I got a job!!

I am so very blessed!! I was hired on Thursday at the Childtime Learning Center. Praise Jesus!! I will be more of a substitute teacher for them, but the director said that I can expect to get about 30 hours a week, and sometimes it might even be 40! I plan to get another job (maybe Family Video or babysitting??) for the evenings. I'm very excited. I had to get a TB test (AAHH) and fingerprinted before I could start, so after my second appointment at the doctor's tomorrow I can fill out the paperwork and start training!!

I really am so blessed. Thank you all so very very much for all your prayers. On Thursday I got a call from a woman who was looking for a summer babysitter 2 times a week for the whole day. I had put out some fliers around my neighborhood advertising myself as a nanny, and my next door neighbor gave this woman my name. There is another family that goes to my church that (i heard through the grapevine) is thinking about giving me a call. I won't be able to help the first woman out at all, because of my job at Childtime. I'm going to give her Rachel's name, though. I'm hoping that something works out with the second family, though. We'll see.

Yesterday I helped Julie Rumo and Stephanie Simon as they took pictures of the CNS Lacrosse teams. I collected money at a tent while they took pictures. It was soooo hot, but very worth it!

This is my first weekend since summer began that I don't get to spend with Phil, and honestly, it's been kinda hard for me. I am looking forward to seeing how God uses this summer to bring the two of us closer to Him, and to help us each grow individually so that we can grow together. It's the times like this weekend that are really difficult for me, though. Oh, well. Love never fails.

I have been meditating on 1 Corinthians 13 for a while now. When I began, it was because I wanted to get better at showing Phil how much I love him, but as I thought about the passage and prayed about it, I realized more and more how much God was telling me to love my family more.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

I have to say, it's a lot more difficult for me to apply this to my family than it is for me to apply it to my relationship with Phil or Sam. I guess it's just because you get to pick your friends; you're stuck with your family. I'm not saying that my family is hard to love, but it just doesn't come as naturally to me. How crazy is that?!?! Shouldn't your family be the people that you love the most? Shouldn't they be the people that you want to be the friendliest to, and spend the most time with? Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't feel that way. Anyways, that's something that I have been really trying to do more of lately, and honestly I've been really struggling with it. But the Bible teaches that if you don't struggle with something like this, you won't develop perseverance or strength. If you don't struggle to be the person that God is calling you to be, what's the point?