March 8, 2009

• Nothing More Than a Busy Weekend

  I've been pretty good about not vegging out in front of the computer screen these past month.  No, I don't know the latest update on the whole Chris Brown and Rihanna drama.  No, I don't know what other big American companies are in financial trouble.  No, I don't know what your status is on Facebook.  No, I choose not to stay on AIM or GoogleTalk chatting online.  No, I am not checking out bargains on the internet.  I simply have chosen to limit the time I spend on the computer to 30 minutes a day max!  I feel great!  It is like climbing Mt. Everest for me!

  My husband and I are doing much better.  We are slowly getting back to speed with daily routines.  We had a miscarriage in February, then we experienced the flu, followed by a never-ending bad cold.  Our family and friends really helped us pull through with prayer and care.  I felt encouraged when fellow Xanga readers sent me encouragement.  I just felt that I needed more time to let go of my sadness. We're so blessed to arrive at this point.  The doctor found nothing for me to worry about on the last ultra-sound.  Everything looks healthy, no abnormalities.  He said to call him again as soon as I get pregnant again.  There's no rush for us.  We've only been married for 5 months.  If it happens again, it happens again!  I just have to thank God for His involvement in all of this--from the time we got pregnant, to the time I had a miscarriage, and the time now that we are relying on Him for strength and goodness. 

  When I said "slowly" getting back to routines, I mean really slow!  I'm really trying to slow the pace of my life down, just for my own sanity.  Meanwhile, I feel the world around me just keeps spinning faster.  It's just so much easier to explain by numbering down: 

  1.  Both Erwil and I have been staying at work pretty late.  We both have big projects to handle around this time of the month.  I am looking forward to meeting a few parents to report the progress of their child this 2nd reporting period.  (Notice I said "a few"!)  Open House is just around the corner.  I have to tidy-up my classroom!  Since getting sick, my priority hasn't been too much on the cleaning and organization of posting up student work.  Erwil's been going to work early and staying at work longer.  He has even brought the company issued laptop home and worked on some stuff at 3am.  Sometimes I stay up with him and have taken on some of his small chores, just to give him moral support--bring him a snack, make coffee, shoulder massage, washing dishes and taking out the trash.  We have been eating everything take-out because I don't have the time to cook! (I'll explain this more under #3)

  2.  I am also dragging myself to finish up the final 18 units of teacher coursework with Vanguard so that I can max-out on that lovely 98 units on the pay scale.  I'm trying to max-out before I hit 10 years of teaching experience.  How in the world does a teacher finish 98 units in one lifetime?  We make it work, but it's not so easy in the time management arena!  I'm not complaining about it because I really thought about finishing up these units in school administration back in the day.  Now that schools are facing this budget crisis and administrators are being pink slipped and rushing back into the classrooms faster than bolts of lightning, I am not regretting the decision I made to stick with teaching in the classroom at all. But let me tell you that I regret not finishing this before getting married!

  3.  I know that Erwil loves it when he comes home to my own cooking, but I'm glad he also understands that I can't always do this.  I felt guilty for being a "bad wife".  I discovered a good, cheap Filipino restaurant, Vietnamese restaurant and we frequent the Mexican food shop nearby.  I'm not too terrible with picking up a styrofoam box of food for the two of us.  At least I would never resort to frozen Swanson meals from the microwave, although it has crossed my mind a couple of times.  Erwil's not the cook, but he is the grill master.  I reassure him that when summer hits, we won't be bringing home too much take out food.  In these penny pinching times, I really give my mother and father props for always having a home cooked meal, even if it's just corned beef hash, rice and steamed veggies.  How did they snag the time to do that?  That Baby Boomer generation is so different from my generation! 

  4.  Doing God's work is a full-time deal.  I've been helping the church youth director out this past year and it does take so much of my own "free" time.  Some would assume this is only a Friday, Sunday thing, but it's not.  I've been building relationships with the high school girls mostly and we're getting deeper into our walk.  I have been lifting each of them in my prayer and just being a listening ear.  I really love our time of sharing and discovering Biblical truths.  It's not always feely-good Christian stuff that we've been digging into either--much more like a transition from the "milk to solid food" (1 Corinthians 3:2) type of study.  A lot of my own time reading, memorizing and studying God's Living Words have "pierced my soul" (Hebrews 4:12).    I'm growing in Christ and pursuing holiness just as much as they are in this discipleship group.  I'm thankful that my husband supports me in participating in the church youth group ministry as the Great Commission commands to MAKE disciples.  I'm just getting a glimpse of that Romans 1:1 where Paul describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.  I'm nowhere even near what Paul did for the Early Church.  I haven't even made anywhere close to it! Here I am knowing and feeling the weight of a tremendous need to grow as an earnest Christan and to serve God as Jesus Christ modeled,  and how Paul and so many others pursued.

  5.  Thank you for praying for me and Erwil.  I really appreciate what you did when words do not seem enough to convey your thoughts and feelings over what we experienced in February.  Like I said, these days are few and short.  There's so much work to do for God.  We're thankful that God's sustaining us and making the past experience a means of sanctification for us.

  • 1:16 am
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