You may be surprised to hear that it was Cold Tangerines that originally inspired my blog. The book is full of stories of the small ways God has revealed his love and grace throughout her life. It is difficult to read this book and not get the itch to sit down and write about your life. Her honest, positive, creative energy is quite contagious. So, I felt inspired and convicted to start documenting my life and, in the process, make myself think about how God was working in me and my marriage no matter how uneventful my days seemed.
The last time I read all the way through the book was the week after our honeymoon. We were out in Pensacola, FL for James' water survival, and I didn't have much to do during the day but sit on a park bench outside of our hotel room and read. This little orange book completely sucked me in and gave me a new perspective on marriage and how to find true joy in any circumstance (a very important lesson for any AF spouse!)
This time through, I feel like I can relate to her even more now that I've been married for a while. In each story she tells, I see a little of myself or my friends and all the things that we struggle with. I'm struck by the truth that she speaks about the way we women think and react to different things, and how we are never finished learning or growing. It's an enjoyably challenging read. :-)
Again, I was inspired to take a look back at all I've been through since saying "I do" and reflect on how God has been working in me. I went back and looked through all of my old blog posts and was surprised to see that, already, I had forgotten about some of the things James and I have done! Initially I was writing about my efforts to be a good house keeper, and learning to work as a team in our home. Now that all seems like second-nature and I'm more concerned about what we're doing outside the home (with jobs and friends and church). I spent a lot of time complaining about being bored and wishing I had something purposeful to do with my time. Now I feel like time is slipping through my fingers much too quickly and I'm not able to accomplish all that I need to do! We've experienced a lot of exciting firsts - first vacation as a family, becoming an aunt and uncle for the first time, having our first Christmas in our own home, renting a home for the first time, and buying me my first car. We've also been through some rough times with innumerable health problems and long work hours (for James) and anxiety over an uncertain future. But over all I'd say that we've had a very full and joyful life together so far and I'm really looking forward to writing about what comes next! So stay tuned for more of my musings on life's little moments... I intend to keep this up for a long time.
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