My sophomore year of coordinating the bell ringing efforts for Washington County Salvation Army is proving to be so much better than last year. We have great help this Christmas season which is taking A LOT of stress off of me. My assistant is fantastic and so I look forward to 50 hour work weeks instead of 70 hours. Dustin has already noticed my fairly stress free attitude and is loving it. I really appreciate beginning our mornings by reading a Psalm. It has helped me to keep the right perspective while at work. It's hard at times to not be overwhelmed by the workload and to get stressed and frustrated. But the fact remains that because of our efforts, THOUSANDS of families are being provided for. Because of the madness, thousands of individuals will be helped, and that's what makes all the work worth it. So, (and here's my plug) even if you're annoyed by the sound of the bell, be generous and donate to The Salvation Army's red kettle, it's for a great cause.

I found out on Friday that I didn't get a second interview for a job with Portland Public Schools. I was pretty bummed, still am really. It's weird because I felt like I was perfect for this job and financially, wow, it would have rocked our world. It's weird to come to a place and realize, "Maybe I'm not as good as I think I am." I think God is chipping away at my pride a little bit through this whole experience. (I think job hunting in general humbles any human.) But I feel like God is teaching me yet again to depend on him and not in my own abilities. No matter how good at something I think I am, or how qualified or whatever, my life is in God's hands, not mine. It seems a bit cliche, but I do believe that God has a plan for me and that there must be something better. I also know that I have NO IDEA what that is. So, I press on and continue to job hunt (thanks to my awesome husband for assisting with that) and to search for where God wants me.

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