Blooming Where You're Planted

 "The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom."

Daniel 1:19-20

Sometimes, God puts us in places, in jobs in situations, that make us go, "Wha?" This was one of those situations for Daniel and his three buddies with terribly difficult names. They're in Babylon, their people in captivity to a king who makes gods out of gold and mocks the One True God. Once part of the royal family themselves, they're now being auditioned to be servants for this blasphemous king. 

 To be honest, if I was in Daniel and Company's position, I would be tempted to try and sabotage the king. Give bad advice, get him in trouble with other companies, gossip about his bad breath, you know. That kind of thing. He's a bad guy, right?  Why do a good job?

Daniel and the guys do the exact opposite. They thrive. Even though I think they're probably wondering what God is up to, not understanding why He would put them in this place, they work hard. They are wise advisers, helpful servants to a man who captured and is oppressing their people. 

Right now, I'm not so sure about this place that I'm in. I don't know why I don't have a full-time teaching job. I don't know why my subbing jobs are coming so far apart, leaving me at home for a good chunk of the time. I'm trying to do like Daniel and his buddies, though- thrive in this confusing place. Do the best I can at the tasks He's given me for now. The New Testament echoes that same thing... "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ..." Philippians 1:27a. I've got to live my life in alignment with Christ, being the very best person I can. Be the best at-home-wife I can be, be the best substitute teacher I can be. The best neighbor, the best friend.

Daniel probably never thought that he'd be servant to a foreign king, that he'd eventually be tested in his faith, thrown in a lions den, and become a prophet for God. He was part of the royal family, after all- maybe his plan for his life was to be governor of some town, get married, have a little family and rule his town well. Who knows. 

All I know is that God had big plans for Daniel, plans he probably didn't see coming. Maybe that's the way it will be for me. My plans are human plans. God may have a very different path mapped out for my life. That path isn't up to me- my job is just to do my very best in every situation God puts me in, even if my best doesn't feel good enough, even if the situation doesn't make any sense at all.

My life doesn't look the way I thought it would a year ago. I'm not where I thought I would be. But I'm going to bloom in this place, in the life where God planted me.

Love List

A few things that I am loving this week:

1. The smell of burning leaves. Our neighborhood allows us to burn leaves, and with so many trees around, at least one close neighbor is burning every day I know some people hate this smell, but man, it just smells like fall to me! Mmm.

2. My new bed! Zeke and I actually made the frame together, then we got a new mattress (thank heaven). With the cooler weather, I couldn't help but put all the fluffy bedding on it, and now it's nearly impossible to get out of bed in the morning. I think I should move the fridge and TV in there... then I'd almost never have to leave.

3. The cleaning checklist I've been using. Okay, I have a little confession to make here. The other day, I watched the kids of a friend of mine. She had a "Babysitter Info" sheet... I'm sure many of you have the same thing. Anyways, I didn't need it, but she had mentioned that it had the pediatrician's name on it, and I was curious. So I looked over the sheet, and then saw this checklist underneath it. And, being snoopy as I am, I had to look it all over. I immediately went, "Wow. This could be the best thing ever for me."

I went online and bought the lists. They are awesome. I was really kind of struggling with how to fill my "at home" days when I wasn't subbing- there's just so many things to do that I didn't know where to get started. Thanks a bunch to The Confident Mom at theconfidentmom.com!!

4. The beautiful scenery in my neighborhood. This was taken just across the street. No joke.

5. Knowing what to make for dinner. Now that I've been trying out recipes for a couple of months and gauging Hunky Husband's reactions, I've got a bunch of HH-approved meals, so I've been able to actually plan, rather than just frantically searching for recipes at 3:30.

6. Pandora. I'm sure you've heard of this website before, but if you haven't, it's an online radio that's customized to your preferences. At my house, the radio doesn't pick up very many channels, and doesn't get the local Christian station at all. I've got my Pandora's Hillsong Radio going almost all day, and I love it! I'm not so sure that the neighbors who live below me like it so much... they have to hear me singing all day long...

7. My wonderful husband. He's taking on more hours at work starting this week (the maintenance director is cutting back on his own hours), and it's a busy time to work maintenance at camp with all the winterizing and boat-pulling-outing they're doing.

Destiny and Jello

I was opening a package of Jello (I actually don't like Jello, but Zeke does, and I like to keep it around for a little snack for him), not noticing that the silverware drawer was open...

Yes, that is Jello powder all over my silverware drawer. I'm an overly-enthusiastic ripper-opener, apparently.

I guess I was supposed to wash all the silverware and clean out this drawer today...

Honeymooning Coming Sooning. Or Something.

Zeke and I got married in June. He wanted to get married during the summer months, and I'm a big Seven Brides for Seven Brothers fan. ("When you're married in June... You'll always be a bride!")

Source: http://obscurendure.blogspot.com/2012/09/review-seven-brides-for-seven-brothers.html

Unfortunately, a summer wedding and honeymoon wasn't really all that ideal for someone who works at a Bible Camp. Summer is the busy season at camp. We decided to get married in June and postpone our honeymoon until a later time, being that we wanted a long vacation and Zeke's summer schedule was definitely not going to work for us.

Well, Zeke brought up the idea of our three-week honeymoon with his bosses about a month ago, and they've been figuring out when would work best ever since. Since I don't have a steady job right now, I can be a little more flexible. Zeke came home yesterday and told me that we have a date planned! October 29 is when we head out.

We're not doing a traditional honeymoon. We'll be taking a road trip across the USA. Yup. We do like our road trips. No, we won't be taking this one in a motorcycle (man, my butt would be sore!). The plan is to head out to the Northwest, then drive down the coast, see the Grand Canyon and a bunch of other beautiful places along the way, swing through Texas, and then, depending on how much time we have left, maybe do New Orleans before heading back home.

It'll be an adventure.

A spontaneous, unplanned adventure.

Zeke is more of a type-B person, which I love about him. He goes with the flow of things and doesn't usually get worked up when things don't go as planned. I'm just the opposite. I like plans. Schedules, routines, lists... so this trip will be a learning experience for me. My mom is already making fun of me- she says that I'll make a "Honeymoon Trip Binder" (like I made a Wedding Binder) with all the gas stations and hotels mapped out... and that I'll hide it from Zeke.

I'm not that bad.

But yes, I am. I'm already thinking through what we'll need to bring clothes-wise... and what meals I can plan that'll pack well in a cooler and we can eat in the car... And who will watch our turtle??!?!

I'm excited, though! It'll be awesome to see so much of the US that I haven't yet seen! As we get further in planning, er, closer to leaving, I'll post more about our plans. Er, our ... ideas. Whims. What have you.

Wordless Wednesday (Fall at the Lake: A Walk in My Neighborhood)

Subbing Habits: Coming Home

I've been doing some subbing around the area lately, which has been such an answer to prayer. For the longest time, I really didn't get much in the way of subbing jobs, and I was worried that might be a glimpse into what my year would look like. Now that I've had several jobs, I'm starting to learn the tricks of the trade. I thought I'd share a couple of those tricks with you.

We're actually going to start at the end today... a little backwards, but I think my "end of the day" habit has made a lot of difference in my life, so I'll share it first.

After a long day of subbing (or a short one, for that matter), I often want to come home at 4:00 and just flop on the couch, take my shoes off, turn on the television, and just veg out. If I was a single gal, maybe that would work, but since I have a Hunky Husband... he comes home around 5:30, and I'm still in my work clothes, shoes sitting on the floor where I tossed 'em, nothing done, and nothing even planned for supper. And usually, I'm not a great conversationalist when I'm in my vegetative state, either. Not the best way to greet a darling husband. Or anyone, for that matter.

I've realized this bad habit of mine, and rehauled my Coming Home routine. Here it goes...

1. Put away that subbing bag. I used to leave mine sitting on the recliner (aka Zeke's chair), where it was quickly forgotten by yours truly. Now, I take out anything I might need to wash, like lunch containers, put my reading book on my nightstand, and put the bag into the entryway closet where it belongs.

2. Take a shower and change. So, Zeke is kind of a clean-freak. He always used to get upset when I sat around in my "school clothes" in the evening, saying that I was spreading germs from school all over the place. Now, I don't know how much truth is really in that, but when I finally did take is advise and shower when I got home, I found another great benefit of the after-school-shower.

I feel better. Taking a shower gets my mind out of school-mode and into home-mode. I feel like I'm washing away the stress of the day, getting rid of anything negative that may have happened, and starting fresh. And, let's be honest, taking a quick shower after school probably does get rid of some of those yucky kid-germs, and the less of those you've got around, the less often you will get sick. Even if I roll my eyes at Zeke when he says so.

3. Take a couple quiet minutes. Yes, I am getting dangerously close to my old "veg out" ways. It is important, at least for me, to slow myself down after a busy day and give myself a little time to relax. Just five minutes of sitting outside, drinking a cup of hot chocolate, or reading a favorite devotional does wonders.

If Wishes Were Dishes, I'd Have a Sinkful.

I am a very blessed woman.

I have a great husband, a great Camp community, and a wonderful, wonderful home.

I love my house. It's small, it's a little cramped sometimes, and it's absolutely perfect for the stage Zeke and I are at in our lives. Seriously. Love it. There's just one thing that I wish was different about my house...

I really wish I had a dishwasher.

Anybody with me? Man, dishes are getting me down these days. I went on strike against dirty dishes this past weekend (and by "strike," I really mean, denying the fact that dirty dishes were quickly overtaking my entire kitchen), and it just got me even more depressed. Really? A full sink? Three times a day?

With such a small kitchen, the sink is inevitably in like, every single picture I post of recipes, and I try to have most of the dishes cleared out... but that's the trouble with not having a dishwasher. The dirty dishes are always out, always looking at you.

<Sigh>

That's my greatest wish today- that somehow, a dishwasher (and the space to put it in) would suddenly appear in my kitchen, smiling and ready to go.