With hope in my heart

OK, it's been over a week again... but I really do have good reasons.  It seemed like we were under attack from all sides this week, but through God's grace, we were not defeated.  It began with the death of one of Brian's coworkers, an ENT surgeon who was much too young. It was unexpected and swift, and totally rocked the world of the staff at the hospital, including Brian. So while he was dealing with his grief, I was trying to keep things running here at home (and elsewhere).  

I also spent several days working on a project for our CR leadership team.  We collected statements from as many CR participants and leaders as wanted to participate regarding why they were thankful for Celebrate Recovery. I gathered them and printed them on colored paper, then put them into a gift scrapbook for our lead pastor as a gift for Pastor Appreciation Month. I just finished it this afternoon and will give it to him one day this week.

We had our usual flurry of meetings and gatherings during the week... something every night. I only managed to cook one meal, and that one was practically inedible (chicken and dumplings... I think I didn't get enough salt and pepper in them and the dumplings were terribly bland). That was Tuesday night... I can't even remember what we did Wednesday; Thursday we drove through BK and Friday, Emily made a Tombstone Pizza while Brian and I were in a meeting before CR.  I had to leave CR early in order to pick Emily up here at home and take her to school for homecoming. Then Brian picked her up at 11:30 that night.

Yesterday seemed like a rather long day. After the week we'd had, even seemingly simple things like planning the menu for the week and making a shopping list seemed like gargantuan tasks. Somehow I managed to get it done, with just enough time from the time I got home from shopping left to finally cook another meal, only this time it wasn't for us! A family in our small group from church had a baby the morning Brian's friend died and the families in the group were taking turns bringing them a meal. I made chicken tetrazzini and a cherry dump cake for them and delivered it a little after 5pm. After I got home, Brian grilled steak for us. It was definitely the best meal we'd had all week! The rest of the evening was spent in more leisurely pursuits: Brian and Noah went to see "Eagle Eyes" while I played a couple of board games with Joel and Halle.

I am eying this coming with with hope that it will be filled with less drama.