Is my favorite book. In it, wise Solomon reminds us to keep an eternal perspective on life. As we come, so we will depart, and all that really matters in the middle how well we love. He urges us to enjoy this "vapor" of a life, and to find gladness in whatever lot God gives us. My favorite verse:
Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
This is pretty much where we are right now. God has graciously blessed our training business, and we are really enjoying each client that He gives to us. I can't express how much we love this job. It is so rewarding to help others improve their lives. While kicking butts every day is very fun, I think we enjoy getting to know our clients more than anything. Many of them are our dear friends, and it totally fills us up to interact with them every day.
Sweet baby with her 2 best buds.
As much as I wish we could live this life forever, unfortunately personal training does not provide the stability that we desire for our family. When its good, its very good, but when its bad, its very bad. Wow, what wisdom. Steve will need to get a job that provides benefits and a steady paycheck. Thus come the "roads" that the aforementioned verse refers to. We are "planning" on Steve to become a Charlotte firefighter. Firefighting really interests Steve because it will allow him to keep a physical job while working with a team of guys. Moreover, firefighting will give Steve the flexibility to continue training with me on his "off days" while providing us health insurance and a steady income. Steve completed the first "phase" of the process to become a firefighter when he took the written exam two weeks ago. Now, we wait to hear how he did. If he passed, he might be invited to the next phase which is a physical test. Not everyone who passes gets invited to the next step...passing just guarantees that they will consider your application.
Eating her ipod. Yes, it is her's now. She managed to get it even though the stereo was facing the wall!
With all that said, we are not ruling out football. Steve is staying in shape and talking to his agent on a weekly basis. With the looming lockout, who knows what will happen. The UFL is still an option, although it looks like it might fold. the CFL has expressed interest, but we are not sure about moving to Canada. So, like Solomon says, we have no idea what will succeed - firefighting, football, training - but we promise to give our best effort in each doorway. Our prayer is that God closes and opens the doors that He wants for us; and that we follow Him, not our desires which change with the wind.
Sweet baby in her first snow!
Hannah is doing spectacular! She is over 10 months old now, and is talking all the time. We are pretty sure that her first word was "puppy", and she says "momma" and "dada" pretty discriminately. She is not walking yet, but she "cruises" down furniture and window ledges. She LOVES Dallas and Daytona, and always wants to be near them. She is a super eater and eats anything we try to give her. Her favorites are edamame, goat yogurt, brown rice, spinach, tomatoes, bananas, oatmeal, and egg yolks. HA, that was quite a laundry list. I am still nursing, and with God's grace, I hope to continue until she turns 1 year. Speaking of that big birthday, we are throwing a party at our house on March 19. Some friends and family will be coming in from out of town, and we are very excited for the event. I think it will be a Mexican-themed party with a pinata, homemade tamales (and of course the other wonderful tex-mex fixings including guacamole and salsa), and maybe even a mariachi band!
Still loves her thumb.
Well, I have written entirely too much at this point. I really want to update this more often. Thank you for checking in on us and we hope that we can hear from you too - we love updates from our far-away friends and family.
Always looking up with those big beautiful hazel eyes.
If there is anything that we have learned over these past 2 years, it is that nothing other than Christ can satisfy our hearts' deepest desire. If I could only get it right more often. This world is not fair, and so many things happen that don't make sense. Everyone experiences hardship, and no one is immune to inexplicable tragedies in their lives. The only sure thing is Jesus...who we desire to know more and to be more like each day...
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Some more pics from January 2011...
First playgroup date at MyGym. She loved it!
The first of many tradition Friday night in-home dinner and movie dates. First two Fridays = sushi from our fav Cyros. Love them bc they do brown rice and lump crab! First two movies = Social Network and Winter's Bone. Both very good!
Been doing some hosting lately. Made some yummy food. Here are our fav sweet potato wedges basted with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic and cayenne pepper.
Mahi Mahi kebabs with bell peppers.
Super spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion. Love Annie's organic balsamic vinaigrette and Brianna's organic honey mustard dressings.
A Justice mainstay = tortilla chips, roasted garlic salsa, pico de gallo, and homemade guacamole!
