optimistical (again)

I don't know what else to title a blog when you a) don't really have much of anything to say, but b) do feel pretty happy/upbeat/optimistical.

I think it has something to do with the weather. HalleLUJAH, praise the LORD, it is 50something degrees outside. In general 50something degrees isn't anything worth writing home about...but when it's been in the TWENTIES and THIRTIES (if not LESS) for 2 weeks straight...well, fifty feels downright balmy. Makes me want to bust out my flip flops and drink a pina colada. And do a little dance. But maybe it's just me.

Ummm...let's see. I'm home from work early, waiting on our new furniture (see previous post) to be delivered! Naturally they gave me a very specific window of time in which they promised to come...2-6. I get off work at 4:45 and although I can almost guarantee they wouldn't actually get here til 5:30 or something...I know if I took the chance and stayed at work then they most CERTAINLY would get here before me. So I left at 2 and just as I suspected...still no furniture. It's okay though. I had lots of other things to work on.

We're going to visit our long-lost friends the Moores this weekend and I am very excited!! We haven't gone to see them since they moved away in April and now that they have a baby due basically any day...figured we should go visit. :) Because once that baby is born there's no way we'll get a proper tour of their home and town...cause everyone knows newborns are big fat attention hogs. Geez. Therefore once Hartley is born, I have a distinct suspicion that Amanda's attention will be torn away from that which is truly important, which is cooking for me. And I can't let that happen.

I read a really good book this week: Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoirs of a Girl who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things), by Abby Sher.

It's the memoir of a Jewish girl who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder from her early childhood into her thirties. I just spent like 20 minutes trying to summarize the story but if you really want to know, just click the Amazon link above and check out the reviews. :) It was amazing and I couldn't put it down and it was a very eye-opening look into how OCD looks/develops in a young child. An intense read for sure. I cried a lot. I got it at the public library, so you should check it out at yours.

Speaking of intense reads...I came across this article last week via another blog I read. It's from The Journal of Biblical Counseling (which should interest all you marriage/family therapists in training!) and the article is entitled The Bible and the Pain of Infertility. It's a good read...eye opening and heartbreaking, but very practical. I loved it not only because I can identify with much of what the authors talk about (hello, hope/despair cycle!) but because I loved how explicitly they discussed the Biblical viewpoint of suffering, mourning, and anger. And that they broke down (for counselors, which is whom the article is geared towards) how to use all this information when counseling people suffering infertility. Um, and what to say/what NOT to say. That was good too. I think that anyone who knows someone dealing with infertility would benefit from reading this...not only to get a glimpse into the minds of people suffering (which the authors definitely do) but also to learn how to encourage and pray for them.

Well I guess that's enough for now. You've got your reading assignments ;) and I still don't have my furniture. Go figure. Have a wonderful weekend! And if you read/have read either the book or that article...let's discuss!