welcome to elaney!

It was not on my radar how difficult it would be to transition from being “young and full of potential” to being “young and sort of stumbling around.”  I had no idea how much I identified myself as someone with a grand future – whose world was an oyster.  Over the past few months (and by few months, I mean years), it’s been heavy on my heart – what is God’s plan for my life?  Are you there God, it’s me elaney.  Recently, I’ve become obsessed with finding where in the Bible it actually says that God has a plan for all of the specific details of my life.  Where does it say that God works for the good of those who love Him AND that means I’m getting everything I want AND here’s where I submit the list.  Based on such a gross exaggeration, it may come as no surprise that that’s not in the Bible.  Turns out, there might not be a blueprint of “how to discover the grandiose plan with full instructions” hidden under a rock…

This was written by a pastor in British Columbia, and I think it aptly captures my good intentions and where I was wrong (thank you Google search):

“I know that God is in my life, but I don’t know what He wants me to do. What is His plan for me?”  To my mind, the question itself is problematic. Too often we think of God as an omnipresent, omnipotent power that floats above history, orchestrating events according to some divine blueprint, with every eventuality mapped out and anticipated…

So what is God’s plan for your life? If by ‘plan’ you mean some secret blueprint of future events that will lead to a glorious personal destiny, then there isn’t one. In another sense, however, God’s plan is evident in is whatever situations, tasks and people are in front of you right now. After all, those present realities are where Christ is, and Christ is the final revelation of God’s will to us and the world.

John Lennon once sang, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Amen to that. As long as we continue fumbling around for God’s secret blueprint, we will miss out on His will, which is right in front of our noses: love our family and our neighbours, do the day’s work as best as we can, play with joy when it’s time to play, make the today’s decisions conscientiously and with all due diligence; and consciously discover the Presence of God in all these activities by rooting and surrounding them in prayer and worship.”  For the whole article, click here.

It’s funny when you hear something over and over again and then all of a sudden it clicks.  Happy Friday Friends!

Do you ever feel like Google knows you better than you know yourself?  You are looking for something, not sure how to phrase / spell it, and Google figures it out and asks you what you mean.  It provides it for you in a neat, clean list.  It takes care of you.  And if that weren’t enough, the fun festive holiday wishes make us so happy.  Google, thank you for making every holiday a little more fun.  Happy St. Pat’s to all!

“No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize.”  – Julia Child

While this may not be the best advice for relationships, it’s our new professional motto.  We are finding that by never apologizing (again in professional circumstances), it makes people more forgiving.  And you can be unapologetic in a nice way.  That’s the route we recommend. 

UPDATE:  Who knew Julia looked so much like Edna from the Facts of Life?!?  It only makes us love her more. 

Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Steven Dunbar, is one of the most interesting books we’ve read in the past year.  Part of the book is about names and the impact they have on a person’s life.  For example, does having an ethnic sounding name hurt one’s chances for a job? (They were surprised to find it did not).  It also analyzes how names become popular.  They say names climb through the echelons of society.  Dunbar and Levitt included a list of names they predict will be very popular in 2015:

We love shows that make New York City a character.  We will never forget when Sarah Jessica Parker accepted her Emmy for SATC and said, “And to New York City…she truly is the fifth lady.”  We fell in love with SJP all over again, and we are so glad we have another Candace Bushnell brainchild to entertain us. 

What will happen to Victory and her man?

Will Kirby destroy Niko’s marriage?

Will Wendy’s husband continue to be slightly annoying and scarily unshaven?

We will see tonight!

Recently, I was talking to a friend about her plans for her future.  She’s getting married, and I started thinking about how glad I am that I have so much freedom.  She was talking about how many fears she has about marriage, and I was thinking about how glad I am that I have nothing to fear…

Until it hit me how much I fear. 

I am afraid of failure.

I am afraid to let my guard down.

I am afraid to let anyone love me.

I am afraid no one will ever love me.

I am afraid I will disappoint my parents.

I am afraid I will never be successful.

I am afraid to live life to the fullest.

And the sad part of it is that I fool myself into believing that because I am not afraid to go skydiving, I am not afraid of living.  Because I am not afraid to take a one-off chance, it doesn’t mean that I am not petrified of life.  Commitments are fundamentally difficult for me.  But aren’t all the worthwhile things in life made as such because of commitment?  Careers are rewarding when you devote yourself to the dream and spend hours and months and years working to achieve it.  Children are special because you’ve committed yourself to raise and provide and love.  Relationships are beautiful when there is a freedom to be sad, happy, angry, disappointed, and committed to living through the range of emotions.  I know commitments are necessary to really engage in life.  So why am I so afraid?