Blessed

I wish I had the time to update more frequently, but life has been very busy in this new year. (Hey, it took me three weeks before I learned to date things "2006" rather than "2005" - it's still a "new year" to me. ) I will try to update every weekend, though, for my one dedicated fan. :-)

I often find myself feeling as though I'm being pulled in a million different directions. I'm growing up, and as I get older the number I decisions I have to make and the demands on my time only increase. Right now I'm looking into colleges, earning my degree through distance learning - the prerequisite being to figure out exactly what it is I want to study, getting braces, getting a driver's license (still can't believe I don't already have one... not because I think that it is my 'right', but because it would be very practical in my family's present circumstances), foreign missions, and taking the SAT or ACT sometime this spring. I'm also working towards completing a phase of the TeenPact Master's Program (civics), preparing to staff TeenPact Illinois, learning how to live out my Divine Assignment (I'll talk more about this exciting topic later!), and maintaining my regular high school studies at the same time. Phew! Throw in my role as the oldest in a large, homeschooling family and actually having *friends* to keep up with, and I can safely say that there are some days when I'm swamped!

After the last paragraph, you're probably wondering why I titled this entry, "Blessed." I titled it this way because that is how I truly feel about my life. As I look around me and ponder the lives of some of my extended family members, friends and acquaintances, I know that I have been blessed. Life is sometimes hard and challenging, but then life has always been hard and challenging for the vast majority folks. Yet I have a strong and growing relationship with God, a great family, two parents who are still committed to and love one another deeply, supportive and loving friends, and a good head on my shoulders (if I do say so myself! Ha! *LOL*). I'd called that blessed.

Aunt Jan and my cousins Cassie, Amanda and Sarah came by for a short-lived visit yesterday evening. It had been over six months since we'd seen them... since the falling out that we had last summer. They came down to pick up aunt Jan's cat that had been staying with us, as well as the Stargate videos that she had loaned us. To be honest, the meeting actually went better than I would have expected. At first aunt Jan said that they had to go home immediately, but Mom was able to convince her to stay and watch an episode of Stargate using Dad's new toy (which he spent over 2 years researching before actually buying): the digital projector. She simply loved it... made the comment that she was "moving in" now. *laughs* I'm glad that things weren't quite as awkward as they could have been. And I truly hope that she does come back soon. More than that - to be blunt - I hope that she learns to accept the truth about Christ's divinity and doesn't continue in the darkness that she's been in for over 3 decades now. Mom and I still pray and hope and love her as much as possible, all the while resting in the knowledge that it is in God's hands.