Back to the grind

It is 2am and snowing outside. Man, we are definitely not in Florida anymore. I think I started to miss Florida when I woke up this morning to a gray sky and rain. Ugh.

Jon and I had a wonderful trip to Naples spending time with my parents and youngest sister, Tiffany. With little to nothing on the agenda we spent most of the day just relaxing, which is just what we needed. We made a few trips out to the beach to watch the sunset, enjoyed a dip in the hot tub and of course ate some delicious Thanksgiving food! I miss my family, especially since I didn't even get the chance to see two of my sisters and my brother-in-law. Sometimes I wish time would just stop and I could soak up everything. My sisters are getting older and all of us are in different places (North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky and Arizona). It's bittersweet.

Now after a 6 day break I'm back to the grind. Coming to work tonight was hard. My heart aches and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's because I miss my family, or maybe it's the reality of working nights again. It's probably a mixture of those things plus a dozen other emotions. Whatever it may be...I wish it would go away.

Work is busy tonight which helps to take my mind of all these thoughts rolling around in my head. Taking time to write this will probably put me behind but I feel like I just need to take some time to reflect. I'm already feeling stressed re-adjusting to life in Louisville. So I'm inviting you to take a minute to relax with me. As we enter the season of advent it is so important to remember what this time is all about. I'll probably continue posting portions of the birth story of Christ as the days go by so stay tuned. Here is the first passage.

Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.