• Go on a Family Life Cruise or take a cruise with a cruise line other than Carnival
• Attend a Weekend to Remember event
• Visit the Holy Land Experience in Orlando
• Lead a Crown Bible Study group
• Buy a house
• Go to Disney World
• Go on a mission trip together

“Don’t pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men … pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

-Bishop Phillips Brooks

We are both grateful for the work we have. I still remember my Italian professor in college saying: “Work is a privilege.”  It is, and it was brought to my attention this week while reading Crown Biblical Financial study that God put work in place before sin. “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.” (Genesis 2:15)

It is a very common joke and observation that to not work would be “the life.” And, it is easy to dream about not having to work. But, working and earning money to pay for our needs gives us a sense of purpose and dignity, not just financial provision. And, I without a doubt, believe that God provides work, and provides people with skills and the ability to work. That is why this verse is key: “Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:7-8)

That is great motivation! When I have been able to turn my mind toward God at work, and work for Him, it is a night and day difference, a complete attitude shift. I will be quick to say that this is not as easy as I wish it were! When frustrations come, and stressful days, I struggle to be content and not grumble about work, much less work as if I am working to do God’s will in my heart. I hope I can continue to strive for that. Because when I am able to work for the Lord, work becomes such a joy and an act of praise and worship! And, it’s a wonderful thing!

Life has been a whirlwind for us over the past 3 weeks. Dan accepted a job with Accenture in Charlotte on January 24. We signed a lease for an apartment in the Charlotte area on February 1, and Dan’s first day at the new job was on February 4. The moving company packed up our Sumter apartment on February 5, and delivered all the furniture and boxes yesterday (February 11). Those are the major steps we have taken, but anyone who has moved knows that there are many other details that go along with moving! Multiple times over the past week, I have been thankful that Dan is finished with his Air Force career, just because I know that one of the many sacrifices military families make is frequent moving.

Our #1 goal at the moment is to unpack, and get everything in working order at our new place (specifically the washer and dryer.)

We are also currently memorizing a Bible verse each week with our Crown Bible study group. The accountability with that has been great for us.

We were encouraged in the Crown study, as well to talk as a couple once a week about our finances and financial goals. We hope to make this a habit on Sunday afternoons.

As far as health and exercise, we sure hope we can get back to running at some point, but it seems like that may take a while. We set a goal recently to not eat after 9 pm. This has proved to be difficult.

I was inspired to write down a few of these goals after seeing this post by Dave Ramsey.

We have movers coming tomorrow. I am a rookie to having the help of professional movers. Nobody told me what they do. And, I know that sounds dumb. But, I assumed a lot of things. And a lot of the things I assumed were false.

When we found out we were moving, my first thought was that I have an entire apartment to pack. So, I started packing, and I tried to go about it very quickly, yet methodically. I pulled everything off of the walls. I have created stacks of clothes and books. I have boxed up knick-knacks and food from our pantry.

After talking to three Air Force wives today, I learned that a moving company will do every bit of the packing for you. Wow. What a waste of stress, and detailed sorting, and organizing. What a waste.

Oh well. Now I know.

While reading a Lysa Terkeurst devotion, I liked this list of Scriptures that state who God says we are:

•  forgiven child of God. (Romans 3:24)
• set-free child of God. (Romans 8:1–2)
• accepted child of God. (1 Corinthians 1:2)
• holy child of God. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
• made-new child of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• loved child of God. (Ephesians 1:4)
• close child of God. (Ephesians 2:13)
• confident child of God. (Ephesians 3:12)
• victorious child of God. (Romans 8:37)

We were excited about the arrival of our first niece this past week!

Rachel Eve was born on January 16, 2013 at 12:30 pm, weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. She is beautiful, and we had so much fun meeting her yesterday.

This is big brother with baby.

Uncle Dan

Today, Reid and his classmates were supposed to dress up as a storybook character for school. He was the Big Bad Wolf, and if you look closely, you can see him holding the three little pigs.

Carrie and Reid.

This picture was taken at the top of the Willis Tower, on one of the lookout windows. It is a scary sensation to stand on the glass, with a view from 108 stories high! I think it was easier though, considering there was zero visibility of the city from the top on the day that we visited. Because it was snowing, we were barely able to see anything but fog and snow from the top. Even though it may not have been the most ideal day to visit Chicago, I’m very glad, in a way that we got to see so much snow falling. That was fun for me!

We ate lunch at Topolobampo, which is Rick Bayless’ restaurant, right beside Frontera Grill. We were hoping to go to Frontera Grill, but because there was an hour wait, we decided to be seated right away at Topolobampo, next door. It was quite tasty!

We also drove around a bit, and saw the Navy Pier and many other cool sights. On the way out of the city, we also stopped at the Old Orchard Mall, which was a really nice shopping center.

On December 30, Dan and I got to go see the final Packers game of the regular season. They played the Vikings at the Metrodome. It was very exciting for me, since it was my first time at a professional football game. As you can see from the above picture, we had some great seats. We were around the 20 yard line, 9 rows up. It was great to be so close to the action, and to players who I’ve seen only on TV.

Even though the Packers lost, the game was quite exciting and quite Loud. Thanks to Dale for giving us the tickets!

January 12 is Dan’s date of separation with the US Air Force. I am proud of my airman! And I am grateful for having had the opportunity to be a military wife, even though it was only for a year and a half. It has given me much appreciation and respect for the many military families that serve our country, and the sacrifices they make.

The Air Force brought Dan to South Carolina, provided him with work experience, encouraged him to pursue physical fitness, paid for some education, and helped him meet some great friends. I for one, am very glad he decided to enlist for four years.

We will miss some parts of being in the military, but we are excited to begin the next step of our journey!

This is a picture of Dan with our good friend, Blake, who we know through our church.