Fall, winter, and other changing seasons...

A few pictures from our brief fall...

Bethany and her friend Maddie

My little explorer - has stick, will travel... into the marsh!

Hello, winter!

Bethany's first real snow experience. She looked a lot like the little brother in

Christmas Story when she tried to walk in the snow!

"Wheee!"

Yes, winter came much earlier this year than it has in the past 20 years! We don't mind though... yet. In March we may not be so happy that winter has lasted for 6 months!

Bethany is completely fascinated with "Noni" (Noah), the 4 year old who lives down the hall. She asks about him pretty much every day, and races for a hug when he comes to visit. We'll have to get a picture up soon... she's over-the-top excited about him! Bethany likes to play with his little sister, 2 year old Taylor, too, but she especially likes to play with her toys. ;-)

I had an interview for a part-time job helping to teach at a program for elementary age ESL students, so I'm waiting to hear back about that. The hours would work well with Todd's schedule, and it's nearby, so those are both pluses.

I've been getting more and more discouraged about having so little monthly income... I knew it would be a shock to go from two incomes to one part-time income, but I guess I didn't realize how frustrating it would be to not have the security of a stable income. Welcome to the real world, Rebecca! We've been so blessed - so much more than even many Americans are. 

The community here is just incredible, the classes are relevant and interesting to Todd, Bethany is having a blast, and we're making and growing lots of new friendships. If it weren't for the gnawing "Where is the money going to come from? But I don't WANT it to come out of our savings!" in the back (or front) of my mind, this would be like heaven.

So why do I let this bother me so much? Why can't I just relax and be comfortable knowing that God provided us with a scholarship to pay for tuition and the ability/savings to go without a big income?
Todd and I did some personality/emotional assessments during orientation week, and we went to our first "interpretation" of those assessments with a clinical psychologist this morning. It was great - she helped us to see our personal strengths/weaknesses, how they relate to each other, and how they relate to future ministry. But one thing that it revealed was my high anxiety level and Todd's very low anxiety level. He is so calm in the face of stress, and I freak out a little too much. So I can just keep reassuring myself that my tendency is to overreact... so it's not as bad as it seems.

Plus, God ironically placed a devotional in yesterday's Daily Bread that I'm sure was just put there for me. Check out your Daily Bread - it's probably not there in yours. :-) Anyway, the point was that although we don't need to be thankful FOR everything, we should be thankful IN every circumstance, because God is always behind the scenes to work things out for good. "Giving thanks in difficult circumstances is a small detail that makes a big difference." I'm trying. We really have SOO much to be thankful for, and nothing to worry about. (The only thing "difficult" about this circumstance is my own stubbornness in wanting even more financial security than we already have). There's a thankful seed that I need to just keep watering...