In Awe
Lately I am in a constant state of awe.
I've been continuously overwhelmed by the many blessings I have recieved, especially in the last year. My apartment, job, church, and wife are all amazing. Our one year anniversary just passed, and Alice and I have had a wonderful first year of marriage. It's certainly taken some getting used to - especially learning to jointly manage finances - but it's been great.
My apartment is about as great as I could possibly ask for. We've got plenty of space, appliances that work, fast maintenance, and we're in a great location. We have noise from the people above us issues, but in the grand scheme of things, that is a very small complaint. I even have two bathrooms. Amazing.
My job is fantastic. The people I work with are fabulous, and the environment is great. The stuff we put together is pretty incredible, too. When I first started there, I was distracted at how "ugly" our main software offering is, but now I understand the crazy power of it. I can build UIs in a desktop application without ever writing any code, and push out those changes immediately to our clients. That's crazy. I've learned just a phenomenal amount about programming, team work, business, sales, and more in my year and a half there. I've got the freedom to be creative in my solutions and to bring my own set of skills to the company in a way that complements my strengths, with no beaurocracy getting in the way. My boss is even a developer himself - not at all the pointy haired clueless stereotype, but a brilliant programmer and manager combo. Amazing.
Mike and Amy got married last month as well. I was able to organize a sailing trip for Mike's bachelor party. The family of my friend Chris stepped in and took us sailing for free. And the weather that day was perfect. They had no reason to take us sailing - Chris wasn't even able to make it - and yet, they did, and were happy to do it. Amazing.
Church is amazing, too. Our congregation has stepped up and found the funds to do some incredible renovations to our church, due in large part to a huge matching gift that someone was able to offer. The teaching there is great, and Alice and I have just gotten involved with the College Ministry - a ministry that was a huge blessing to me while I was in college. Amazing.
Of course, there is plenty going on right now for some people very dear to me that is not wonderful. However, it looks to me like God is fully in control of my life and is taking great care of me and the people around me. I spend a lot of time feeling stuck not knowing what to do about the bad things going on, but when I stop and realize that it's not up to me to figure it out, but to follow the guidance of He who is in control, that's pretty...well, amazing.




September 23rd, 2009 - 10:14
This is quite a powerful post. Interestingly enough, I just made a new “summary” post with a similar conclusion, before I even read this. Once again, the parallels in our lives are strange sometimes.
I’m glad your job is going well. I’m glad to see Alice has a new blog. I’m glad church is going well, too. Amy and I have started to discuss church. We may have some questions for you and Alice.
As far a the other, less fortunate things going on … please let me know if I can be of any help, in any way.
See you this weekend.
November 2nd, 2009 - 14:20
I am in awe that it has been over a month since you’ve updated
Also, add some photos, or resurrect the old pages for now. I like to take trips down other people’s memory lanes once and a while.
November 10th, 2009 - 23:33
Jeff, I will injure you if you don’t update this.