Friday, May 28, 2010

I've heard that you shouldn't pray for patience...

I've heard that if you pray for patience, then God will give you plenty of opportunities to "exercise" patience! Well, I have been praying that I would have a good attitude during this season of transistions and adjustment....ahhh!!! I guess that I prayed for MANY opportunities to practice having a good attitude, because it has been a WET and WILD week for the Greer family.

1. Bubbly Toilets - The city has been working on our water lines/pipes recently. Last weekend next to NOTHING would flush. I'll try not to be too graphic, but imagine this: a #1 would hardly flush. Know what I'm saying? Our neighbors confirmed that it was happening in their homes, so we werent too worried. Just needed to be patient until they were done. Now, the toilets flush, but all week our toilets have been singing to us. They bubble; they drain. Once our bathtub was even filled with water and dirt and it did not come from the facet....up from below! Seriously.

2. Spewing Sink - Monday (start of the work week) Adam reaches under the counter to get the mouth wash to find our sink pipe (not sure if that is the technical name) spitting water. He had already fixed this once before. Something about a washer gone or the putty had disintegrated. I am not sure. We have known about this little "project," but thought it was fixed. So, we have had to shower in our bathroom, but brush our teeth and such in the front bathroom. Nothing a huge deal. Just a little annoying.

3. Walking in the Rain - Now this was TOTALLY MY FAULT! HAHA. Adam and I have been riding to campus together and if you know anything about Auburn University, you know that students have to walk and walk and walk to get from their car to their class. Well, Wednesday we were leaving campus. We were about 2/3 of the way to the car (about 5 minutes) and it starts raining. I reach in my bag to get my keys only to find...NO KEYS! I had left them on my desk. Adam turns to go get them (I wait under a tree) and it begins to POUR!! He comes back soaking wet and didnt talk to me for a while after that. My bad!

4. Fountain in the Front Bathroom - I woke up this morning to a shout of "OH CRAP!" from Adam. I leap out of bed only to find a fountain of water flying up from the floor (where the sink pipes connect) and an inch of water already on the floor in the bathroom!!! No one was even in the bathroom when it started! So I grab every towel we own while Adam runs to turn off the water. We are thankful that we were home when this happened and didnt come home to an inch of water in the whole house, because the water was coming out fast and it wouldnt have taken long to be very bad!



So, now we are waiting for the plumber and the City of Opelika to "open" so that we can get everything figured out. I also will not drink anything because I dont want to have to walk to the neighbor's house multiple times to borrow their facilities. :)

Lord...I am trying to have a good attitude. Please bless us with helpful hands this afternoon and some solutions to all the wet and wild situations we are facing. Thank you for the blessings we have received in spite of all this (a few good laughs) and for your sense of humor in providing so many "opportunities" to practice patience & having a good attitude. :)

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Transitions

What do we really know about CHANGE and TRANSITIONS that happen in our lives? Adam and I have experienced LOTS of changes recently, so I keep looking & listening to how people talk about change.
  • The Bible says that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
  • Leading self-help books make analogies to moving of cheese and not gobbling marshmallows to help readers adapt to the change process in as little as a week or even an hour :)
  • Various therapy approaches (I have been studying because I am taking my therapy licensing exam soon!!) encourage the change process with techniques that include shaping & modeling appropriate behavior, charting progress, increasing self-focus, decreasing anxiety, creating boundaries, challenging assumptions, reframing the situation, etc., etc.!!!!!!

Changes at the Greer home:

  • Adam is going back to school FULL time as an Auburn Univ. student!!!
  • Mallory "retired" from her therapy job at mental health that she has had for 3 years to teach classes at Auburn Univ!
  • Adam was hired as a research assistant on campus (which is very different from the Home Depot)!

For us, change can be seen in the practical sense (i.e. bank account, the amount of time we see each other, health benefits, etc), but it is hard to put change into words. The best word we can think of is BITTERSWEET! Excited about what is to come; humbled to be offered new experiences; sad and nervous about leaving places where we feel comfortable....

Just thankful to be taking this exciting, humbling, & nerve-racking journey with a loving & supportive spouse. Will keep you updated on how we manage all this change.

PRAYERS AND ADVICE welcome :)

p.s. Picture taken today at the Valley Day on the River (super fun festival is Valley, AL). Next blog will give you the 411 on the Watermelon eating contest from the reigning Valley watermelon eating CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Anniversary to us!

5-9-09 to 5-9-10! What does that mean?! We have been married a WHOLE YEAR!! Happy Anniversary to the Greer family. Only 588 more months until our 50th wedding anniversary :) Until then, may we always remember and fulfill our vows to each other. (We wrote our own vows!). Here they are:

Adam to Mallory:

First, I vow to love you forever.
To protect you...
To pray for you...and with you...
To remind you how much I love you...(and why you love me so much!)
To do my best to provide for you...
To encourage you...
To always be honest with you.

Lastly, Did I say to love you FOREVER!
You are my sunshine

Mallory to Adam:

Adam, I make a covenant with my eyes, my heart, and my actions to be fully committed to you (Job 31:1)
I promise to bring you good and not harm (Proverbs 31:12)
I promise to practice patience and kindness even through the storms (1 Cor. 13:4)
I will dance when you dance; I will mourn when you mourn (Romans 12:15)
I will be there all the days of your life.

From this day forward, I pledge:
(1) To seek Christ first in our relationship (Matt. 6:33)
(2) To honor you in all my actions, and
(3) To love you forever

Here's to many, many, many more : )