Six months and counting

So it's February now. Crazy. I've been in this place for half a year. It's still cold as ever, but slowly getting better. I've been talking about how I wished it would snow at least once more before winter was over. Today it snowed, and I find myself wishing it would snow again, like 6 inches. But I'm thankful with the couple hours of snow sticking to the ground as it is.

Speaking of thankful, that has been my biggest challenge the couple months. As most people know, the economy sucks. I've never cared about it until I realized how it affected me personally, hah. Working at an overpriced coffee shop doesn't bode well when people no longer have extra cash to be throwing around anymore. Hours have been cut for most baristas working for Starbucks and now I'm being forced to live within my means of having barely enough money to get by. I find it so easy to freak out and get frustrated when I realize I cannot afford to go out and spend money on something fun to do just to unwind from all this financial tension (kind of a conundrum, huh?). Also, this recent economic slam has ruined my plans of transferring to a different Starbucks or finding a new job altogether. I had determined to move on to something new after 6 months of being at my current location if no progress was being made, mostly because working at that store drives me mad. No progress has really been made, but now I'm stuck for the time being. Funny how it works out. Even though I know it's getting tough for everyone, I know God has to be telling me something in this. I no longer have that financial cushion so I'm being forced to trust that he's got my back through all this. Which has ultimately been good. I don't always like it. But I also find it to be the only way to keep me sane.

Another challenge I find in this is keeping myself focused on better, more important things. It's easy to get distracted with all this, but there are other things to be done. I'm continually trying to comprehend more of the purpose of my being here in Portland. Through conversations with different friends I've been told that God's plan in my moving here wasn't to find the perfect job and be comfortable, but to spread his love to the people I come into contact with here. That is the challenge. And the more I learn about myself, the stronger I feel to be able to do that.

Life is crazy, I'm loving it... even with all the kicks to the face and punches to the throat. There really isn't a better way to get my attention.

All I can do is laugh and enjoy the ride.