Working Girl Again (Praise Report!)

For the past year, I have not been working. But God has (in so many ways)! After a year of being out of work (and many discouragements about finding a job due to the nature of life right now), I am employed! Well, technically, I am self-employed. And this is how I know God was behind it all...

In September I was contacted by someone on LinkedIn asking if I was a toxicologist and whether or not I was interested in a position as a contractor. (Yes and yes!) That led to a couple of interviews and a few days later, a signed 1-year contract and a scheduled flight to Ann Arbor for a public training course at my old employer. As a bonus, I got a wonderful, but short and packed time of visiting family and friends while I was in town -- although I didn't get to see everyone, unfortunately! Most exciting of all, the job is  work-from-home (e.g., the Bay Area, Detroit area, or anywhere!) -- how ideal! All from a random message on LinkedIn. Coincidence? Not if you believe in a sovereign, powerful, GOOD God!

Following training, I had an orientation with the company I'm working with, who are based out of Southern California. It's beginning to feel real and the next step is simply to start! (I just got my first assignment today!) There's quite a bit of uncertainty, but I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to what God has in store. (Knowing that He has orchestrated this has been a great reassurance through the unknowns and self-doubting.)

As you all know, the past year has brought many changes to my life. (Most have been wonderful!) But when I felt overwhelmed by the prospect of it all a couple of summers ago, God ministered me through a song based on Isaiah 43 (emphasis mine):

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes,
    and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
    peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;
    I will bring your offspring from the east,
    and from the west I will gather you.
⁶ I will say to the north, Give up,
    and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the end of the earth,
⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

[Check out a sample of the song here. I just love songs that sing scripture -- I'd much rather hear and memorize lyrics based on scripture than someone's opinion!]

In context, God is using Isaiah to reassure the nation of Israel that although they were going to go into exile (as punishment for their disobedience), they would not be abandoned by God; in fact, He would still be with them and would eventually deliver them. God used these verses (in song format) to remind me that He who saved my soul by sending his own Son to die on the cross as payment for my sins (the most important and loving thing He could do for me!) would surely not abandon me now or ever. He is on my side. That does not mean everything will go my way, it just means that I will never be alone to face anything that comes my way. It doesn't mean that I can handle everything He'll allow to happen to me by myself, it means He can handle everything He'll allow to happen to me.

He is worthy of praise! I hope that reminder is an encouragement to you where you are today!

Celebrating One Year

They say time flies when you're having fun!...Steve and I celebrated our first anniversary last month! One year already? It definitely flew by, but at the same time it feels like we've been married for longer than just one year. I feel very blessed to be Steve's wife :)

The transition to being a wife (and a stay-at-home wife on top of that) was a surprisingly easy one for me given all of the other transitions that went along with it. Steve and I work well together and he's very flexible and patient with me, so that helps. Not working actually probably helped a lot, too. (What a huge blessing in disguise!) A couple of pieces of pre-marital advice helped, too. Thought I'd share some of the wisdom given me...

1) Unexpressed expectations are a recipe for disappointment and conflict. If I don't tell Steve what I expect, how can I hold him to it? How can I reasonably be angry or disappointed if he doesn't deliver? Neither of us are mind readers, so good communication is a must! This goes for things even as small as "I need a hug right now." As for the reverse side, Steve apparently has very low expectations, so no problem there! ;)

2) My husband is not all-sufficient for me. He doesn't complete me (contrary to what Jerry Maguire would want us to believe is possible and ideal; he also didn't have me at hello, but that's another story!). When I don't expect him to do so, I can look to God for the things that only He can provide and not to Steve for those things.

3) Prefer one another. This just means serving one another and preferring that the other gets what they want instead of you getting what you want. When we disagree, it means wanting the other to have it their way. How unnatural! It works, but it has to go both ways for it to work. I think trying to do this lessens conflicts. (Except for the ones that go something like this: "We'll do what you want." "No, I'm trying to prefer what you want!" "Well, I'm trying to prefer what YOU want!") For the ladies, this principle also helps with the S word (submission). It's not hard to submit to someone or trust someone who you know prefers you.

[We're not perfect but striving to remember these things and more! We're both selfish sinners, so we need to constantly remind ourselves, especially about #3. (Well, I should speak for myself -- I need this reminder a lot!) It's not natural, but it is commanded that we love one another as we love ourselves (John 13:34-35, Matthew 22:39 -- after all, Steve is my closest neighbor! -- and more).]

We celebrated on our anniversary by spending a relaxing day together (Steve took the day off). We had sushi for lunch at our favorite local place, went to Target (a rare opportunity for Steve to do something besides work), and had a fancy dinner at Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley. (We got a gift certificate as a wedding gift! Thanks, T!)

As I said, I am very blessed and I thank God indeed! Looking forward to many, many more years!

Crochet Creations

A few months ago, I was inspired to learn how to crochet, at least in part by the news that I was going to have a niece. In college I (kinda) learned to knit (it took me five years to knit one scarf!) and I thought it would be fun to learn something new... AND I could make my niece (and the many other friends' babies) something handmade. Well, I've come a long way since my first dish cloth and my baby niece has come a long way, too! Welcome to the world, Lydia Rose! We are so thankful to God for you :)

So here are a few of the cute (and easy) things I've made. I learned from my knitting experience to make small projects and so baby-sized items are perfect for my short attention span!

(Made the hat, not the outfit... her nickname is Lydie Bug!)

Can't believe these tiny things will fit someone! And I cannot wait to meet my niece in person! Just 8 days till I will be in Nashville holding the sweet lil' girl :) I am SO EXCITED!

By the way, you can see a photo of Lydia on Facebook if you haven't already.

Birthday Week: Celebration of Food

Last Monday, since it was Steve's "Birthday Week," I asked him what he wanted to eat for lunch for the week.  For two days we'd had Chicken Divan that I made that Monday (featuring curry, one of his favorite flavors!).  This is a recipe I got through an email recipe exchange that we both really love (recipe below; I always halve it)!  (And it's easy!  Don't let the curry scare you, it's not very strong.)

1 standard bunch of broccoli - lightly steamed
6 cooked large boneless chicken breasts (gently boil for 20-30 minutes, pull apart or cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (Or cream of chicken or celery)
1 cup mayo
1 teas curry powder
3-4 Tbl melted butter
4 slices - torn whole grain bread
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Place steamed broccoli in 13x9 baking dish and layer chicken on top. Mix the cream of mushroom soup, mayo, and curry powder.  Spoon over chicken and smooth to cover chicken to edges of baking dish.  Mix together torn bread and cheddar cheese and spread on top of it all and drizzle with melted butter.  Bake at 350 (F) for 30 minutes.  (I serve with rice.)

Steve's first birthday week lunch request was Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden copycat recipe).  So I made this for lunch on Wednesday.  (You may recall that this is the dish his love is conditioned upon! Haha!)  I tried a different recipe from the first time, but I'm not sure what, if anything, was terribly different.  The recipe is here (with modifications as in the first comment, dated January 22, 2009).  It's hearty, creamy, and zesty thanks to the hot Italian sausage. And must be served with warm bread-in-a-can (Pillsbury Italian loaf)... yum! (Soup must be served with bread!)

For those who don't know, Steve LOVES him some soup!  At some point I asked him what his favorite food was, and he said that his mom's chicken soup was at the top of the list (along with Hostess Ding Dongs!).  Whenever this was that I asked, I knew then that I'd have to at some point get her recipe and try to make it for him. And what better time than Birthday Week?

So after a call to Mama Miko, I got to it!  And the results were delicious! (Thanks Mom!)  As you can see, Steve really enjoyed it :)  (Also, isn't he so cute?!?!)

And to top it off, we had German chocolate cupcakes... another Steve-o favorite.

The cake was from a box, but the frosting was homemade.  (Side note: this photo was taken the day after they were made because the previous evening, I could not convince the frosting to set!  It was a very upsetting, runny, disaster-mess because I put it in a Ziplock instead of a bowl where it would be exposed to the air.  However, we persevered and ate them anyway because they still tasted good despite their looks!)  I learned a lot from doing this... besides how to get this frosting to set, I learned to not do too much at once!  This I found out after burning both the coconut and pecans while trying to toast them for the frosting because I was still finishing up the soup!  UGH!  (Good thing I had enough coconut still and could forgo the pecans!)

Anyway, Birthday Week was a great success overall! (Yes, these two soups got us through the week!)  I'll post next time about celebrating with church friends, so you have to come back for more buzz soon :)  And to see what else Steve milks out of Birthday Week (which he now thinks is Birthday Two-Weeks, haha!).