Yesterday was my 31st birthday. It fell on a Saturday this year, so I got what I really wanted: a day to relax and rest. It started with breakfast-in-bed made by my sweet husband, it included time read, rest, and talk to family via video chat, and it finished with a delicious dinner at Chili’s and fun at the mall. Mixed in there were some other special moments, and of course, I tried to capture most of the day in photos. Continue reading “Birthday Blessings”
A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook for a recipe that looked sort of irresistible (if you like bananas): 5 Ingredient Banana Cake. So, at about 10 minutes to 9:00 p.m. tonight (Friday), I asked Charles to run down to the 7-11 below our apartment to pick up 4-5 bananas (coincidentally, the only fresh fruit that 7-11 keeps in stock). Charles sweetly obliged after questioning my sanity (Charles: You’re going to bake this now? Me: Yes, sweetheart. It takes 20 minutes to bake, and it has only five ingredients!).
I have an anxiety disorder. It might be temporary (here’s hoping), but for now I’m dealing with it. Though not a particularly serious one, it is a mental illness. That term, “mental illness,” is crucial to understanding what I’m going through and how I’m healing.
At first when my counselor categorized my anxiety and depression as “mental illness,” I balked. I did not want to admit that what I was dealing with was a mental illness because to me that term implied something much more serious. However, I began to see that just as there are different levels of physical illness (the common cold vs. cancer, for instance), there are different levels of mental illness as well. Continue reading “Can I Take a Sick Day?”
It’s Saturday morning, and I’m sitting on the couch balancing my Macbook and my dog Emi on my lap. I can’t help but think how thankful I am for this little pup and her companionship over the last five years.
I’ve been thinking a lot about thankfulness over the past few days. I recently read Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, and I was overwhelmed by the attitude of thankfulness (eucharisteo) that the author exhibited and challenged readers to embrace as well. The most significant take-away for me was that in Scripture thankfulness always comes before the miracle. In other words, we are to be thankful–whether in good circumstances or bad–because a thankful heart allows us to pay attention to the miracles–big or small–that God performs in our lives. Continue reading “Thankful”
Peace Along the Journey 