A fun 3 day weekend

Friday was quite a day and ended up being a welcome day off of work! I showed up at the school at 7:55 and saw 5 fire trucks outside. Yikes! Our heater had been broken in the middle of the week and one of the units was fixed on Thursday. Apparently the unit malfunctioned and caused a smoke fire to start (no flames). All the students and staff had to stand outside in the parking lot or wait in our cars on the coldest day of the year so far. I decided to take the day without pay if needed, because the last thing I need is smoke irritating my skin. Luckily I found out later that morning that we could all go home without penalty if we wanted. Phew! And it was on a Friday, so Monday should be safe to go back in there. It was nice to have a day to rest and take better care of my skin.

Saturday was a really busy shopping day. We got up early hoping to get a $5 fleece jacket from Old Navy, but they were of course sold out by the time that we got there. Still, it jump-started our shopping for the day! Found quite a few Christmas presents for family, did our obligatory Central Market run, ran by Costco, did the laundry, then it was off to look at 6 townhomes in the afternoon. We found 1 we liked and 5 we didn't. The 1 we do like is a good 30 minute drive to Millersville University (yikes) and has a tiny kitchen. But everything else was great, and it is the right price. So... we'll see. We are going to drive out there during rush hour on Tuesday and see how bad the commute is.

Today was a great time of worship at church and reflection on Joseph's experience of baby Jesus' birth. Everyone seems to forget Joseph, and it is important to recognize the sacrifices that he made and the extraordinary respect that he showed to Mary throughout the pregnancy and their betrothal period. He took the angel at his word and risked his own disgrace. So much of the story hinges on Mary and Joseph trusting the Lord throughout the entire pregnancy, birth, and life of Jesus. How much am I trusting the Lord with the big things in my life right now? How much am I willing to unflinchingly obey when the Lord speaks to me? Good things to ponder during this time of advent.

What nuggets of wisdom have you been giving during this season? I'd love to hear what you are learning, too.