Waiting with expectation

This morning I realized that Tim and I have been in Washington exactly two months today. It’s kinda hard to believe it’s taken that long to get to where we are now, but it also seems like we’ve been here a lot longer than that. When I try to explain to other people why Tim and I moved out here it’s often difficult to find the right words. Why? …Because God opened a door. And we stepped through it. And we waited. Sometimes patiently and sometimes not. But we waited with expectation.

We read this last night and it speaks better than my own words do:

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” –Psalm 130:5-6

“The long watches of the night, through which soldiers guard cities and shepherds watch over flocks, are compared with the wait of the soul before God. It is not the waiting of indolence, but of alertness. Waiting is vigilance plus expectation; it is wide awake to God.” (Praying with the Psalms by Eugene Peterson)

On the point of waiting…I’ve been waiting lately to hear back from Starbucks. The manager who originally offered me a position back in October has been really helpful in trying to get another store to hire me since that opening is filled now. She offered to speak with the other store managers in the district directly and follow up with an email, but I didn’t hear anything back right away, so I gave her another call. She was so frustrated that no one had contacted me that she offered to speak to them again and let them know that we had a great interview and that someone should hire me…It worked! Yesterday I was called for a pseudo-interview, I went in this morning and was offered a position before the interview was over! I’m so thankful that the Lord provides and honestly I’m very thankful to be in a position where we need him to provide for us each day. It’s humbling, and teaching me a LOT. But I’m thankful.

These are a few photos that Tim and I have taken during a couple afternoons exploring our new home :)

Seattle is beautiful. In case the pictures didn't tell you so.

Wedding Albums

Lately I’ve been working on several album designs for brides and grooms from this past summer. In between traveling to various libraries and coffee shops to use their internet and apply for jobs, designing albums is a life-giving thing to occupy my time with! As I’m learning how to use InDesign, I’m discovering that I love retelling the story of each couple’s wedding day in storybook form. I imagine their children and grandchildren enjoying the photos one day, and also asking questions like, “Mom, was that dress seriously in style?” and “Dad, what kind of haircut was that??” :)

My hope is that these wedding albums serve as a reminder for each couple of the commitment they have made to one another and a day that all their family & friends were celebrating with them. During the hard seasons of marriage, they can look back on their wedding photographs, not as an escape from the present, but as a way of grounding them and reminding them why they’ve committed to do life together.

Hope you enjoy a little of Jon & Lily and my first wedding album design!

Feel free to click on the page spreads to see them full-sized.

"Look at the birds of the air..."

Birds have intrigued me for a long time (just ask Rebekah King ;) ). Maybe it comes from when I was young and every time I was asked the question “If you could have any superpower in the world what would it be?” – I always answered flying. I wasn’t interested in being stronger than everyone in the world, having x-ray vision, or having my own theme music that followed me wherever I went (although that would be pretty cool), but instead I wanted to fly – and I wanted the freedom that came with it.

When we were living on Whidbey Island, we’d watch the seagulls outside carry tiny clams high into the air, drop them on the sand, and then swoop down to see if they’d cracked open. Everyday over breakfast we’d watch them do this. As Tim and I were struggling with waiting for God to provide for us, we were reminded of Matthew 6. And birds became a reminder of God’s faithfulness in providing what we need.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat of what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

This little bird came and perched on the power lines outside our apartment yesterday and I was reminded of that verse. This morning I was discouraged about finding work for myself, and the same bird came back and sat on the power line while I was journaling, a symbol of encouragement and a reminder to me that the Lord is our provider, and I need not be anxious.