Challenges

Well, to bring you up to date with my little family. . .

My dog is sitting here next to me, trying to push my hand off the laptop keyboard so that I can pet her. She's so neglected, you see. It's not enough that she follows me from room to room all day every day, or sleeps with me at night - but she insists that I must pay attention to her when I finally have a few moments to myself. Such is the life of my totaly unpampered and ignored little baby, Katy.

TP starts back to college tomorrow (can I hear an "amen"?) and she's very excited. Her goals are to get on the dean's list every quarter and to become the best nurse she can be. DQ's marching band got a "Superior" rating at the state competition last night - what a thrill that was! Her second quarter of her junior year starts tomorrow, and time is passing much too quickly. My hubby may be up for a promotion at work, so please keep us in your prayers. And I'm just humming along with trying to get caught up with a lot of different things around here. The band activitites have been very time consuming, so I've had to juggle my schedule around accordingly, but there is only one more band competition coming up, and after that, things should get back to "normal".

My job is really challenging me right now. After awhile, if I'm not really careful, I begin to get a very skewed sense of the world - I begin to think that there is more evil than love, more bad than good, more contempt than nurturing, more selfishness than giving, more viciousness than kindness - you get the idea. I have stay vigilant that I don't develop "compassion fatigue", or else I'd lose a lot of clients if I came across as cold and disinterested and aloof. I must admit, though, that I have to have a layer of protection from all the pain and angst I witness. What I do to try to keep me balanced is to imagine myself as a sponge who absorbs all of what people bring to me, but that once they leave, it is necessary for me to squeeze it out of me in some fashion so that I can function in my daily life. At times, that is very difficult to do - and this is one of those times. I do truly love what I do, and I feel as though it is a vocation that I've been called upon to do - but there are times in which I struggle with my effectiveness and my abilities to help others.

I can't believe it's so close to November. Today looks like it will be a nice day to get outdoors and take a walk and enjoy the remaining foliage on the trees. I need to clear my head, get re-energized for another week of work and school activities, and pray to God that I am following His will in all of the roles of my life. I'll pray, too, that all of you are doing well.