Sometimes. . .

Sometimes I get wrapped up in dreaming and thinking about the future. . . While I know it is okay to think about things like this and I get excited, it invariably ends with me feeling anxious and frustrated.  You see I am a planner.  I like to know things ahead of time and know what is coming and let me tell you, the last two years have been anything but planned out and predictable.  Every time I feel comfortable with where we are there is a little curveball sent our way whether it be a job that didn't pan out, a place to live that isn't what we thought it would be or another day spent in the car driving to and from work. . .
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining!  We are so blessed to have jobs (and good jobs!), a place to live, cars that run, food on our table and clothes on our backs. 
As we sat and talked about buying a house someday and other things in our future I was just getting frustrated because I want to do some of those things now.  I lack patience (thanks dad) because I have worked for everything all my life and have grown to know that if I work hard enough, I can get what I want.  Well, I was reminded in Jeremiah that someone else has a different idea:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

I want to be like Paul in Philippians chapter 4 when he says "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength."
Being content like this is hard for me because I always have a next goal and something else I want to accomplish.  We were singing a song at church on Sunday and it just hit me that this needs to be my prayer.  I get frustrated with myself because I believe in a BIG God, whom I have seen do great and mighty things that noone else could ever take credit for.  He died for me and I did not deserve that and I get so wrapped up in my little things that I lose sight of how BIG God is and how many things he has done and will continue to do.  I need to trust God that he has a plan for us and he will lead us to the perfect place he has chosen for us when he is ready and provide exactly what we need because as the song said (and I truly, truly, truly believe this) "I will remain confident in this I will see the goodness of the Lord!"

Being Tall =$

Get it? Huh? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? 

Yeah, neither do I!  I don't understand why being tall means that you have to spend millions of dollars on clothes. (okay, maybe not millions but a pretty penny for sure) Just to find clothes that fit right and look nice.  We are not talking designer clothes here, simply pants that are long enough and shirts that don't end four inches above your wrists!
If you are not tall, you probably don't understand, let me lay it out for you.  So you go into a store and you tell them the inseam you need or the arm length on a dress shirt.  They have one of two responses for you: 1.  They laugh and say wow we sure don't have that here. . . or 2. They tell you to go to another store (to which you have already been and they also had one of the two above mentioned responses). . . Sooooooo you take to your computer knowing that there has to be something out there for tall people and after 24 days of searching and looking at terrible internet pictures of shirts where you can't see the pattern or the color real well, you choose one and say a prayer  that it will work as you hit "add to cart."  After realizing that the shirt is more expensive than the smaller version of the same shirt and that they don't sell this one in the store, you realize you are stuck and continue with the purchase.   You add tax to the purchase because it is not from Minnesota and then pay your right arm and left foot in shipping.  Fast forward 15 days and a little box comes to your door.  You send up another prayer that this shirt will work only to find that it looks nothing like the picture and the fit is not exactly right and the cycle described above begins again.
I may have exaggerated a bit but you get the point. . . If you are tall, clothing is hard to find and you are going to spend a heck of a lot more money on clothes.  I am lucky enough to have one store where I can buy quality dress pants and hopefully they NEVER go out of business.  Jeans are a whole different story and if you have ever shopped with me for pants, you will understand how hard and frustrating the process is.
I have found something that puts me shopping for pants to shame. . .Shopping for the big man!  They tell you to go to the big & tall section and all you find is big, not tall.  Then they laugh at you, make a comment about his size and send you to the internet. . .

Wordless Wednesday