Smile...

I just got off the phone with my girlfriend; I wish so much I could provide for her. She is so amazing, so deserving that I wish I could buy her the world to travel across for the rest of our lives. It is in this time of need I feel so unworthy of such an amazing individual in my life.

Though I am still unemployed, I will still charge on to find work that will both keep me financially afloat as well as allow me to save for our future. So far, nothing has come up; and though I find myself getting discouraged, I must keep the faith that God has something waiting for me in the wings. I still have two weeks before I head over--plenty of time right?!? He made the planet and everything on it in seven days, he can surely find me a job given twice the time! I just have to make sure I keep meeting Him halfway and continue to have faith.

The funny, and at times unfair, part about that is I have to keep pluckin' along, meeting Him halfway until I find what he has set aside; I don't even know when this is supposed to be over. This is an endurance race where the finishline is unseen--and that makes it tough. (It's at this point that I often find myself reminding.... uh... myself of a particular bible verse.)

It is in these moments of discouragement that I think of my Grandmother's words when she broke two ribs 7 months ago (mind you, she's 84), and had nothing but a smile on her face despite the intense pain. I mentioned and complimented how she was taking it so well. "Well, there's no other way to be. I don't have much of a choice in the matter," she said with a half-cocked smile and a chuckle.

Ah, the lessons we learn about life from those more experienced and wise. "Lemons in to lemonaid", "attitude is everything", "God closing doors and opening windows"--whatever your chosen cliche to band-aid your emotions at the time, they all carry the same message: Wherever you find yourself in life (whether you found that situation or that situation found you), smile; there's really no other choice.

:)