Time goes by quickly!

Tomorrow my dad and I are going to Oregon to see my grandma ( my last living grandparent!).. which should be a good time but also very sad because it will probably be the last time I get to see her alive on this earth.

Then after that.. only 17 days until Iowa and back to the farm land! I cant believe it is coming up so quickly!!


I am preparing myself to hang out with the cows and be an Iowa girl again!! :)

unsure...

When I first started high school our first assignment was to memorize this hymn.. and as I have grown I still have it memorized. It is such a good reminder that whatever happens our lives are in God's hands. I often get SO uncertain of my life and where it will end up, but then little things happen unexpectedly, like finding a roommate and an apartment in Sioux center in ONE day, and things like that remind me that God is in control and has my life perfectly planned out.


Yesterday my grandma had another heart attack and was put on hospice care.. meaning that she probably wont last too much longer. It is weird to think that this is my last grandparent.. and she is almost gone. However, I think it is her time because she is lonely and so sick.. this world has nothing to offer her compared to the life she will soon have in heaven.


So here is the hymn .. PLEASE read it over.. it is VERY good. I always recite the first verse to myself when I am uncertain with life and it give me so much comfort!

"My times are in Thy hand." -- Psalm XXXI.15


Father, I know that all my life
Is portioned out for me,
And the changes that are sure to come,
I do not fear to see;
But I ask Thee for a present mind
Intent on pleasing Thee.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love,
Through constant watching wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles,
And to wipe the weeping eyes;
And a heart at leisure from itself,
To soothe and sympathise.

I would not have the restless will
That hurries to and fro,
Seeking for some great thing to do
Or secret thing to know;
I would be treated as a child,
And guided where I go.


So I ask Thee for the daily strength,
To none that ask denied,
And a mind to blend with outward life
While keeping at Thy side;
Content to fill a little space,
If Thou be glorified.


In a service which Thy will appoints,
There are no bonds for me,
For my inmost heart is taught "the truth"
That makes Thy children "free;"
And a life of self-renouncing love
Is a life of liberty.

Anna Laetitia Waring

having fun with my boys

This last week has been busy at work and at home! However today I got to help Sarah with her garage sale and watch my little boys! Sammy is really sick right now, but he was still in good spirits (well.. after he was drugged up) and they were fun to play with. I am thankful for these little boys!




As you can notice, Patricks new thing is growling at the camera. ;)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Looking back..

A YEAR AGO:

I was working hard at Dordt College. Barely making a dime.. but making memories which I will NEVER forget!
We were painting a room but we did not want to get our work shirts all dirty so we wore garage bags :)

My parents were also thinking about moving to Des Moines, so my girlfriends and I packed up, drove through a storm, and arrived in des moines and spent the weekend with my parents!
Unfortunately, they decided not to move there.


We also felt like the town was ours.. so we went waited on Main St. with gallons of milk, while our pizzas at Caseys cooked!
We often thought of VERY creative ideas to keep us entertained..which this one was brilliant. We made a slip and side and used soap and the hose to keep it wet and slippery! It was not fun then the next week when EVERY muscle in our body felt bruised and we could barely sit or walk.





Oh how I miss those good old days:)

Life...

...has been busy! I have been working many hours at the urology office... learning some interesting things about that part of the body! I recently told my old high school teacher (good old Mr. Bond for all that know him) and his response was "WHAT??? You work there??? Could you not find anywhere better to work???". Well, it helps that it is part of my dad's business... but I also find it fun. The people there are fun, and keep me constantly laughing as I work. What really struck me though is that it is weird not being in a thoroughly Christian environment. It seemed like at Dordt, everyone was Christian and would abide by the same life standards as I do. Now, I am being confronted with questions like..."Why don't you live with your boyfriend?" and other such questions and I have no idea what to say. I don't want to make it look like I am better than everyone... but I do want them to know why I think it is not right. However, its been interesting and good. One of the ladies there told me,"Rachel, there is something I really like about you... I don't know what but there is just something." I really wanted to tell her it was because I am a Christian and that affects who I am, what I do, what I say, and how I act.


Other than that, life is good. I don't have to watch my nephews any more... which is nice. I love them to death, but it is a LOT of work. It is so hard when you are tied to the house with them and you can't do anything you need to. But now I miss seeing them often. :S

Today is Father's Day!!! (Happy Fathers Day, Dad!!) Over the last couple weeks I realized even more how much I respect my dad. While working in his office, its funny to hear the patients come in and talk about how great of a surgeon he is... and I just smile to myself and remember how great he really is. He is doing much better after his surgery. Not that he was doing bad before, but now he is eating much healthier and losing a lot of weight. Its good to see this!

Well, I better get going... sorry no pictures to show. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Good news!

But you will have to read it on my brothers site! http://www.feuchtster.blogspot.com/

I got a sweet one :)

Hey all!
It has been busy.. I have been watching my two nephews with Diane, while Sarah and Andrew are away in Hawaii. It is a lot of work, but a lot of fun! If you want to see more about that go to flanaganclan.com. Expect another blog there tomorrow hopefully.

But on another note.. I got a very sweet boyfriend. He surprised me and had flowers delivered to Sarahs house for me! This is a picture of them:


I like them a lot.. it made my day!

A lot has been going on.. but I will update when I have more time! Hope you are all doing well!

4 months!

Hello all, well now that its June already, I should probably post again.
I now have two weeks in at my first real job. I've just been in the warehouse so far, training and learning how the company works...supposedly. It seems more like the warehouse workers just give me the jobs that no-one else wants to do. Oh well, its only another week or two then I'll be up in the office. After the warehouse, I go to sales for a month or so, then to purchasing for a month and hopefully then to Project Manager, the job I was hired to do! But its really not so bad, 10 hours a day get kinda long being on your feet, I certainly wasn't used to it, but I'm getting there, not near as tired as I used to be. Somedays it isn't just my legs though, somedays I lift a lot of weight throughout the day. Yesterday for example, we recieved a container filled with radiators from Ireland. Some of these radiators weigh 80-90 pounds. Well, there were probably 200+ radiators in this container and I lifted about half of them out of there. I'm not trying to brag, but I feel like I've been lifting weights all day when I get out of there somedays! Its good for me though I suppose.
But on another note, Rachel and I have been together for four months now, thats a third of a year! Things are going great, its harder being away from her, I really miss her, but things are going good and she'll be out here shortly. We used to see each other 3-4 times a day, now nothing for three weeks, and another 6 weeks to go! But I'm just thankful that we both are willing to put up with this long distance and that she is moving back here in another month and a half! How exciting! Its been a great four months, to say the least!
Well I'm pretty exhausted. I walked 18 holes this morning, then I rollerbladed out to Sandy Hollow and back (8-9 miles) and now I'm just feeling like my legs are rubberbands.
Hope this finds everyone well. Sarah and Andrew, hope you are having fun in Hawaii, I'm jealous!
Good day!