As I sit at my desk with a hot cup of coffee (and finally in a summer outfit - we went from about 50 degrees to 90 in one week here in PA), I took a moment to read my post from March. Sometimes I'm thankful that (while inconsistent) The Mustard Seed has forced me to keep a log about life for the past three years. [Disclaimer: Started typing an update this AM, and just finished around 4pm --- welcome to the world of higher education and unpredictable interruptions! Now on my afternoon cup of coffee...]
I've been doing lots of writing lately, thanks to a summer filled with graduate work, so this will be shorter than the last update. Don't let the brevity fool you, we have oodles to be thankful for over these past months, and so I'm happy to share!
Quick health update --- I visited NYC in March and had a great report --- I was given SIX months until my next set of scans. In our world, that's record-setting. We are so thankful. I'll continue to have lab work done every two months --- my May report was great, so it's checked off the list until July. We are so thankful, incredibly humbled, and continuously blessed.
Drew and I are proud to share that we have officially survived a year...a year with Drew serving in the role as Banquet Captain. Let me just say...it has not been easy...and as hard as the schedule has been for me, it has been ten times more difficult for Drew. I am SO proud of his hard work with Hershey Entertainment & Resorts and we are confident in the Lord's plan for Drew's career. He has made some great relationships, had the opportunity to be a light to so many co-workers and those that he manages, and we just know that this time in his career has been so strategically situated by our Heavenly Father. THIS is what keeps us going when he's working 70-hour weeks, leaving the house at 3:30am, and I'm working a "normal" work-day and then tied-up with events at school well into the evening. We've had to get creative with time spent together, but thankfully I have a very gracious boss who is happy to grant me a "Saturday" in the middle of the week during the summer if Drew is home. THANKFULLY summer is upon us. Life at the Hershey Lodge slows down significantly, the students have left LBC's campus, and vacation is in sight. We have some great trips planned this summer with both of our families, including some quality time in Lancaster with our southern family. We're pretty excited and so thankful for the reprieve of these next few months.
That being said, as school ended for our students at LBC, I just kicked back into gear. On top of my "regular job" this summer I am completing a 120-hour internship in another department on our campus and taking an institutional assessment and effectiveness course. The higher education buff inside of me loves it --- the other part of me is swooning over the day in 2017 that Lord-willing I will finish this advanced degree.
Just last week we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary --- so crazy! I told Drew that I think we're inching out of that newlywed stage and now we're just officially "married people." Haha! It hit me when a co-worker of mine (who is getting married in July) came into my office and realized it was our wedding anniversary. She said, "How do you feel on this day?" "Why are you here?" "Two years ago this was the day you got married!!" My response? I feel...married! It's something we live-out each day and it's fun to remember the day we became husband and wife, but it's something to celebrate every day! Then I told her that we would celebrate by going out to dinner and pick out a Netflix movie we've been wanting to watch --- as you can tell, we're really tough to please! Actually, our gift to ourselves was some fresh mulch, a new laminate floor in our basement --- even splurged on pre-finished molding --- and my parents surprised us with a new sliding glass door. THESE are the things we get excited about in this chapter :)
To round out this update, I do have some sad news to share. This might sound strange, but I think it's impacted our family more than we could have anticipated. Not that this is anything easy, but I think it was my impression that we would be more prepared when this time eventually came. At the end of March we received some difficult news; my dear grandmother was diagnosed with an acute form of aggressive Leukemia --- four weeks later she went home to be with her Lord. I'll never forget the moment. We were packing our bags to head to my parents for my latest NYC appointment. I had just gotten off the phone with my Mom about an hour before, as I called regularly for updates. She told me that we were "turning a corner" and that she wouldn't be traveling to NYC with us that next day. As I loaded the car, Drew pulled in the driveway from work. My phone rang and the tears started rolling down my face. In just that short amount of time she had slipped away. I'm thankful for the visits we did have in those last weeks and comforted that she openly shared that she was ready to go home and be with her Lord. What a gift to know that with open arms she was in the presence of our Heavenly Father --- "Well done my good and faithful servant."
As we drove to my parents that night I remember exactly where we were on Route 30 when this song came on the radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx1_7gfCy38. Such a joyous reminder of why we live this life and why we are called to live-out His will for us. It's humbling, in all circumstances.
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
So far away but I'm home now. I once was lost but now I'm found.
And now my life song sings.
I once was blind but now I see,
And now my life song sings,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah --- let my life song sing to You.
Wishing you all a wonderful summer --- I'm craving some "sand between the toes" time, and so I'll check-in after we've made plenty of that happen over these next weeks!
Love Sarah (& Drew too!)
