Life Update...

Wow. Where to begin. I feel like more has happened in the past two months then almost all of last year....!

--Turned in all of my grad paperwork to Fresno State and am planning to start my master's in Marriage and Family Therapy this fall. No idea what it will all look like yet because I'm still planning on working full time and going to school part time for now. So I took the first step and got all of my paperwork in. And so begins the start of a new chapter in my life...

--A lot has been going on at work, as many of you have read in the Fresno Bee about the layoffs and salary reductions affecting various people at the university. It hasn't been easy for anyone. I've been trying to keep perspective and focus more on my job of working alongside and coming alongside students rather then dabbling in all the politics... As staff reductions have taken place, there is still the same amount of work to be done but now with less people. This has made everyone have more work and in some cases some have been given two jobs to cover. Needless to say, things can be stressful at times.

--My grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer again after being free from it for over 10 years. "It doesn't look too good honey" are the words that continually ring in my head. She had a double mastectomy on Monday and received her test results on Tuesday showing that even after the surgery, the cancer was still present in her body and had spread. There are no adequate words to describe the deep sadness that has been in my heart since hearing the news. It's hard. Very hard at times.

Many of you know I am incredibly close to both my grandma and grandpa. I often think of the time I spend with them like a mini retreat as I glean wisdom from them and am continually encouraged by them in all I do. They have been my rock through a lot of life's pain.

I think those are the three main things that have taken up most, if not all, of my mental and emotional energy as of lately.

Through it all I am reminded of how blessed I am to have people in my life who walk alongside me and love me deeply. And God is using each of these things to teach me more about myself and more about Him and His faithfulness to me.

Romans 5:3-5 has remained a constant in my mind "...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us..."

Hope does not disappoint us. Everything and everyone else in our life will. He, the giver of true hope, won't. Ever.

Many of you reading this have been the ones walking alongside me through all of this. And thank you will never be enough. But thank you. And unfortunately, I think there is still a lot of walking to be done on this road. But keep walking I will. Only by His grace.