Thursday, March 24

Psalm 25

Of David.


In you, LORD my God,

I put my trust.

I trust in you;

do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one who hopes in you

will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, LORD,

teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you, LORD, are good.

Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful

toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

For the sake of your name, LORD,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, are those who fear the LORD?

He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

They will spend their days in prosperity,

and their descendants will inherit the land.

The LORD confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the LORD,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart

and free me from my anguish.

Look on my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

See how numerous are my enemies

and how fiercely they hate me!

Discouragement

It's a tough time in the job market. Adam's process reminds me of my getting out of college (ack, 11 years ago!). I had this belief that businesses would be waiting at the graduation door to beg me to work for them. Instead, it was a 2.5 year process of temping and working in politics before I found a job. He's far more realistic.

There's nothing quite as discouraging as hearing nothing. While I hate the answer "no, we've gone with another candidate," (and by the way, no matter how gracious the response - and we've gotten some gracious "no's" - it's still just a kick in the stomach) the quiet uneasiness of hearing nothing is awful. Silence encourages hope, which is so painful when dashed.

It takes me about a day to work through the disappointment, anger, sadness and frustration when we don't hear a positive response. It's the reminder that I'm  not in control. 

So here we are. Praying. Praying, Praying, Praying for opportunities. Praying for interviews. Because my husband is a phenomenal worker, a brilliant teacher, one who puts an amazing amount of time and effort into his lessons.


Please Pray with us.

Saturday, March 12

Catch up.

I'm digging a number of things out from under piles and piles of ....things. One of them is this blog.

We'll see how long my endurance runs, but I was reading Addie and Molly's blogs and feeling just a little jealous that they are keeping up with their blogs - with life being hectic and crazy for both of them. I thought, well, sheesh, I don't have a 6 year old or a 3 month year old. If they can do it, so can ....I?

Today is the third day in a row that Adam and I have left the house for more than 5 hours to do work, as we both need internet to complete our jobs. The problem with home? No internet. (WHAT? Why not? Adam and Hannah are LUDDITES!) You know, I've thought about this a lot, and last month we were the closest we've ever come to getting internet at the house. But then we're like, "$37 a month? That's a dinner out, or at LEAST 5 times to the coffee shop to get coffee and internet." And I like coffee.

So here we are again at Borders. This time we're at my favorite spot. A big table, next to the electrical plug and near enough to windows to see the sunshine, but not burn to a crisp sitting in it. We've done this a few times.

Today is also the third day in a row that I've actually done what I was supposed to, based on my Remember The Milk task list. I'm a "Getting Things Done" junkie that falls off the wagon pretty regularly. (I linked to someone else's blog because it was a better example than the actual David Allen website -which is there to sell you things.) So, I need a good task list and was given a good review on RTM. Of course, I emailed the person supporting RTM, and found that he's moving on to another organizational program, but THAT one is $75! No thanks. Free is the name of the game in the Porcella family right now.

Adam is applying to teaching jobs right now around the country. We're praying for God's direction and *blessings*, and maybe a miracle to bring us close to family in either Billings or Philadelphia. The most interesting position is one in a state that won't acknowledge my professional counseling license - Which will be completed in August, Lord willing.

Licensure is a fun topic - I'm working about 50 hours a week trying to get licensed by August, so that if Adam and I have to move in the summer I'll be ready to go. I'm way ahead on client hours but way behind on reading hours. I mean, reading is very important to keep up with the latest and greatest in Christian psychology (no, not an oxymoron). However reading about eating disorders is the last thing I want to do at 10 pm when I get home.

I'm currently reading about Boundaries, (a book by Cloud and Townsend) along with about half my client load - homework assigned to them because I like it so much! I'm a terrible person when it comes to boundaries. I've had to learn that I'm a very subtle people pleaser ("fear of man issue," for all of those Westminster-ites out there) who gets very angry when I feel like others are expecting me to do more than I can. Previously, I've blamed others for their unreasonable expectations. I'm now learning to figure out what I can reasonably do and then deal with the disappointment of others when I can't be all that they want me to be (i.e., workhorse, savior, Tigerblood Goddess.)

And since everything lately has a Charlie Sheen component: My arm-chair diagnosis: Axis I: 296.52, BiPolar, Moderate; Axis II: 301.81, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, with Borderline features. I'm currently ruling out Histrionic features. In the south, they'd just call it a Hot Mess. ("I'm Bi-Winning!)

Ok, so I'm going off to actually DO the things that my RTM list says I should do....since I bragged about it, and have now procrastinated!
With octaves of a mystic depth and height