Ode to My Husband

How do I love him?  Let me count the ways . . .

1.  His FAITH and ability to communicate that to others.  If you haven't had a chance to listen to the "What If?" series, definitely check it out.  God has been building faith around COTK and it's exciting to see what He'll continue to do.

2.  His GRACE and support in giving me time to discern God's next steps for me and our family (and in being patient with a messy house as I've been studying).  

3.  He's really cute.  He still makes me feel melty when I look at him. :-)

4.  He's watching the original Pride and Prejudice with me, just because he loves me. (He was going to have to watch it if he lost the Stanley Cup bet.)  You can read his prediction of how the movie will end here.  Based on his description, you can imagine how entertaining this viewing is.

5.  He does house repairs and "honey dos" even at the end of several extremely long days that left him extremely tired.  And he does them very well.

I will spare the readers and won't go on (though I could for a while).  I am so grateful for God's greatest gift (besides Himself, of course).

Updates

A few updates on life these past few days . . .

• I've been doing a quick crash course on trigonometry.  No, I have not reached a new level of boredom.  I've been going through a process to pursue a part-time teaching opportunity with the Kaplan Company.  It's been a fairly extensive process so far, but as of Monday I had the go-ahead to start training for a position this Saturday.  Training will continue through the month, but if I pass, I will be able to start teaching classes on ACT preparation (thus my review of Trig).  I actually had to take the ACTs again because it's been more than 5 years since I last took them.  Yikes!  Crazy.  After a lot of prayer for next steps it's been neat to see how God's been putting this opportunity together.  We'll see how things continue to go . . .
• I am on the "S's" for my thank yous.  Yay!  I decided that I'm like Seabiscuit, the racing horse.  I need another horse in front of me to spur me on to race faster.  In this case, that other horse is training for a job and trying to sell a house.  I still am so ashamed that it's taken this long to write these.  I must learn for the future . . .
• The learning curve of cooking has leveled out a bit since my last post.  I'm actually even enjoying it.  I learned, however, that you can never be too confident in your abilities, lest you quickly slip and fall.  At a leadership gathering on Sunday night, I proudly took my dessert that I tried for the first time . . . raspberry pie.  I have to say, it looked beautiful and I was really excited for how it would be received.  Imagine my horror when I looked over at the man across from me about to bite into my pie when I saw that I forgot to bake the crust!!!  Pure dough.  Beautiful raspberries and filling piled on top of pure dough.  Turned out to be some humble pie for me.

Sorry for the irregular postings, but thought you might enjoy the quick catch-up. :-)

Threads Latest

Here's the latest Quarterlife article if you care to read it. It focuses on the job search of a quarterlifer. Thanks to Threads Media for the opportunity to write. Enjoy! :-)

Home away from Home

It's weird having a home in two places.

My cousin is getting married this weekend and I was able to leave a few days early and spend some more time back in the 'Burgh.  I've been amazed at how quickly my new life and new home have become normal for me, but there's something about coming home that is unlike anything else.

Driving back on my old streets, seeing how much has changed and yet how much is exactly the same . . . it almost feels like I've walked back into a dream of a life long ago.  It's a very happy thing, just kind of surreal at times.  

It was a really tangible reminder that I should always have my feet in two homes.  One is planted in my Father's Heavenly Kingdom, learning what it means to value the things of His heart and live with Him.  Yet, there's still another foot here, in the place where He has me for as long as He tarries.  Learning to bring His home into our home here on Earth.  

Not even sure if this is making any sense right now, as it's hard to put a lot of these thoughts into words.  I thought I'd give it the ole college try, though.

Confessions

This Saturday will be my six month anniversary.  So happy.  I'm sure I'll blog more about that later.

But before I do, I have a confession to make.  

I'm getting ready.

I'm so ashamed.

I should just do it.

My name is Leah Edwards Leach and I have not yet finished writing my wedding thank you cards!!!

So terrible.

Those of you who were gracious enough to bless us with a wedding gift whose last names are at the beginning of the alphabet are probably under the false impression that I was somewhat "on-the-ball" with the matter.  Those of you at the end of the alphabet know how bad it is.

The really sad part is that we are genuinely thankful.  Incredibly thankful and hugely blessed.  So why is it that when it comes to actually writing that out in these thank you cards it sucks the air out of the balloon?   Writing these cards has become the dark cloud on the horizon of my life. There's something about making thank yous obligatory and expected that takes all the joy out of it.  Does anyone know any way to combat this?

In the meantime, know that if you're at the end of the alphabet, I truly am thankful and your card is coming to express the thoughts once again (I'm sure you'll be waiting at the mailbox with baited breath).  

Whew!

I woke up today and I was exhausted.  I think it was one of those moments when activity from the previous days/weeks just catches up with you and hits you like a brick wall.  And as I'm tired, I'm remembering my friends and old ministry team at North Way who is blessing so many at Kidz Gig this week.  In some ways it feels like another place from long ago.  Can't wait to hear about all that God does through it.

And, there is now officially two new Michiganders in Detroit (probably a few more, too, but I don't know about them).  My youngest sister Samantha and her friend Hannah have moved into their new apartment.  Samantha begins her year-long worship internship at COTK today.  How happy!

We're Going Camping Now

Been spending these last few days at the OH District Family Camp where my husband and father-in-law are the main speakers.  The wireless has been pretty spotty so I'll try and post this while the sun is shining and the wind is blowing this way.  

I have to say that I've never been too much of a camper, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  When we pulled up, all I could see were tents and a giant teepee.  I gave Brad the look that says, "What have you gotten me into?!?"  He calmed me down and told me we would be staying in a lodge and I have to say our lodge has exceeded my expectations. :-)

Besides that, I have been so blessed to listen to Brad and Dad preach each day.  God is using them in mighty ways and it's doing some mighty work in His Kingdom.  I think it was Brad's preaching that first captured my heart, so I always love the opportunity to do that even more. 

We should return in time for the 4th of July, just in time to welcome my sister Samantha for a year-long worship internship at our church!  How happy is Leah?!? :-)

P.S. - Bonus points to the person who can reference the Title of this post.