Life has been moving along lately. It's April, which means work is crazy busy. As busy as it is, it's totally different from last April because my program responsibilities are totally different and are spread out more consistently during the year (and heavy in December and January) rather than being crazy in the spring. I also have a smaller caseload.
Life, in general, has gotten a bit busier with grad work, regular workouts at the gym, writing a mass (which I'm loving!) and trying to still make time for the love of my life. On the bright side, my husband is now doing all his work from home and has taken over cooking dinner so that frees up at least an hour in my busy evenings.
Lent was a really meaningful season for me this year. Last year at this time my life was a mess and Easter was kind of the day we decided to make a real change. And things have made a 180 degree change and this Easter it was so great to look back and see all the work that God had done in our lives over the last year. This Lenten season was also about practicing discipline. I think I've made some real improvements in that area, and will continue to work on it.
I think the biggest change recently is the fact that Charles no longer works at Apple.... and miraculously I'm okay with that. Anyone who knows me knows that I really stress out about money. So when Charles proposed that he quit his job at Apple to stay at home and write articles for an online theological dictionary - for a fraction of the pay - I had to really really struggle. But we talked about it (in one of the most effective communications we've ever had) and I put my new conflict management skills to work and we decided that, even though it will make money tight, it would be a way better decision for his future career as an educator and it would be something he loves (and he would agree to cook dinner every week night). So I guess you could say that along with learning discipline, I'm also learning how to trust.
And who knows what that kind of freedom will lead to! :)
So I want to tell you about this Lenten mass that I'm composing, just because I'm really excited about it. I want it to be historical and interesting and accessible, so I'm combining choral with congregational singing, and using mostly English but also throwing in some Greek and Latin and mixing modern chord progressions with some old school Gregorian chant and all kinds of other interesting stuff! It's the most inspired I've been in over a year!
