Updates:

I figured I should get 2 posts in today since it has been awhile. Just wanted to keep you posted on what is up in my world.
Work: I am currently working 2 jobs and have been for 4 months now. I am tired. I applaud the people who do this their whole lives as I can not continue. I will miss my coworkers but believe my sleep and mental health to be more important than the extra cash I have been making. Some nights I am getting home at 11pm and need to be up at 3:15AM to get to job number 2. Not my cup of tea!
Age: I turned 27 almost 2 weeks ago and although I do not feel older, I think I am starting to look it. I have been finding grey hairs like you find little kids at a playground...they are EVERYWHERE!!! This shouldn't be a surprise to me as my mom has had a full head of grey since she was 40. My b-day party was fun (maybe a little too much) and I am so thankful for the amazing people God has placed in my life. My Grammy flew in to town to celebrate with the family as well and it was so great to spend some time with her.
Church: Have I said how much I love my church? Substance is honestly such an amazing place for me to be right now. The teaching hits home every week and it just starts my week on the right foot. They have been challenging us to get more involved and I really want to join a small group. The time factor has been a factor for me but I am working on that one. The last 6 months I have been going by myself which has been a big growth experience for me ( the girl who never goes ANYWHERE alone) but God has placed a friend in my life who was looking to attend with someone and so I am excited about that.
Dating: It has finally happened :) I know a few of you reading my blog will be glad to know that there is a certain someone in my life: FINALLY!!! We have only been dating for a few months now but I am really excited about the process. I don't want to elaborate too much as this relationship is pretty new still but I am thankful for it in my life. That is all I have to say about that!!! If you want more details you need to call!
I don't get on here as often as I would like but I do try to stay updated on all of your posts. Hope all is well in your world!
-Abbie

Complete Surrender:

This is a topic that has been a theme to my life since I was on Royal Servants the summer before my Junior year. I remember my leader talking to us about what our struggles are and how when we have struggles in our lives, it takes a daily choice to surrender it to God. When we struggle with something it is not usually the case that we make the decision to get rid of it and never struggle again. I remember this as a revelation in my life and it has stuck with me throughout the last 10 years now.

I remember in high school when God expounded upon that in my life by reminding me to live intentionally. I truly believe that SO often this is one of the hardest things to do. The busyness, day in day out factors of life make us forget to be intentional in everything we do. I also firmly believe that sometimes life makes it very difficult to be intentional. We start our days trying to "live right" and have the best intentions to be the best versions of ourselves. Then out of the blue something happens...be it big or small to cause a set back. I myself find this happening a lot lately to me. I know I am worn out and I need to take care of some of the reasons for that. I also know that sometimes, the circumstances are out of our control. Someone Else's bad mood or struggle can soon create an issue for us.

Today was a day like that. I was having one of the best days I have had in a while and I was reveling in how blessed I am and thanking God for that. I have really been striving for a positive attitude these days and working on making a difference. I know I am sensitive but honestly when I see others struggle in their relationships it breaks my heart. I am so relational and know that God put us all here for a purpose. The number one part of that being to serve Him. I just feel like life is too short to spend it struggling with the same issues over and over again. The effects of the past can not be carried into the future if we are ever to truly serve. This is where surrender comes to play.
I know that I need to surrender the things that are out of my control to Him....COMPLETELY. I want so badly for the world and each person in it to know how desperately God loves them and that it breaks His heart to see us struggle with the same issues over and over again. It is for freedom that Christ set us free....I choose not to be burdened. I will pray. I will pray with hope and belief but I will not let the struggles of others overcome me and the plans that He has for me. May you know today the love He has for you. May you understand that although it may be a daily struggle...He wants you to experience the joy and freedom that He has for you. May you choose to live a life of intention...through the struggles and through the abundance. We sang this song at church today and the words hit me hard:

All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!

Challenge...

Wow, it's been awhile! I have been REALLY busy these last two monthes or so. I am now working two jobs!! ME??? WORKING TWO JOBS??? How am I supposed to get my 8 hours of sleep that I have ALWAYS gotten? Well, let me tell you that it is not happening. My weekends are spent playing catch up. It is nice though. I have been able to pay off a good chunk of debt and with the exception of my car should be pretty much debt free by Dec. That feels nice! I just have to keep plugging away. I do feel bad though, as I am not able to get on here and read your blogs very often. I miss that!
So, a few weeks ago at church, my pastor was talking about our faith and how it has gotten too comfortable. He said something that hit me like a ton of bricks. He said something to the effect of if the "glory days" of your faith were 10 years ago, 5 years ago....this is wrong. THAT IS SO ME! All of the times I think about when my faith was so strong and I felt so close to God, those days were back in highschool. Those days were when I was fully focused on Him and He encompassed every part of my life. I have been slowly trying to get back to that but I think it is not happening to the degree that it needs to.
I am going to be completely vulnerable right now with you. I am feeling sad about turning 27. My life is NOWHERE near where I thought it would be at this point. I know that has been a theme to this blog since the day it started and I can't be too hard on myself because I have been working towards the goals I have but it is taking too long. Sometimes I think it is important to evaluate why things aren't happening. I have never been one of those people to say "woah is me...my life sucks and I am just going to mope about it!". The problem is, I feel a little stuck. I feel trapped by my age and all that it entails. I know, 27 is not that old. But it is for where I am at. I am single, working in a job I really do enjoy but am not proud to do. I do have plans to pursue school as soon as I get my debt paid off. That is REALLY soon. I know what I want to be when I grow up :) but there are still so many areas of uncertainty. I have told myself my whole life that He is in control and He is working. I do believe this but I also believe that I have a responsibility to go and move. To listen and to focus. I feel like when things aren't happening in life, that is the case for a reason and you may need to reevaluate some of the decisions that you are making.
This being said, I came across a book I think it going to change my life. I am only a third of the way into it (no time to read) and already have been challenged immensly. I do believe that my dreams of a cookie cutter life have overshadowed the plans that He has for me. I think so many times in life we lose focus on who Jesus is and how He really calls us to live. I see how the "American Dream" has affected how I live out my faith. I am so exhausted from pursuing that life. I am excited to start doing things a bit differently. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is feeling a little distant in their faith. It is an easy read and think there are some very practical ideas as well as some very challenging ones that can come about. I will try to keep you posted on how it is affecting me. Can't wait to see what's next!

A lull...

I was at a wedding a couple of weeks ago and one of my (five) readers brought to my attention that there haven't been any funny stories for awhile. I pondered it and couldn't really think of anything, that funny, that has happened recently. To be honest, life lately has made me wish for a bit of my childhood back. Responsibility has not been a strong suit of mine and unfortunately the act of being irresponsible is much easier and less time consuming than the act of cleaning up and moving forward. Oh well...such is life.
One of my New Year's resolutions was to run a race this year. Some of you may know that I ran cross country and track in Jr. High. If you knew me at all during that time (or really, since) you have probably heard the story of the park bench. If not, prepare yourself for one of the funniest/saddest/stupidest/this would only happen to Abbie-est stories you have ever heard. It was early October and we were in Red Wing for the conference meet. I was on JV and our coach instructed us that Varsity would be running their race first and we were to go warm-up while their race took place. My friends and I began our warm up. We started walking the course and then began to jog. We were loafing around, chatting and doing as little as we possibly could while still under the guise of "warming up". Let's be honest, we were the JV team for a reason. At one point as we were going along, I looked back and saw that the varsity race was coming our way. Looking back on it, I know that I TOTALLY overreacted. If you know me at all, you know this is a pretty common occurrence. The thing was, the racers were headed our way but they were probably a good football field away from getting to where we were on the course.
So, at this point, as I see the racers coming, I jump into adrenaline mode. I yell at my friends "GET OFF THE COURSE!!!" and just take off running. I don't know if the rush of adrenaline blinded me or what but the next thing I know, I am flipping over mid-air and feeling pain in my shins and hips. As this was happening, here are the thoughts going through my brain:
"What did I just run into? It seems like someone may have parked their bicycle there. No, a bicycle would have fallen over from the force...this is something MUCH bigger and stronger than a bicycle. Man, whatever it was...I am in A LOT of pain. Wow, I just did a complete flip through the air. Why are my friends laughing and crying at the same time?"
At this point, I have landed on my butt. I sit there stunned for a moment as my friends chokingly ask "Are you ok?". After what feels like forever, I look behind myself and see the object of all of these emotions. It is a park bench. I had just run FULL SPEED, into a bark bench. My shins hit the seat part as my hips hit the top of the back part. My stomach flipped me over it and the rest is history. I still have less than the normal amount of skin on my right shin. The bruises that ensued from this debacle were colors I had never seen the likes of and it was quite fun to watch them change daily. I was yelled at by my coach for not being more careful and spent the time I should have been running the JV race in the medic area being tended to.
Needless to say, I haven't done a lot of running since those days. The incedint combined with asthma caused me to consider running as one of my least favorite sport activities. The asthma is another story for another day (I promise), but back to the point of this story. I am going to be running the Monster Dash in October. It is a half marathon and I am beginning training this week. Please feel free to join me, there may be a funny story or two in it if you do! Let me know if you're interested!

A SUPER month!

Alright, so it's been awhile since I posted anything of substance. Here's an update on my life, as I know it, right now. Two weeks ago, the pediatric floors in the hospital and our outpatient clinics decided to do superhero day. They let us in the pharmacy know, with the hopes that we would dress up. My coworker Sarah and I took it to a whole new level. First off, we decided it was important to think of a name. One morning, Sarah mentioned to me that we should be the "Super Tech Duo". I of course, being as naive as I am said, "YEAH, we can abbreviate it to S-T...Oh wait, maybe that isn't such a good name." Well, being that we have no shame, we went with it. We also decided to be Superheros on a budget. As you can tell from our outfits, that was a definite success. I made the shirts, Sarah made the masks and thanks to the invention of the towel cape, we were good to go! It was a great day and little did we know, there was a contest for best costume. The judges came down and took our picture and an hour or so later we were the winners for the WHOLE hospital. We got a gift card! Then, this week we received a call announcing that a poster had been made with our picture on it. It will be displayed on the peds floor, with the unveiling happening this week. Needless to say, I'm kind of a big deal now. People know me!
Also there has been another big change in my life recently. I have decided to take over the second shift responsibilities at work. I will be permanently in the discharge pharmacy from 2-10 and also will be in charge of inventory for the pharmacy. I take over in July. This is something I am not sure how I feel about it quite yet. We all know I like my sleep and this will DEFINITELY mess with that schedule. It is a pay increase though and somewhat of a promotion. Also, it opens up the possibility for me to approach school with a little bit more of an option. I will have one day shift (Tuesdays) and will never have to work weekends. I have been convicted about my financial situation lately and think this may provide me a better opportunity to get the debt I do have paid off as well as to get some money into savings. I need to be a better steward and want to get a kick start in that area. We'll keep you posted.

Never again!

I think I can.

I have decided to take up using public transport. As most of you know, I live FAR FAR away from where I work. I also work in a place that thinks half of my salary should go to pay for parking. I have decided that something needs to change. I am going to start off slow. My first excursion will take me to Eden Prairie (aka West Egg**), where I will ride a coach bus directly to The U. Don't judge me, I need to start off small.
What you may not realize, is that from the time I was deemed responsible enough...I avoided the bus at ALL costs. I walked to school from 7th grade on. I never really cared for the yellow vehicle that made me sit close to people I didn't care to sit close to.
I have thought this through and have been talking it over with my coworkers for quite some time. I have a few people who can't wait to hear my stories. They are the same ones that think it is fun when someone accosts them on the way into work. Yeah, I work with some interesting people! One of my coworkers asked me the other day, if I had started riding yet. I said, "I am just nervous, what if there is nowhere to sit on the bus and I have to stand the whole way? I can't stand while someone is driving." His response was, "That's why you find the cutest guy on the bus and stand by him. Then, if you hit a bump, you fall in his lap and giggle and say OH, SORRY!!" At this point I looked at my coworker and asked the same question that you are all asking right now, "Do you even know me?" I had to remind him of the story at the grocery store. The day I slipped and rolled into who my coworkers have deemed my Mr. Right, and without making eye contact....got back up and walked away. This plan will NEVER work for me.

So, needless to say, look for some GREAT stories. I am doing this for so many reasons but mostly because my life has been a little blah lately and there is nothing like throwing yourself into situations that you have dreaded FOREVER to get you out of the BLAH stage. I'll keep you posted!

** West Egg= new money! C'mon people doesn't anyone remember The Great Gatsby??