel. Meaning the both of us will continue to go without health insurance. My intention wasn't to complain here, I swear... got a little carried away... what I was getting to is that I was reading Scripture last night (I'm FINALLY getting into the routine of reading regularly again & it feels SO good), and I came upon the following passage from Matthew 7:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

And I realized that rather than COMPLAINING and moping all the time about the situation, I should be asking God to change it!! Hello!! So now I need to work on having FAITH that God CAN send a new job my way despite the horrific economy, or improve our situation one way or another, keeping in mind that he wants what is best for me. All I have to do is ask!!

Well I fear that if this post gets any longer, I will lose readers. I should be back tomorrow :) This feels kinda nice.