Amy Writes

My apologies to any email subscribers who received half a post in their inbox this morning... you caught me practicing! There's more to that story, maybe I'll get around to actually telling it. In other news...did you know you could subscribe and receive a direct e-mail feed? Look over there ---------->>>

It has been kind of a weird week, and as I've tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to organize my thoughts, there is one thought I keep coming back to... I love this. It's been a week of gratitude, not for anything in particular, but just that I get to be a part of this. This life. This family. These friends. This church . This place. It's been a week of searching, of evaluating my gifts, my weaknesses, my offerings and my shortcomings...of wrestling with whether I'm in the right place, with the right people, doing the right things...or enough of the right things. I think I am. It's been a week of being reminded of God's faithfulness in spite of my fogginess - a 95% on a math test, an unexpected "I'm thankful for you" text, the opportunity to settle a silly bet between friends, two unexpected amaryllis flowers in my backyard, a new favorite song that reminds me of what it means to be in a Gospel community, a husband who gets my quiet days, a lo...

It was the day before we were planning to start school, and I panicked a little. I had done so little to prepare. I mean, my first week's lessons were pretty much written out. The books were not only ordered, but actually already in the house and I had even leafed through most of them. The school table was cleared off, we had sharpened pencils and all necessary software was loaded and ready to go. But still, I didn't feel ready. I felt like I was missing something critical, and when I realized what it was, I almost kicked myself into a last minute frenzy of Dollar Tree + Pinterest + MAYBE THE PRINTER WILL WORK IF I JUST HIT IT HARDER madness. I had forgotten neglected to prepare any over-the-top Back to School cuteness. No matching dresses. No special breakfasts. No adorable "First Day Of..." printouts for pictures. There were no treats awaiting my children at all - just a "good morning, I think we have some Eggos" and "Here's your new Penmans...