Learning to Surrender

Hi -- it's me, Allison. While I was driving to church on Lake Shore Drive tonight (as referenced in Abe's post below), I had an idea for a blog post based on a recent conversation with an old friend. I was telling her how God was teaching me even more to surrender my life to Him. I can get so caught up in my life that I miss the fact that much of my life as it stands now was not how I had planned my life to be. Last night I was sitting with Abe at our favorite Chinese restaurant when I had to just laugh at my life at this stage:

--I was at my *favorite* Chinese restaurant. Says a lot for someone who didn't eat Chinese until I met Abe.
--This was my second Asian meal in a row and I was OK with it (we called out for Thai on Friday night).
--My husband is of a culture that not only is different than mine but one I had no interest in until I met him.
--I can speak some Chinese and can, based on circumstances, interpret what my in-laws say to each other even though I can't understand most of their words when they speak Chinese instead of English. Waiters always look at me funny.
--I live in the third largest city in America. I am not a city girl.
--My church is in the shadow of the John Hancock Building and the Sears Tower.
--My occupation is not what I thought I would do post-college.
--My job allows me to travel to cities such as New York and LA on occasion. My only true business trip in my first job was to a city named Dumas. Say it out loud and get a laugh.

This is my life. It's not perfect. It's totally not what I thought life would turn out for me, but it's so much better. While I have dreams for the future, God is teaching me that I am really not as in control of my life as I think I am. I'm learning to surrender, to jump in and let God direct the flow of my life. Not just for the highs, but also for the lows, of which I have experienced recently. I think if I grasp this concept, I'll be much more at peace and content with life.

We're back! Well, sort of....

Greetings all!

This is Abe blogging. Allison and I will have to apologize for not blogging sooner, but we've gotten pretty dang busy with work over the past few months. Right now, I (Abe) am actually recovering from the stomach flu, while Allison is at church. I really wanted to go today, but obviously God had different plans for me today.

Being sick is not fun--as a matter of fact, I really hate being sick. I am usually pretty active between work/school/other stuff, so it stinks when I get sick. I sleep a lot, watch a lot of tv, drink a lot, play my Xbox 360 more than my wife would like, and probably become more needier than I should be. The good news is that I am feeling better than even 24 hours ago.

Let's see. What is going on with me? I am about halfway through my MBA program at Loyola. I just started a Managerial Economics class last week--I can already tell that I will learn a lot from this class. As for Allison, she is busy preparing for annual meeting with her employer. We're also going to be house-hunting in the NW suburbs of Chicago in the near future, so we'll see where God leads us. Beyond that, my sister and brother-in-law will be coming into town next weekend, so we're excited about that! They are expecting their first child in the summer, so it may be the last time we see them before the baby is born.

In any case, we have become more enamored with facebook as of late, so feel free to look us up on Facebook. Have a good one y'all!