a long obedience in the same direction
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monday gratitude.
20. my kids played for 2 hours with their friends after CC this afternoon 21. John is ordained and was officially installed as associate pastor yesterday 22. my in-laws are now members of our church! 23. seeing healing and joy on the face of a friend who was broken and despairing a year ago 24. money to buy groceries 25. the relief of dinners planned out for the week 26. a meeting with a group of women I love in a home I love tonight 27. Bleak House tv series 28. ideas for positive ways to discipline from Boundaries With Kids 29. the comfort of having my husband home after…
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monday gratitude.
Right now I’m in a season of waiting. It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before. I think about our baby throughout the day (and sometimes night) and my emotions are a jumble of wondering, happiness, fear, excitement, sadness, and delight. God gives peace, moment by moment, but still I wonder. How long? What twists and turns will this adventure take? I’ve come to realize that a whole lot of life is waiting, in some way or other. And when I look back on the waiting seasons, I think I’d have to say my biggest regret is what I missed out on along the way because I was so focused…
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coming home.
It’s a strange feeling, coming home. Our vacation was so magical and restful that we didn’t want to leave, but our plane landed at the Charlotte airport on Wednesday morning after less than three hours of sleep, and real life hit like the blinding South Carolina sun on the tarmac. We took a bumpy shuttle bus to our car in long-term parking lot 4 and drove the hour-and-a-half to Columbia, and then David had a sermon to write and I found myself in a dirty house because I was sick when we left and we were all four in a fog of jet lag and sleep-deprivation. I felt rested and happy all week long but…
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making things happen.
So I shared last week about taking charge of my own well being, and can I just say thank you so much for responding, for saying that God’s teaching you the same things, that this is encouraging and exciting and maybe even revolutionary for you? Hearing your words make blogging so much more meaningful for me. I never check my blog stats: I honestly don’t know how many people read gentinofamily.com or where they’re from. Rather than try to grow readership, I’m much happier spending my time connecting with those of you that do stop by. I’m okay with this blog being small. If 2 people are inspired by something I write, it’s worth it to me! Thanks…
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my well-being.
Last time this summer our lives were crazy. David was working around-the-clock to raise funds and prepare for the church plant launch in September. The Sound Panel Project of 2013 was beginning. And oh yeah, and we were buying a house (what!?! we moved during last summer? who thought that was a good idea!?). I know the church hasn’t even been meeting a full year — September 8th is when we began worship services — but in my mind summer, 2013 is really when it started. Though we’d been meeting as a core group all spring, summer is when our lives started careening full-force ahead toward this thing that was about to be…
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the blog isn’t real life.
I’ve been scrolling back through our blog, grinning at glossy photos of my kids enjoying spring and our evolving backyard and peaceful family moments from Easter. And with my head full of all of these memories, I want to take the time to tell you something which you may forget: the blog isn’t real life. Nope, this blog is edited life — just a small snapshot of the living, breathing, messy thing that is the Gentino family. It may seem self-evident, but dig a bit deeper with me: most of us need to be reminded of this fact from time to time. Lately I can tell I’m getting older because I’m ceasing to think other people’s…
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the resurrection and fear.
I love Easter. If Christmas is the celebration of “God with us,” then Easter is the celebration of “God rescuing us.” Christmas is special, yes. The God of the Universe humbled Himself to become a man so we could know him. But without Easter, Christmas doesn’t really mean anything. Without a Savior who loved us enough to pay for our sin and a King powerful enough to raise from the dead, then Christmas is just about a nice guy. And so for Christians, Easter is the biggest celebration of the year. Sin and death are defeated. Our King is alive. It’s time for a party. David and I love finding…
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the birthday gift.
Remember how I told you I gave myself the birthday gift of a new hobby this year? (which I’m enjoying immensely by the way). Well I wanted to tell you about the other birthday gift I decided to give myself now that I’m 32 and securely “in my thirties.” A conversation I had with some girl friends this weekend reminded me of it and it’s this: I’m giving myself permission to stop worrying about what people think of me. You may be chuckling right now. You may be thinking, Oh that’s all!? Well good luck with that one! I know, I know. But here’s the thing: I’ve felt this gradual shift…
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SAD, sickness, and being busy.
We’re in the middle of January, friends. Winter is in full swing, and I find myself feeling a surge of inordinate happiness when the sun appears. Speaking of which, have you heard of S.A.D.: Seasonal Affective Disorder? It’s silly saying this since I live in the south, but I’m beginning to think I have a touch of it. I don’t know if it was the time we spent in tropical South Asia or if it’s me getting older, but last winter and this winter are just plain tough. I thought it was just a contentment issue. As in, I need to learn to be content with cold weather. But I…
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new year’s resolutions.
I’ve been learning some more about depression and anxiety lately, and a symptom that resonates with me is the tendency toward “extremes.” For example, when you do one thing wrong you immediately begin thinking, “I’m a failure, I always let everyone down” or if you have a conflict in a relationship concluding, “This relationship is terrible.” Because of these extreme responses, depression-sufferers are prone to feeling easily overwhelmed and helpless because problems in ourselves or in life seem to big to surmount. An all-encompassing feeling of failure just isn’t possible to beat. It’s too vague and big and powerful. It makes us paralyzed and can make us difficult to confront…