Without even thinking (which I occasionally do), I failed to mention that Billy and his team made it to Ukraine around 6:30 a.m. this morning. (Sunday) They were originally supposed to have left Springfield on Thursday afternoon, but due to plane mechanical problems, their flight was cancelled. They rescheduled for Friday afternoon, and once again, the flight got delayed. (not sure what the problem was this time) So knowing they would no longer be able to catch their connecting flight in Detroit, the airline booked hotel rooms for them and they spent the night in Detroit, then caught the next flight out on Saturday afternoon. After an extra connecting flight or two, they made it to Kiev.

Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they minister to the people there. They will return on January 11th. I will try to keep this updated as I hear from them.

I must say it's been a busy week. But also a stressful one.

You see, a job opportunity opened up in my office a couple of weeks ago; one that would have given me more money, and a position just under the Circuit Clerk's job. But with all those 'perks' would have been more stress, more responsibilities....was just the extra salary worth it??

So I applied at the encouragement of not only my immediate bosses (which included the Circuit Clerk) but also a lot of my co-workers. They all thought I should get that job; I mean, 17 years experience should be enough, right??

So the whole time I'm thinking, could I really handle this job? I was doubtful, but applied nonetheless.

They had interviews on Friday; I was number 3 of 4 who applied. One of those 4 was a woman who has worked in the court system for over 20 years. But I didn't think she had worked in as many areas of the office that I had. (For years the office she worked in was separate from ours; it wasn't until recently that our offices "consolidated".) And I had never worked directly with her, so I really didn't know just how much she 'knew'. And she had just recently been promoted to one of the 2 office manager positions as well.

Long story short, I didn't get the job. The woman I just talked about did. Am I bitter? A little. Let down? Somewhat. You see the boss who encouraged me to apply was on vacation last week and was not involved in the interviewing process. Would that have made a difference? Probably not. There were 3 Judges doing the decision-making, and not sure my boss's endorsement would have been enough. I was told that one of the deciding factors was that she had a college degree. Not sure in what, but just that she had one. (she is also about 7 yrs older than me) I didn't go to college. So I don't have a fancy degree; I don't have ANY degrees.

Then again, I have to remember that God is always in control. For some reason, He didn't want me to have that job. Perhaps I will learn why soon, perhaps it will take years for me to know. So when I go back to work on Monday, I will continue to do my job the best I know how. I will respect their decision and work the best way I can with this new manager. I do have another opportunity to apply for one of the office manager jobs that will be vacant at the end of February, so all is not lost.

I knew there was going to be a lot of changes at my workplace, but had no idea it would be so much, so soon. The next few months are bringing a lot of new people in, and others are leaving as well. I just hope that I can continue to trust God to prepare me for whatever job advancements those changes might bring.

Christmas Pictures

Here is a picture of my 2yr-olds Sunday School class; I thought they looked really cute in their Christmas outfits!!


Here are some pictures of Sydney opening gifts:









And Annabella just 'laying around':



Great-Grandma with Annabella:

Uncle Chris and Uncle Adam helping out with the new toys:

Merry Christmas!

We hope everybody out there in 'blog-land' has had a great Christmas Day; we started out our day with my Mom visiting, then our daughter and family and Danny's Dad & one of his brothers came by. By 12:30 we were heading down to Billy's parents (they live a whole 2 blocks away) for Christmas with his side of the family. We enjoyed a spiral-cut ham, great salads, bread, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken and dumplings, green beans, and some awesome desserts. (I kind of felt bad that this year I didn't have a Christmas dinner, but just couldn't find the time.)

I got some really neat gifts, but I think the great-grandkids came away better than anybody else! Annabella had no idea what was going on, but she got lots of hugs and kisses from grandparents and great-grandparents, and even great-great-grandparents!!

As I looked at the almost full moon tonight, I wondered if the sky looked the same that first Christmas night; or perhaps it was moon-less with that one Star giving off most of the light that guided the shepherds. Either way, I'm sure God put on quite a light show in the heavens that night!!

And I can't leave this blog without putting in a picture of one of my fondest memories of Christmas with my grandparents; their 'open house'. For years they opened up their home to friends and family for some good finger foods and good conversation. So here is a picture of me and my sister (she's going to LOVE me for this!!) and 2 of our cousins posing for the camera. I would say this was around 1973 or 1974. (check out those knee-socks!!)


I will try and get some more pictures posted of Sydney and Annabella soon. Merry Christmas everybody!!