Andy and I are leaving at 4:30 in the morning to get to the airport in time to check our bags, stand in line forever, be frisked by guys in bad polyester suits, have our toothpaste and shampoo confiscated and plug our noses while the weird guy in front of us takes off his shoes and reveals his stinky feet to safely traverse the metal detector!

Once we’re safely seated on the plane, we will head out to Myrtle Beach, SC! This is a trip that we both always look forward to. It’s lots of reading, swimming, sun bathing, walks by the ocean (I’ll wiggle my toes in the sand for you Ruth!), eating, playing with the kids, and vegging in front of HGTV at night. We have both had a lot going on lately, so this will be a much needed and appreciated vacation.

I’ll be sure to post pics when I return!!

Wow. It is so awesome to see God reach down and make things work out for his children. I’ve been praying and working diligently at trusting Him more completely with my life, and boy is He coming through for me! I was under the impression that my job would be officially over on August 31st. That’s the end date of our grant and I’m on vacation from the 26th- Sept. 3rd, so I have been working furiously to tie up all the loose ends of this 6 year program so that by Friday I’d be all set. Then, everything changed.

My boss was on vacation all last week and hadn’t gotten any news about extending the end date of our grant (that’s why I was counting on leaving at the end of this month). But she came home and got news that our extention was approved and we have till December 31st! The next part of the good news is that there is enough money left in the grant to keep me on through December! That means I can continue to count on my salary and my benefits! (both of which I’ve been very nervous about losing) It gets better… one of the Academic Service Officers in the Chemistry Department is retiring at the end of January. All of the key people in Chemistry happen to really like me (I’m always very friendly and upbeat around them, I crack jokes and always bring them cookies at Christmas so how could they not like me?!?!) Anyway they all want me to get the job and my current boss is really pushing for that too. The Department got approval to overlap which means that they can hire someone in the beginning of January and Sharon, the current ASO, can start using up her 25+ vacation days while I start learning the ropes. So it looks like I may get to transition right into that job as soon as mine expires! It’s not a sure thing yet, but the odds are in my favor. If nothing else, I at least have 4 more months to find something. If I do get the job it will be very different from the one I’ve had for the past 4 years, but it will be a challenge and I am a better person all around when I’m being challenged.

God is so good to His children. I knew He would come through for me, but I’m still touched at how much He really cares about my little life. I’m continuing to pray that I’m eligible for that position and that something else will come along if that falls through. This may be the first time in a long time that I have really relaxed and trusted in Him authentically. It was all worth it if just for that step of growth.