Can You Say Random?!

I feel as though I've done a lot of "writer" posting lately and not a whole lot of "Tyler" posting. Really, the "writer" stuff is still me, my junk, and my life. But it's more deep thinking stuff - more often - than what my meagre little brain is used to. And sometimes a girl just needs to tell somebody what she's up to!

Did I mention we found a new church? Maybe I failed to even mention we were looking. Oops! It was a great fit from the very first Sunday we attended: the pastor was great, the kids loved Sunday school, we felt welcomed. Once we decided it would be our new home church, I emailed about getting involved with the women's ministry leadership team. We went for lunch to get to know each other and made it official. One of the best things I've discovered is this: I have finally learned how to survive without being the leader! And you know what? I kinda like not having all that responsibility.

We have a cool program in the public schools here called "Logos" (the Word) that offers a Christian education within the public school. Love it! Anyway, we've got 3 of 'em populating the program right now, and will be adding a fourth in two years, so I felt it was important to get involved. I'm going to spend the year learning the ropes so that next year I can be the Logos Rep for our school. I'm not 100% sure what all that entails, but I do know there's one Logos meeting and one school/parent council meeting each month.

Last week I had a strange attack of loneliness. I was very weepy about it. (I'm sure it didn't help that it was my "cranky week.") I'm still feeling lonely this week, but realized the source of the problem. It's not that we don't really have any couple friends yet (we do, but it's all still new). It's not that we aren't in a life group yet (we are, finally, but we won't start meeting until after Haiti). It's not starting over at a new church. It's not seeing the ministry I left behind growing beautifully. It's not the fact that two friends are now working full-time and no longer available for my housecleaning phone calls (and by the way, how am I ever going to get any housework done without them?!).

The problem is me. Somewhere along the way, I started thinking about "me, me, me" and what I need/want/deserve/wish for. I forgot about the "Why am I here?" "What can I do to honour God here?" "Who can I bless or encourage?" "Who needs me to reach out to them?" Knowing that there's a problem is the first step... Now, if I can only get over myself and focus on being a blessing! (I suspect that this is where the deep, true, long-lasting, spend every waking moment together friendships are found.)

What else? Oh, I started doing Zumba (pronounced zoom-bah) a few weeks ago! Super fun and sweaty exercise. The only problem is that Zumba is the night before karate. By the time Thursday rolls around, I'm limping and moaning as my muscles creak and my bones crack. It's really quite pathetic!

I'm almost afraid to say this (lest I jinx it, except that I don't believe in such things), but I finally seem to be losing some weight. It's slow. Like, 8 pounds in 12 weeks slow. But I progressed down enough that I now have 2 pairs of jeans to choose from. Thank goodness, because my one fat pair is beginning to wear out! I credit my success (let's use that term very loosely) to changed thinking, and I credit that to Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave. I promise to give you a really scoopy post about the book in December once it's primed for release. If you have any sort of food issues at all, you better go ahead and put the book on your wishlist. It's that good! (And no, it is NOT a diet book. Not at all.)

One last thing. Did I tell you that I am going to be speaking later this month?! Yes, I speak every day all day, but this is for an audience with a purpose! I'll be doing a breakout workshop on Mommy, why are you Angry? at the Freshwind conference for women. Can you believe it?! I feel like such a grown up!

I feel better now. How about you? No? Sorry. If you made it this far, though, I thank you. Really, it means a lot to be able to just talk. So hey - what's going on in your world these days?

By the way, I know I should link you to a fun Zumba video, info about Lysa's new book, the conference I'll be at, and more. But I'm feeling kinda lazy today. I know you'll google them if you really want to know. Right? That's just how comfortable I am with you. It's a compliment. Just like it's a compliment when I don't clean the toothpaste out of the bathroom sink before you come for a visit. It's a sign of affection. Mkay? ;)