a journey of 2531 miles.: the ants go marching on.

well march was a busy month! i can't believe it's already almost half way through APRIL. or that i haven't written in 6 weeks. whoops.

we have a huge dry erase calendar that we all write our schedules on so, as roommates, we are clued in on each other's lives a little bit. we like to get creative sometimes:

last month's title: the ants go MARCHing on.
this month's title: APRIL showers bring...more showers.

this is seattle, after all. although this past week has been the warmest and sunniest we've seen yet, which gives me hope that summer might actually come before mid-july!! boy, that would be a treat.

these past couple months have flown by in a frenzy of babysitting, cooking, spending time with good friends, and FINALLY getting a job. i'll be starting to take on some dietetic counseling hours at a private practice here in west seattle in july, and all signs point toward certainty that i'll also be working on a pilot for a weight management program starting in may. in total, 40-45 hours per week!! i've been doing a lot of reading and research in preparation, hence my absence from the blogging world.

i've been pretty amazed by the grace of it all. both of these job opportunities basically fell into my lap, and all i can do is be thankful. i've applied for dozens and dozens of jobs in the past many months, and neither of these two was one of them. i found both (or they found me) through connections that i have through my current job and through church. not by coincidence, God has been showing me how i'm hesitant to accept the grace of others because i'm prideful and want to be able to do it all on my own, i don't want to be indebted. i want to earn the things that i receive, an idea that couldn't be more opposite from the definition of grace. it's pretty obvious that i in no way deserve these jobs. i was talking about it the other day and off-handedly said "all i did was go to school and work hard in my internship and be polite and respect my preceptors." that is true, but those are irrelevant in the bigger picture. God is so much BIGGER that that. regardless of if i had done those things or not, He is still sovereign and still provides, often in ways or times that we might not expect. and we cannot mess that up. it was His plan that i would search hard for jobs, go through several months of figuring i would never find one, and get turned down time and time again. and through that season, learn to rely on those around me, and understand what things do (Jesus) and do not (work, money, status, schedule, credentials) define who i am. and even as i hoped for a job, i was blessed to be "forced" to do the things that i want to do (i mean, a gal has to so SOMETHING with her day!) instead of always doing the things that i've always felt like i should be doing. i've done plenty of things that i love (cooking, crafting, reading, serving, being outside), and invested in a lot of relationships, and probably not really made much progress in the eyes of society. but this past year hasn't been wasted. it wasn't a gap year, a waiting period until i got a job and then real life could begin. it was a year of learning what i love, and of starting to (because i think we learn our whole lives) understand grace, grace that the Father poured out through my family and friends.

and so for the next month, i will soak. it. up. because a full time job will bring its own challenges and lessons, different from those of unemployment. i'm excited! but also a little sad, because this past season has been such a blessing, both in obvious and very sneaky ways.

and maybe with a little bit more routine there will be a little bit more blogging too :)

love,
tracey