My co-worker passed away a week and a half ago.
34 years old.
You think about the life you lead within the walls of the "office" as separate from your "life". These people you spend 8+ hours with every single day. The ones who have seen you at your very worst and at your very best. The ones who have seen you cry during personal challenges, rant during professional challenges... have listened to your hiccups and snorts during laughter. Who you talk about your "life" with...
Not until one dies do you realize, you were living "life" with him/her, with all of them. You know how many siblings they have and where their parents live and when they got married and how many kids they have. You have seen life with them, you have lived life with them.
And so he's gone. And it leaves a big empty spot in our hearts. It was sudden. It was shocking.
I can't ask him "a quick question" or listen to him speak to his family over the phone (officles are not private folks!).
Just like that, we mourn, we grieve, we question... we move forward.
His death made me realize just how much I love these crazy folks that surround me at work.
I'm doing my very best to enjoy our silly moments and our sad ones. To make time for more connecting and more enjoying through our deadlines and meetings.
This is life. All of it. The work, the leisure, the home. All of it. And I'm going to enjoy all of the moments it provides.
RIP JJK
Monday, January 25, 2016
Monday, January 11, 2016
Recaps and Futures
The last quarter of every year is always so packed with activities. FUN stuff, but lots of them! We have 4 birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's!
We had a lovely Christmas filled with family and memories. Family came in from Illinois, Florida, and Texas... we loved on each other. We laughed, we ate too much, and we didn't sleep nearly enough. It was perfect.
We hosted our annual New Year's Eve party. It was fun. We stayed up until midnight (yay to us old people!) and another wooden spoon broke (banging those pans outside can get serious in no time!).
I LOVE to be surrounded by family and friends. I love having a house full of people. I love hosting and seeing people laughing and the ping pong competitions, and the food, and the sounds... I love the memories.
2015 was an amazing year. One where I dropped to my knees many times thanking my Father for His blessings. So many and so undeserving. B and I are very aware of how blessed we are - there is no doubt that we serve an awesome God. We had some doozies in 2015 as well, but having a Father who is forever loving and grace filled and forgiving makes mountains look like mole hills. God is so good to us.
A and I started Jen Hatmaker's "7" challenge on January 1st. For the next 7 months we will walk through a journey where we will simplify our lives in all kinds of (radical) ways. This month we are eating 7 foods and only 7 foods. It was rough for the first 3 days but now it's good... I remind myself that 7 is so much more than 1 or 0 which is what a huge population of our world lives on. I am financial and physically able to purchase hundreds of varieties of foods at thousands of places. There are human beings fighting for rice, for water, for basics. We are rolling in blessings and complaining about our restriction to 7 foods seems quite selfish.
Next month we'll be wearing 7 items of clothing all month. We're going to get creative!
I pray that as we continue on this journey that we rid ourselves of our "needy" mentality and realize that we live in an abundant life. I pray that we can look at what we have and find ways, all kinds, to give back to others and to the nature God has given us.
This has been a challenge, but only because there are parts of me God wants to make better and that's an excellent way to start 2016!
We had a lovely Christmas filled with family and memories. Family came in from Illinois, Florida, and Texas... we loved on each other. We laughed, we ate too much, and we didn't sleep nearly enough. It was perfect.
We hosted our annual New Year's Eve party. It was fun. We stayed up until midnight (yay to us old people!) and another wooden spoon broke (banging those pans outside can get serious in no time!).
I LOVE to be surrounded by family and friends. I love having a house full of people. I love hosting and seeing people laughing and the ping pong competitions, and the food, and the sounds... I love the memories.
2015 was an amazing year. One where I dropped to my knees many times thanking my Father for His blessings. So many and so undeserving. B and I are very aware of how blessed we are - there is no doubt that we serve an awesome God. We had some doozies in 2015 as well, but having a Father who is forever loving and grace filled and forgiving makes mountains look like mole hills. God is so good to us.
A and I started Jen Hatmaker's "7" challenge on January 1st. For the next 7 months we will walk through a journey where we will simplify our lives in all kinds of (radical) ways. This month we are eating 7 foods and only 7 foods. It was rough for the first 3 days but now it's good... I remind myself that 7 is so much more than 1 or 0 which is what a huge population of our world lives on. I am financial and physically able to purchase hundreds of varieties of foods at thousands of places. There are human beings fighting for rice, for water, for basics. We are rolling in blessings and complaining about our restriction to 7 foods seems quite selfish.
Next month we'll be wearing 7 items of clothing all month. We're going to get creative!
I pray that as we continue on this journey that we rid ourselves of our "needy" mentality and realize that we live in an abundant life. I pray that we can look at what we have and find ways, all kinds, to give back to others and to the nature God has given us.
This has been a challenge, but only because there are parts of me God wants to make better and that's an excellent way to start 2016!
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