Starbucks!

Esh's family asked me to pick up a couple gifts for their family here in town. One thing on the list was a Starbucks gift card. That was easy! I was in there anyway and got it. Problem was, they were out of the gift card holders. I didn't know what I was going to put it in at first and then it came to me! I made the following specialized gift card holder! My mom helped my decopage the box too! It was a lot of fun. I'd never decopaged before and was surprised how easy it really was!

Goodbye

Have you ever had a goodbye that just seemed too easy? Today Esh left to go back home to Israel. Esh's Aunt, Uncle, and I all went to the airport with her and sat and chatted and laughed for about an hour. No tears were shed, though I think Esh and I came pretty close during the goodbye hug. I came home, at lunch, read the Bible with my family and napped. I missed her all day long and kept thinking of things I wanted to tell her "tonight when we hung out." More than once I had to remind myself that that night we'll hang out together won't be for a while. She called me from Houston for about 3 minutes, she texted from New Jersey and then she was gone. Thankfully we had dinner at some friend's house tonight and were still there when departure for Tel Aviv took place. On the way home I made a bad decision. I listened to her Israeli CD that we often listened to together. Ouch! I got home and the big cry came. I don't wish she was still here. More than anything I wish I was on that plane to Tel Aviv with her. I miss her, I miss her family and I miss Israel. I miss everything about that place. The hard things that grow you stronger, the yummy things that make your tummy smile, the view that make you smile, and the people that make you laugh and cry. It's such a wonderful blend. I guess I'll have to just agree with the card I gave Esh for the plane: Out of sight out of mind really is a big lie. Someday, someday, someday. . .

Motivation

Lately I've been lacking motivation to study. I had a unit that I thought would be really easy and go really quickly and I've gotten bogged down and it's taking much longer to get done. Then discouragement sets in and then it's easy for me to lose motivation. I've been reading through Proverbs for a while which says things like "Go to the ant you sluggard," "A little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands at rest and so comes poverty like a theif in the night," "He becometh poor that dealeth [with] a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. . ."

Today I decided it was time to move on to another of my favorite books, Ecclesiastes. After reading the first couple of chapters this morning I'm not sure that was a great motivational choice. "What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun." "
For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool. Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit."

This last verse is the most tempting one:

"There is nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God."

So much for starting the day off with some good motivation to study. . .