One more day...

It is late afternoon Thursday, and I am contemplating the end of my summer. I have only one more day of no responsibilities. Well, at least no responsibilities when it comes to my work environment. It's amazing to me how many things I have been able to do this summer. It is equally, if not more, amazing to me how many things I feel I still have left to complete.

I've been trying to find a dentist. Lots of friends have given me the names of their dentists, but only one (out of MANY!) of those names was on my insurance plan and he is not currently accepting new patients. I still don't have a dentist. I was hoping to have a typical "supposed to happen every 6 month and I haven't been in over 2 years" checkup before going back to work. Ah, well.

I'm also trying to get registered for fall classes. I'm planning on taking two. I qualify for financial aid, but have some questions before I choose to accept the loan being offered to me. I was on hold with the financial aid office at my graduate institution for over an hour. I'm listening to all sorts of advertisements and informational monologue while driving up to school, chatting with the office staff, and sorting through letters for a new bulletin board. Finally, the phone starts to ring. I think I might be about to talk to a human being! and my cell phone battery dies. NOOOOOO! But what do you do?

I've been working on a family tree off and on this summer. If you've ever done any work on a family tree of your own, you realize what a monster this can turn into. I'm having fun, but it is a monumental task. The more information you know, the more information you still need to find. (If you're interested in pursuing your own, I'm using www.ancestry.com and really like the tools it can provide.) I've talked with several family members this summer. Some I'd never met before, others I hadn't talked to in a long time or only kept up with them through my parents. I have almost as much information as I'm going to have before going the next step, which would be visiting official places for paperwork, etc. That won't be happening for awhile, and I'm totally okay with that. I am pleased with the amount of information I have. I'd like to get my family back across the ocean. I know that's going to take some time. Right now, I've got it back to the early 1800s. If you're into history or geneology at all...it's really interesting!

So as I'm thinking about all I have accomplished this summer, and some of the things still on my to do list, I start thinking about beginnings. The beginning of a new year. The beginning of a new season in life. A new chance to show Christ's love to 48 9 year olds. I ask God to shine through me. To use me as He sees and not necessarily as I see. Most importantly I ask God to help me keep my eyes on Him. Not the TAKS test or my list of weaknesses, but Christ alone.