Truly Blessed

November 7, 2007 @ 11:54 pm by Kendall

Hi everyone! I am the wife of Pressed and I haven’t written in a while, but here I am!

I have been thinking a lot lately about just how blessed I am. I have a beautiful son, a nice home, a loving family, the best husband and provider I could ever ask for, an awesome church family, and most of all, amazing relationships with Jesus.

Before we had Josiah, we sat down and had long discussions about me finding a job so that money wouldn’t be tight and we’d be able to make it through the month. After budgeting out the money we would need for the month, we realized I wouldn’t have to work, and I could stay home…subbing one day a week for extra money, while Craig’s mom watched the baby. After thinking about things and letting the love of material things get to us, we decided I should get a full time job, so I applied for several jobs. I was not given either of them, which, at the time, I felt very disappointed and dejected, despite the fact that I felt like I should stay at home and raise our children. I always prayed, though, through this whole process that God’s will would be done and whatever he wanted would come to pass, no matter what that meant. Then Craig was offered a second job, and being the awesome husband he is, he took that job on, to gain a little extra money, teaching a college course…which he loves doing.

The day I had baby Josiah and held him in my arms, staring at his tiny little angelic face, I knew that no amount of money in the world, no huge house or nice vehicle, no beautiful new clothes or electronics would surpass the privilege and purpose that God has given me to be a mommy, first and foremost. After re-evaluating our needed budget for the month, I did indeed, not need to work at all. I have since decided to try and work one day a week, just to provide some money for our savings, but God has truly provided all our needs.

Will we live in a mansion? Will we have a brand new luxury SUV? No. Neither of these things will happen in our lifetime. Our children will know, however, that they are the most important things in our lives, that God has taken care of their family, and love is more important than any worldly thing they could be given. Relationships are truly the center of our lives, as Christians, and I want to have the best relationship I can with my children and my husband. What an amazing gift I have been given, to spend my time watching my tiny baby grow into a toddler, then a child, then *gasp* a teenager. How blessed I truly am.

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One Crazy Day…

August 17, 2007 @ 5:02 pm by Pressed

While Kendall has been pregnant and not working we’ve been barely getting by with finances.  The other day I was talking to her about it and we were trying to figure out what we needed to do.  She was going to start trying to substitute teach three days a week in order to bring in some extra income, and then she was going to stay home with the baby the other days.  I know she had her heart set on that and I know that she wants to be able to stay home with Josiah, but the cost of living outweighs my ability to provide fully for my family and so this is one of those situations in which both parents are going to have to work.

After worrying about this stuff all last week, Kendall recieved a phone call the other day.  She was asked to come in and interview for a new Kindergarten position that had opened up.  She struggled with wanting to go, because she had her heart set on staying home some, but eventually she made the decision to go for the interview.  It is one of the grades she was interested in.  It kind of just came up out of the blue.  This was just one of those unique situations that just popped up all of a sudden.  So, Kendall has done her interview and now we are just waiting to see if she got the job.  If she doesn’t get it, then we are back to the subbing plan.  If she does, then she will get the first 4 weeks off for maternity leave, and then she’s off to work.

This would be her first classroom, so she was really nervous about even taking a position like this.  I had to really talk her into it and try to help her to see that she just needs to go for it before she will really feel comfortable doing it.  It just takes time.  I ensured her that she would be excellent at it.  It took a while, but I finally got her to go ahead and try it.  I did this without knowing what was going to happen to me when I got to work only 30 minutes later.

After I get to work I was informed that my name had been mentioned for a teaching position at a University extension site in Union.  I received a phone call not to long after that asking if I would be interested in the position.  To that I began to feel what Kendall was feeling about the other job.  I’m not qualified for something like that.  I’ve never done that before.  How can I adequately live up to a job like that (even though I’ve desired to teach at a college or University level for a long time, to actually get offered a job doing it was a bit overwhelming).  I was going to say no… but everything I had said to Kendall that morning just started flooding my mind.  I had talked her into going for it and in essence that talked me into going for it too.  So I told them that I was interested.  I guess they really needed someone, because that same day I received all the material and paperwork needed to get started next week.

This was one crazy day.

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In Kansas City From Thursday To Saturday

May 16, 2007 @ 8:15 am by Pressed

I’m graduating from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary this Saturday in Liberty.  I have a mandatory practice to attend on Friday morning so Kendall and I are going down on Thursday.  My first order of buisness is to take care of some stuff at the school and then I have to traditionally visit Cabela’s.  My wife made me get a hotel with a nice indoor pool so that she can swim, but before that can happen we have to go get a maternity swimming suit from somewhere.  The next few days will be quite busy, so I may not be posting again until next Monday.

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Does This Mean I’m Getting Old

March 30, 2007 @ 9:52 pm by Pressed

Kendall made me go to the eye doctor today.  It’s the first time I’ve had my eyes checked since I had it done when I was a little kid.. that would be over 20 years ago.  While I was finishing my Masters degree I read constantly and I use the computer all day long almost everyday.  I find my eyes to start itching, aching, and burning after several hours of work.  Even now I am staring at the screen and things sime kinda blurry.

To make a long story short I found out today that my left eye isn’t functioning properly.  My right eye is good, but I have astigmatizm in my left.  It bothers me when I’m reading and when things are dark.  I find myself needing lots of light.  So, I have some glasses on order.  Does this mean I’m getting old?

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Out Of The Office

March 9, 2007 @ 7:34 pm by Pressed

Kendall and I are in Branson, MO taking some time off and celebrating our 1 year anniversary.  We’ve been relaxing, eating, shopping, eating, driving, eating, walking, eating, and we’ve even been getting some extra sleep (and then we eat when we wake up.)  Tomorrow we have reservations for The Dixie Stampede and Branson Scenic Railway.  I think we are going to try and catch the movie Breach at the iMax as well.  Then it is off to eat some more on our way home.  We’re gonna stop at Lamberts and Bass Pro in Springfield.  I’ll let you know how it all goes on Monday.

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