Whirlwind, 26 Weeks + 6 Days (27 Weeks)

There is a reason this blog is called Seven Tornadoes, it's because life for me is often swirling around and I'm just grasping to hold on to the baseboards of the home I've made for myself and my little family. To say things have not slowed down would be an understatement.

The first tornado is my life right now is our backyard. When we moved into our house in Sept. 2008 we knew that eventually we would do some work in our backyard, but didn't know what we wanted to happen. We couldn't decide if we wanted a backporch and leave the swampy, woodsy divide between our house and the land behind us or to clear our entire backyard of said swamp, sod the area, put up a privacy fence and have a large backyard. We decided on making a backyard for the house because we really wanted a large fenced in backyard for Sawyer (the pup) and Jude (the babe) to play in while Jude is growing up. Also, there was no place for a swing-set or anything like that back there, and though there is a park about 2 miles down the road, it'll be nice to have play area in the back too. But, of course, as soon as we started the project it started raining in Florida. Been cold and dry for weeks ... now rain. We wanted to get it done before late spring because we want the grass to not die when we plant it, so we started early, but now my backyard is a HUGE mudpit. We have a large dirt pile sitting in our front yard, which the neighborhood kids have taken to sliding down and trying to ramp with their bicycles, and construction equipment littered around the lawn. It's a huge mess! A nice mess, mind you, but not pretty at all.

Second and third tornadoes? Family stuff and work stuff. Both, who I don't like to talk too much about in my blog, have been stressful and full of uncertainty in the last few weeks, and it has taken a lot of prayers and support from my amazing husband to get through everything. It looks like the family stuff is going to calm down a bit, but as for work ... we'll have to wait it out a little while longer to see if that fixes itself.

Fourth tornado? School ... this is my last semester and I've got lots of books to read and papers to write and I know that I'll get through it, but when I look at the mountain of work ahead of me I want to scream. Not to mention that I have until April 1 to finish ALL my paperwork for my upcoming meeting for ordination ... let's hope I can get things done today and get caught up so I can spend some time writing in the upcoming weeks and get things taken care of!

In the whirlwind those are the things that are spinning around me. Pregnancy wise everything is going fine. Last doctor's appointment went very well with just a quick visit and I have my glucose test Friday after next. Jude kicks a lot now, early morning, lunch-time, snack-time, dinner, my kid likes meal time, and doesn't appreciate waiting! I'm feeling pretty good and actually getting sleep, which I'm so thankful for! Tomorrow starts the beginning of my "28th" week according to one calculation which means I'm starting the third trimester. Martin and I have several baby classes coming up and I look forward to all the fun stuff we are going to learn together. We already went to "Fido meets the New Baby," and learned a lot of tools that we are using on Sawyer to get him ready. We were planning to start Childbirth 101 tonight but I had to reschedule to a one-day intensive class so that will be later on in April. We also have a baby shower happening in Arkansas next weekend which I'm going to get to go home for but Martin is going to have to stay behind and work. :( We also need to work on planning the Florida showers, which I need to get moving on!

So, overall, even though the room is still spinning, I know we are going to make it through. I'm looking forward to the next few months spending time with my husband before our world gets turned upside down from not only a tornado, but I'm predicting Jude is going to be a little hurricane! :)

Seven Tornadoes

So, the blog has gotten a little makeover, and it's going in a new direction. Martin has officially given me permission to use this blog as my own personal creative outlet. I'm sure there will still be plenty of family updates, but that will not be the sole purpose of the blog. I've also registered the domain for this blog, so soon you can visit www.seventornadoes.com, and will get right to my blog (and for you Google Readers out there, take a moment and stop by and see how pretty the page looks!)

But, why the name Seven Tornadoes? It goes back to my high school senior newspaper, and class predictions. I wish I had the actual copy (Whitney, you have it somewhere I'm sure) but the gist of it was that I wasn't going to amount to much of anything ... I think it was probably a joke, and I took it lightly, but as a good friend says, there is truth in every joke. However, I knew myself better than anyone else, and I feel like I have been successful, but life is crazy and there are times when I feel like tornadoes are ripping through! That's what this blog is for, to give you the blow-by-blow!

Seven Tornadoes:
Seven Tornadoes, the amount that my high school classmates predicted to sweep through the trailer park where I was supposedly going to end up with my seven children. What happened instead was I became a major overachiever, live in an actual house, and don't even have kids at the ripe old age of 26. It was all in fun and games, but there was always this underlying idea that I would just get married and settle down in Arkansas. However, I instead am a career woman, happily married to my soulmate and living in Florida. This blog is a collection of my journalist work, my personal musings, religious ramblings, and a little fun and games of my own in-between! My life is a whirlwind, I guess I couldn't keep all the tornadoes away!

A World of HOPE!

The last six months of my life have not been the easiest. To be honest, there were some days that I was so fed up, so tired, so out of hope that I didn't even want to get out of bed in the mornings. I was overwhelmed in a job that put a lot of pressure on me to preform at a level that was beyond ANYONE'S ability. I was questioning God and my faith because ordination was going well, but as more and more things came to light, I knew I could not work in the local church. I was working through a long-overdue conversation with myself regarding forgiveness and truth when my Father passed away in March. And, I was house-hunting.

Late summer brought deliverance to my family and I want to offer praise to God for that deliverance. I gave my notice at First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee on July 31, 2008 with a heavy heart, but I was moving towards my call and my true passion. After a great trip home to Arkansas to visit my family, I began working at HOME on Aug. 8 as the Development Associate. I can honestly say that I adore my new job! We are a small non-profit working to break the cycle of homelessness in Osceola County. I am all public relations, all the time. I get to do all the things I love (designing newsletters, graphics, websites) and keep speaking in front of people about a topic that I am super passionate about, homelessness. What's amazing is that this job fits perfectly into my ordination track (as a Deacon, we are dedicated to serving God through working in the world). I have a great boss and I really admire the whole staff because they are all very talented and amazing women! It's honestly my dream job and I hope to be there for a really long time.

This fall has also brought deliverance. Deliverance from the world of hopelessness when searching for a home for Martin and I. Wouldn't it just glorify God that we would close on a house in less than two weeks, a house that someone in our Bible study told us about, on the day (September 30, 2008) after the market crashed 777 (yeah, anyone else notice the perfect number there)?

The new house is amazing, it is brand new, it's out in the "sticks" as someone put it at church and it's the perfect size to raise a (future) family. I can't wait to get moved in and settled!

It's been a hard six months, in fact, it's been a tough two years. I know that times will not always be easy. In fact, one of my friends suggested I delete my earlier, depressing blogs from Myspace. But, I don't want to do that. I want the reminder there. The knowledge that I have been tested and that at the end of the trial, God Provided.

I know that many people have problems with faith, and sometimes it's hard to understand why people are so faithful to a God that they can not see or understand. But, for me, faith comes easy. Because, I have been tested, and I've come out stronger. I know that my God provides in ways that I would have never imagined. It is not because of who I am that God has provided but because of who he makes me to be.

Isaiah 40:26-31

26Lift up your eyes on high and see the stars:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.

27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?

28Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.

29He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;

31but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.