It has been way too long since writing a post on our blog. I will never claim to be a consistent blogger, but letting a couple months go by is a little ridiculous. My deepest apologies!
I want to keep you updated on what has happened in our lives since my last entry- so very much has happened! The last few months in afew words run-on sentence.
Interviewed with the family in Manhattan Beach, got the job, Natalie delivered Blair Olivia Bushman, she was premature and in NICU for 10 days, we prayed, she is home, healthy, and beautiful, went to San Diego with high school friends, reminded how much I love them, had two free weeks before work, hung out with my mom, Cat came home from South America, hugged her, talked for hours, started my job, felt humbled, questioned why I was there, celebrated Easter, thankful for salvation, applied for a home loan, no responses, struggled to find time to see my husband, thought I was pregnant, started coming up with baby names, pregnancy test- negative, can't stop coming up with baby names, humbled but faithfully sticking out my job, dear friends had their baby, her name is Holland Mercy, she's beautiful, everyone we know is pregnant, sometimes it drives me crazy, had a sleepover with my college roomies, minus Megsie, my husband was on the couch, we all woke up and went to work the next day, growing up is weird, decided to start a business, on weekends only right now, early stages, hoping it grows, and now accepting grace for a new day and seeking purpose in what's in front of me.
Whew. It has been a time of transitions. Transitioning into both working full-time on schedules that are really off from one another. Kevin leaves at 6:30 am and I don't get back from work until 7:30 pm at the earliest. Then we make dinner and it's time for bed since Kev has to be up so early. On top of that there are Bible studies and other church events, family events, and get-togethers with friends that are total blessings, but having around 2 hours a day with my husband is wearing on me. Sometimes I just cry about it.
Transitioning into my job has been interesting as well. I'm working from 11am to 7pm as a Personal Assistant/Nanny. From 11 to 3 I do anything the family needs, from cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, random errands, and helping with the new home they're renovating. From 3 to 7 I'm with the kids- homework, resolving conflict, playtime, dinner, resolving conflict, bathtime, reading, more conflict. The hardest part of this job has been how humbling it is. In college towns, many young, educated women work as nannies, but in Manhattan Beach, it is almost exclusively older non-citizen women, who aren't treated fairly or given many rights. Though I am a citizen and have a college degree (in Psychology and Child Development- which I feel like I use daily), I still feel a bit treated like "the help" and there are days where I wonder why I went to school to be essentially a part time house keeper. I am humbled, and I'm convinced that is not a bad thing.
Jesus, the Son of God was a carpenter until he began his ministry in his early thirties. If I feel that my life's ministry is to be a mom, and I have to spend 5 years being a surrogate mom to another family, it is no where near the humbling fact that Jesus' ministry was to save His people from eternal suffering with His life and spent decades working with wood. That's not to say that my ministry has not started. I do believe that there is a purpose in being placed with this family, and daily remind myself that my life's purpose does not begin the day I find out I'm expecting. It begins now. But I am at least encouraged to remember that Jesus understands my situation in an ever more intense way than I even do.
As for my business Idea, Kevin and I are really enthusiastic about it, and I'll be describing it in more detail later, but it's just wonderful when skills and experience seem to be pointing toward something that you need to do. I feel like the idea came to us organically and we're both able to use our current jobs as experience to put in our portfolio. More on that later.
Hope March and April have been wonderful months for you as well. Excited to see what May has in store!
I want to keep you updated on what has happened in our lives since my last entry- so very much has happened! The last few months in a
Interviewed with the family in Manhattan Beach, got the job, Natalie delivered Blair Olivia Bushman, she was premature and in NICU for 10 days, we prayed, she is home, healthy, and beautiful, went to San Diego with high school friends, reminded how much I love them, had two free weeks before work, hung out with my mom, Cat came home from South America, hugged her, talked for hours, started my job, felt humbled, questioned why I was there, celebrated Easter, thankful for salvation, applied for a home loan, no responses, struggled to find time to see my husband, thought I was pregnant, started coming up with baby names, pregnancy test- negative, can't stop coming up with baby names, humbled but faithfully sticking out my job, dear friends had their baby, her name is Holland Mercy, she's beautiful, everyone we know is pregnant, sometimes it drives me crazy, had a sleepover with my college roomies, minus Megsie, my husband was on the couch, we all woke up and went to work the next day, growing up is weird, decided to start a business, on weekends only right now, early stages, hoping it grows, and now accepting grace for a new day and seeking purpose in what's in front of me.
Whew. It has been a time of transitions. Transitioning into both working full-time on schedules that are really off from one another. Kevin leaves at 6:30 am and I don't get back from work until 7:30 pm at the earliest. Then we make dinner and it's time for bed since Kev has to be up so early. On top of that there are Bible studies and other church events, family events, and get-togethers with friends that are total blessings, but having around 2 hours a day with my husband is wearing on me. Sometimes I just cry about it.
Transitioning into my job has been interesting as well. I'm working from 11am to 7pm as a Personal Assistant/Nanny. From 11 to 3 I do anything the family needs, from cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, random errands, and helping with the new home they're renovating. From 3 to 7 I'm with the kids- homework, resolving conflict, playtime, dinner, resolving conflict, bathtime, reading, more conflict. The hardest part of this job has been how humbling it is. In college towns, many young, educated women work as nannies, but in Manhattan Beach, it is almost exclusively older non-citizen women, who aren't treated fairly or given many rights. Though I am a citizen and have a college degree (in Psychology and Child Development- which I feel like I use daily), I still feel a bit treated like "the help" and there are days where I wonder why I went to school to be essentially a part time house keeper. I am humbled, and I'm convinced that is not a bad thing.
Jesus, the Son of God was a carpenter until he began his ministry in his early thirties. If I feel that my life's ministry is to be a mom, and I have to spend 5 years being a surrogate mom to another family, it is no where near the humbling fact that Jesus' ministry was to save His people from eternal suffering with His life and spent decades working with wood. That's not to say that my ministry has not started. I do believe that there is a purpose in being placed with this family, and daily remind myself that my life's purpose does not begin the day I find out I'm expecting. It begins now. But I am at least encouraged to remember that Jesus understands my situation in an ever more intense way than I even do.
As for my business Idea, Kevin and I are really enthusiastic about it, and I'll be describing it in more detail later, but it's just wonderful when skills and experience seem to be pointing toward something that you need to do. I feel like the idea came to us organically and we're both able to use our current jobs as experience to put in our portfolio. More on that later.
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| My sweet, cuddly, beautiful niece, Blair Olivia. |
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| Easter with my sister and her husband at my parents' house. |
Hope March and April have been wonderful months for you as well. Excited to see what May has in store!
