Rejoice, Rejoice!

Rejoice, Rejoice.....again I say Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say Rejoice!

What a glorious day, what a perfect day!

Today was a day I've been waiting for this entire week!  It was the light at the end of my tunnel in the midst of the "t" word challenge......how perfect that this day shall be Easter!  The day our Lord rose from the dead and gave us peace in the midst of fear!

It began bright and early with a workout at 5:15am, by 6:30am we were at sunrise service in the shelter house at our church!  It was the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen - maybe it was the dreams I had, had of how it would be after the challenge was over.....it was even better then I had imagined!

It followed by grocery shopping for baking stuff as we gave up sweets for lent and haven't had a sweet in 40 days!  So we stocked up so I could do a little baking!

By 9am we were back at church where I corralled my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders around to the Easter festivities at church where we heard all about the Easter story.....o and hunted for eggs also!  Adam was one of the readers for the children and did a great job!  It was certainly a great way to jumpstart Easter celebrations!

10am I am chatting with a few ladies and who comes up behind me to surprise me......my mom and dad!  O MY GOSH!  I had NO idea and being overcome with emotion I cried right then and there like a little kid coming home from camp.....weeping and wiping tears from my eyes......mom cried, I cried......and I think even dad cried!  I hadn't seen them since Christmas and it was joyously overwhelming to see them.  With LOTS of hugs and LOTS of tears we gathered ourselves there in the middle of the gathering area at church and then enjoyed a PERFECTLY lovely church service!  What a service!  We are normally in the choir, but with the business of our life at this time, we had the great pleasure to LISTEN.....I know right!  It was beautiful with a full orchestra and chorus, with children and the joy they bring, with a peaceful and encouraging sermon.......what a day already and it isn't even noon yet!

By noon we were on our way to a lovely lunch with my parents where we sat outside with the beautiful sun and enjoyed a perfectly delicious meal together!

By 2pm we were back at our apartment telling stories, laughing, smiling, ......eating candy.....and enjoying every second of our time together!  There truly is nothing like family and wish for everyone to know the joy that is family and the joy they bring to life!

By 5pm they were on their way back to the farm and the two of us sat and enjoyed the sun of the afternoon, planted a few more herbs (Rosemary and Mint), and soaked in every ounce of the day!

I truly can't imagine a more perfect day.....a more perfect life!  In the midst of trial and hard, hard work......there is nothing like a perfect day to refill your battery to go out and do it all again!

Today was everything and more that I dreamt it to be......much more!

My Lord rose today, Your Lord rose today and as a result we can LIVE!  So LIVE and live fully in all you do!

Day 4 - I DID IT!

The day I finished!

Yes, that's right I FINISHED!!!!!! I met my goal at 10:24pm on Saturday night!  Deadline Sunday @ 6:15am........I made it...early even!

I owe day 4's success to my husband, Adam!  He encouraged me every second and even spent the day reading and editing my literature review.  If you have ever read a lit. review you know it is extremely interesting to the researcher and well......not to anyone else.......that's saying a lot!

That man spend the day cleaning the house....as I had definitely NOT done the previous 3 days and with various runs to the kitchen.....I had tea cups sitting here and there and well......he is a saint for helping so much!

I finished...with the encouragement of my parents and Adam......it is finished!

Well.......that being said, a thesis is really never FINISHED until it is handed in and approved so we have months until it is really FINISHED, but the big start is in......I'm waiting on a few method things and will probably add a few more articles here and there as I come across them in the next month and edit phases, but for now, it is in a working order and I did it!

Close to 100 articles read and put into place.......for now I can say....I did it!

Ok....now the 100lbs of weight can be lifted from my shoulders that I've been carrying around for the past 10 months.......no wonder I felt so heavy at times!

In true "t" word fashion:

Acknowledgments


Adam Veteto:  To my husband, you are the bread to my life and the life to my bread and I love you for all that you are and the strength you encourage in me each day!  Thank you for the smiles!

Melinda Whiteman:  To my mother who taught me never to give up and who has encouraged me every second of this project with famous words of wisdom "it will all get done, don't stress." I love you and I thank you.

Vince Whiteman:  To my daddy, you have taught me so much about life and loving life even when you have to work hard at it.  For always reminding me that life is all about what you enjoy and about enjoying what you do!  I love you and I thank you.

Kayla Whiteman:  To my sister who always loves me even when I seem too busy to call and who always reminds that things will get done in their time and in God's time!  I love you, I thank you, and I miss you!

Rev. Steve:  I thank you for the encouragement and the sincere thoughtfulness you bring to every conversation we have.  I thank you!

Family and Friends:  To all of you, you know exactly when to send a thoughtful card, text, or message to encourage me and for your caring I thank you!  For your friendship I thank you!

To my GOD:  You are truly what brings me every joy!  You are what gives me strength to continue when all feels worthless.  You are who makes me laugh and cry all at the same time which somehow makes everything feel right.  You are where my hope and dreams are from.  You are the reason I get up every morning, the reason I sing, and the reason I want to be a better person - even when it hurts to grow.  You are my strength and my ever constant companion and to YOU I give my heart and my life to Your will and Your plan!  To You I thank you!

Day 3

Today began at 4:45am!  That's right.....after the events of Day 2......I decided it was time to get up and tackle this thing with ALL I had left in me!

I did have the hope that I would get it done early on Friday and be able to surprise my family in Illinois at Easter dinner, but, we all know that didn't happen.......the "t" word beat me again!

Day three was full of....the same old thing!  Writing, reading, re-writing for a solid 18hrs....breaks for an apple and peanut butter, sweet potato, and almonds now and again!  Food = Good ....."t" word = YUCK!

Though it was the same thing over and over and as the hours past my head and back and feet and....well my entire body wanted to cry and scream and give up.....but

As I got further and further into the "t" word, I began to find that well......I love this information and the tiny print in the articles didn't feel as much of a burden as a blessing!  I know a blessing in all this writing and reading and re-writing.....yes a blessing!

Day 3 was a saver!  Although it was an awfully hard day, at the end I felt I had accomplished a lot and was well on my way to a finished product!

Day 2

Brutal is the only word I have to explain Day 2.  I got up around 7am and got right to work......no workout.  Those of you that know me personally know that about 6 out of the 7 days of the week I am up working out ......so not starting the day off with a good workout was strike 1.

I knew there was going to be a point in this challenge where I felt overwhelmed, discouraged, and basically loose all hope....that day was today!  I opened up my inbox to find that YES Inter-Loan Library had sent me all the articles I requested...WOW.....I forgot how many.....Check 1 (overwhelmed)!

As the day progressed I began to find more and more to look for in the articles and as the list of "read" was still less than the list of "to-read"......Check 2 (discouraged)!

After a delightful break for about 2 hours of teaching music lessons, I sat back down wanting nothing more than to get on Pinterest, blog, read my book.......but I knew I had to sit down and read MORE research papers.....MORE?  Yes.... MORE!..............Check 3 (loss of all hope)!

So having not taken a shower since the morning, belly grumbling because it is hungry, head splitting with a headache from doing nothing but reading small print research articles ALL day......at 9pm.............................I had had enough!

I joined my husband in a lovely glass of red wine (maybe 2 or 3), made a lovely Greek Salad and sat down and watched Food Network for the remainder of the night.  I was even too tired to read in my book!

So...... Day 1 was full of hope and excitement over learning all the new information and finding links and dreaming of this project........Day 2 was when the reality of the challenge and this whole project for the "t" word really hit me......and it did too.....POW.........like getting hit by a bus!

I went to bed....hoping and praying that Day 3 would shed some light on this dark, dark journey I am in!

Day 1

Day 1:

I slept in a bit more than intended...I stayed up a few extra hours reading The Pioneer Woman's love story.....so I was up at 7 working out and did pure cardio of Insanity (I'm thinking of buying the workout and joining the challenge....that is after this challenge is over!).  I had a lovely breakfast and got to work.

What I got done:
- outline of major points and sub points
- wrote a brief introduction to get things rolling and further outline the project
- identified...well hundreds of research articles
- organized folders on my computer with research I had already had and put them on my desktop to put others as I gather them.

I have made it through at least 3/4 of the articles I have at this point! I'm waiting on my favorite people Inter Loan Library who go and make copies of the articles and send them to me.....I love them!

I just checked my inbox and lots of them have come in so I can get right to it tomorrow morning!

I am turning in for the night - going to read a bit and then hit the sack......I'm a tired girl!

Decided that the workout really took a lot of time that I should probably spend reading papers so.....tomorrow the workout is going to have to take a rest!

The plan is to get up early like 6am and get to it!

Goodnight!

Challenge Accepted!

I have long been aware of the fact that I just simply need to get this "thesis" thing done!  The dreaded "t" word that I would like very much to write and design itself and contact me when it is through.  Right!?!

After a chat with my advisor I realized that if I want to graduate in December I better get this proposal in ASAP!  Ok...that's all she needed to say to get my butt in gear! So here it is!

This is my spring break (that is from work) so I get Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off - well minus a few students on Thursday afternoon!  I have 100% completely committed myself to finishing this proposal by Sunday morning at 6:15am (which is our sunrise service for Easter)!  That's right Adam.....that means no housework, no meals, no laundry, no wine and movie nights for 4 days! :)

The challenge:  Begin and complete my master's thesis proposal by Sunday (April 8th, 2012) @ 6:15am.
Preparations:
1) I've cleaned my desk completely free of any other work, school, fun, etc.....that means no blogging - well I'll blog each night about my progress....so stay tuned!
2) I've prepared short, easy meals like homemade granola bars to keep me out of the kitchen and in the office!
3) I've put away all music/fun stuff to keep my mind off of what REALLY needs to be done.

*I've also got a non-research book (The Pioneer Woman's Biography of her steamy romance with her cowboy of a husband) ready for my every night get away from reality.  This is a time I WILL need after a day with the "t" word!

So that is it readers......the next 4 days belong to my thesis and only it!  If I don't pick up the phone....it isn't because I don't want to talk with you, but rather the major "t" word is keeping all my attention and likely every ounce of energy I have in me!

I've made a checkpoint list of what I would like to get done each day and I'll keep you posted every night with my progress!

So there you have it.......the challenge.....the goal.......the plan!

Now for an early night sleep.......early morning workout to get me going......and I'll see you tomorrow!

Day 1...... bring it on!

What's in a palm?

Did you know that a palm branch, like the ones we waved around today for Palm Sunday, are symbolic for "victory?"

In the process of working through my Sunday School lesson this week and the lovely sermon given by our pastor (Rev. Steve) I've come to look and maybe understand this day a bit better....here is what I've been mulling around:

The story goes that the people from long ago (that is those alive when Christ was) were looking for a king to come in victoriously to concur and save them from the Roman Empire.  Now they expected a military king.  A king riding in royal garb on a big beautiful horse with guards and militia who would overthrow the empire and set them free.  Did you also know that the word "Hosanna" is translated into "save us now."  A very likely thing for them to say and expect with their understanding of the type of "king" that Christ was to be.

Now the King of Kings did not ride in to overthrow the Roman Empire and neither did He ride in on a gallant horse with militia.  No, no, no....this King came in plainly colored cloth, likely barefoot, and rode in on a donkey he borrowed (he didn't even own it).  A less observant follower might have missed his entrance.

In our Sunday School class today we engaged in the humor of this scene......what do you think the people with the palm "victory" branches thought as Christ came in riding a donkey?  I imagine some of them probably thought "this is the guy that is going to save us from the empire....how?"  They might also have been wondering "how is this guy going to save us "Hosanna"?  I don't doubt that all these things crossed their minds...I mean we are human right and Jesus' entrance had been built up for hundreds of year in the early scriptures to be a victorious King........

I also found it interesting to learn that riding in on a horse is symbolic for a "concurring hero", whereas riding in on a donkey is symbolic for "coming in peace."  Now, isn't that just like our Jesus...the servant - He did not come to rule and have authority over all, but to serve.  What better message to take out of today than that!

We know Jesus is victorious and does save us all, but not in the way we (as humans) expected.  I assume this is still true today and only when we are with our Heavenly Father will we truly understand what God intended by sending a King to serve rather than rule.

Happy Palm Sunday and welcome to Holy Week!