nap time

On the seventh day God rested.
Why do I continuously think that I don't need what God Himself decided to partake of?
The end of August and beginning of September has been wonderful but ridiculously busy. New life changes, adjustments, new coworkers, new job/church/ministry/lifestyle. For the first time ever, I've undertaken carving out a home in this crazy world. And I like it. My boyfriend likes it. My guests like it. My friends of facebook 'like' it, or at least the album of pictures of it (yes that pun was intended). It does look like a grandma's house; the furniture is all wood and there are lace curtains and tablecloths, and my Queen Anne chairs are a soft pink. But I still love it. And it was inexpensive! lol.
My Sunday school teachers so far have loved every idea I've come up with but one, and I am building good relationships in the office of the church I'm working in. I've gone nuts with entertaining and had at least one couple/family over per week that I've been here if not more and fed them good food and gotten lots of compliments on my cooking and decor :-) Its jacked my grocery bill but right now I can afford it and I love being able to finally entertain. I'm slowly discovering more and more missions majors and friends who have graduated Boyce who are still in the area and gotten lots of invitations to come have tea and catch up with friends who have gotten married and expecting or already had babies.
Aaaaand I'm tired.
This week has been the least busy so far, and I think its all catching up to me finally. I don't want it to though; I wish my energy would never run out. But Kyle and I ran some errands today and after the last one I was so tired my eyes started closing by themselves so he told me to put the seat back and lay down for our half hour ride back to the house. So I did and that was the beginning of about a two-hour nap. And I'm still sleepy. Thbbth.
The nice thing is I don't have anything on docket for tomorrow as far as going anywhere or seeing anyone. I do have to teach Sunday school to the older kids and am also doing the first Children's Church this Sunday as well. So at some point I need to put together lessons for those. I really would like to donate all existing material, literature, and curriculum this church has as its all old and out of date and just buy new stuff. But World War Three will ensue if I do that, so I must bide my time and strategize and be patient. 
And I've started laying seeds amongst the powers that be that the kids NEED their own Sunday school room! Kyle did point out that they haven't had their own Sunday School room in this church for about twenty years, so if I don't get it done this month or this year its not the end of the world. I don't think its the end of the world, its just I have cool ideas that I can't do unless we have our own room! And I just don't like the fact that the daycare has taken over the entire children's ministry area and now if Sunday Morning or Wednesday night kids ministry wants to do anything we have to make sure it doesn't conflict with anything the daycare does. Well... in my humble opinion that is not so humble, a church's priority ought to be the kids ministry not the daycare. But that's just me. So anyway.
I know things will naturally progress into a routine, but I wish it would hurry up and i would figure everything out! I need to get this job sorted and settled so I can get a second job to have some cash flow, and I'd also like to not be so exhausted all the time so that I could get back to needlepoint and painting and doing that sort of creative stuffs that is relaxing and satisfying to me.
Sooo stuff is going good but hectic :-)
Nap time is glorious thing!
~PrincessOuch~

curtains finish a room

 Jaci Velasquez was my hero when I was growing up. I remember in an interview she told someone that her favorite thing in life was her new house in Nashville, TN. The main reason? "Its mine. I picked out everything in it." At the time it made NO sense to me. Now it makes PERFECT sense!

 I have been accused of having an 'old lady house,' in that I have antique lamps, there are lace curtains hanging in the windows, and all of my furniture is wood or has wood on it. Max said, 'Yeah it may look like Grandma's house. But everyone LIKES coming to Grandma's house! Its homey!' And besides, vintage is in, right?

 Except for my bathroom. I have a dolphin bathroom. My parents sent me some of the many boxes I have in their attic. I'm trying to get them from there to here but its a slow process. But in the boxes they sent this last time were childhood treasures. My dolphin collection I'd been adding to since I was a wee lass in California up to a teenager was washed and framed and placed in little nooks and gives the bathroom such a fun, young, unique look. My outlet for my deep love of the sea. I love my bathroom! All the plants in it are real too. :-D It is amazing though how relaxing the wood and soft colors are. Its even more amazing how something so simple as hanging curtains changes the look of the room and gives it so much more of a finished feel. Its so nice to have my own PLACE. If I want to hang a picture on this part of the wall, I can. And do. If I'm not sure what to do with it, I can wait. And do. If I want to leave dishes in the sink overnight, I can. And do. If I want my kitchen to be spotless, however, I can clean it knowing it will STAY CLEAN until I mess it up again. It is so refreshing!!!!

 I've had a TON of company over, too. Its nice to be able to have friends come over and make them feel relaxed and feed them good food and then enjoy laughter for hours afterwards. I love entertaining people! Good food on good dishes with good company = a wonderful night to me. It gives both them and me a break from the stresses of our new found adulthood. I know this is the Ministry God has called me to for now at this church for this time, but I also feel a sense of God's calling when showing friends hospitality. The cool thing about my curtains for the living room and my bedroom is that I saw them at the free store on seminary campus while still a student and thought I would save them for when I had my own place. They fit the windows PERFECTLY! I told Gail, 'God picked out my curtains for me!!" The same with the bathroom; Max was browsing a second hand store and saw it. It was just one panel, but he thought it would match my bathroom and it does PERFECTLY!!! So God picked out my curtains!!!! I am so blessed. It is truly the little things in life :-) There have been plenty of bumps in the road on this new journey and season; I've already shed some tears of frustration and overwhelmed-ness, but still overall am just sooooooo blessed. :-)

Getting into the groove... I think

Movie: Ironwill. Will is a teenager getting ready to compete in a cross-country dog sled race, and the local Native Americans are helping him learn how to survive not only the wild, but the wild men he will be interacting with. "How do I know who to trust?" he finally asks. "Trust the dogs. Trust yourself." the old chief tells him.
Except I don't have any dogs, I just have a FISH!!!! At least dogs are fluffy and look at you with big understanding eyes. Fish just glub at you! lol
No its cool its just a little overwhelming, because almost every time I've met a new person in this church for longer than five seconds, they are pulling me into a hallway giving me some 'helpful information' i.e. pushing their agenda. Aaaaaand it kinda sucks because they seem so NICE at first and then its like, aHA, so THATS your angle!!!
But the youth pastor did pull me aside and said, "there's a psalm, I think its Psalm 2, where it says 'the nations cry out.' The context is that a new king has just taken power, which means there is a power vacuum. A new king means new policies, he's a new personalities, no one knows what to expect, everyone is vying for power trying to push their own agenda. I just want to encourage you that David survived, so will you. I forgot how frustrating it was moving into a new ministry till I saw your face last night and then it all came back to me. Don't worry, you'll learn the names and faces and politics of this church. Don't be discouraged.As much as everyone wants to tell you what THEY think ought to happen, God didn't call them to this position He called YOU and this is YOUR ministry right now. If they wanted it that bad they could of applied for it but they didn't. So just remember that. God called you here. You've got muscle so don't worry to do what you need to do."
And I had a meeting with one of the elders of my previous church as a last 'hurrah' before moving membership. He asked lots of questions and best way to describe the church I'm in now is  that its a country church with inner-city dynamics. Brother Andy, the elder, is in his 60's, has a Ph.D. in Josephus or some ancient historian like that, and told me today he has worked with drug addicts and homeless people for several years. 'Listen to people, hear what they have to say, and learn to use phrases that buy you time so you can consider what they are really saying underneath the words they think you want to hear. Trust your gut. Find outside sources you can trust to bounce ideas off of and for objective opinions."So I think today was God saying, 'breathe Rachel its okay."
I've never been part of any church for more than a couple of years at a time. The longest was probably the First Church of the Nazarene in New Mexico, and it was kind of chopped up as we went to another church for a while as well. But all that time, Baptists were kind of the special cousin in Christendom that we were just so glad we weren't part of. I've heard of scary tiny southern baptist churches, and now I am not only part of one but a leader in one! And its exciting but somewhat terrifying.
At first I was like, "I'm gonna grow this ministry and it will be awesome!" Which I still hope for, but I guess I'm tempered down a little to, 'I want this to work for several years. And I want this ministry to grow. But if all I do is make an eternal difference in the lives of the ten kids that are in the ministry now, that's more than enough for me right there.'
In other news, worked in what will be my office but is currently the 'children's ministry resource center,' a.k.a the dump spot for anyone who gets a good deal on crayons. Or the place where all the cardboard backs to pads of paper end up (instead of the trash can!!!) just in case they might be needed for a craft. The secretary and the pastor want to leave all that stuff in there after it becomes my office, and the youth pastor said "Oooooh no. They tried to do that to my office and then its not an office its your desk and phone in the supply closet. MOVE IT. Do not budge on that!"  Which quite frankly there are enough unused classrooms that there is plenty of space for the two bookshelves to go besides my office. Speaking of which,
I HAVE AN OFFICE!!!
I have absolutely no office furniture to put in there as of yet. But I have decided that I am going to have a cool office. I don't know what exactly that means yet, but... anyway :-)
Going to meet the WMU ladies tomorrow morning and work a banquet back on campus for some pocket change ;-)
Enough for now. Going to bed :-)
~Princess Ouch~