Tuesday night Dane and I stayed home and Dane cooked us some brinner (breakfast for dinner) while I cleaned the house. Fair trade if I do say so myself!Wednesday night was a very special night for us. Our church did not have an Ash Wednesday service so we opted to go to the service at First UMC in Russellville. We know the pastor and his wife and they are very special people. We both really enjoyed the Ash Wednesday service. I know Dane enjoys hearing the word from other pastors. The scripture passage was from the prayer of David after he had sinned against God with Bathsheba.
Psalm 51:15-17
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despite.
I was in awe at the wisdom of David. He knew that no sacrifice could equal a broken spirit. I became very aware of how seldom my spirit is broken. I am thankful for this season before Easter where I am constantly encouraged to remember my identity in Christ. Several people have shared stories with me lately that have challenged my faith, I am ever grateful for the Father's patience with my selfish heart.
Thursday I received some news that I will not be able to take my board exam (the National Physical Therapy Examination - NPTE) until September 7th almost a month after my August 12th graduation. This was initially very frightening for me. How can I possibly move to another state for Dane to attend seminary without even the hope of a license to practice until Sept 7th? (I am too easily discouraged..) However, Dane has been very encouraging to me. He quietly and patiently reminded me that many many things have happened that have helped pave a way for us to move for him to attend seminary. There is no reason to think that one month of life without an income will ruin us. I also spoke with my dear friend Haley about this and she encouraged me to look at this like a period of transition in a new state before I even have the option of working. The situation is out of my hands. Certainly, this may be a blessing in disguise. My dear Gran said the same thing. She has always encouraged me to look at the big picture. A month of my life without work will not be biggest trial of my life, certainly. I am thankful for these words of advice.
Yesterday (Friday) I left my clinical site early to do a drug screen/background check at my next clinical site in Sherwood. I was able to meet my clinical instructor who was very warm and welcoming. The site also had an area for sitting outside to eat lunch! Hooray for a little vitamin D. :)
I then stopped by to visit Susan, Chris, and sweet baby Ava! Ava is growing up so fast. She is almost 7 weeks!! Susan looked amazing. It was so great to see them. Ava is very active and keeps them on their toes. I took several pictures of her but most were blurry because she is such a wiggle worm! :) Love that precious girl!
Dane and I ate at Cracker Barrel last night. Dane pointed out that we now eat there a lot and then he said that he thinks we used to think we were too young to eat there but we have apparently changed our minds! ;)
