Life's Been Great

My last boss used to get a kick out of me, because every morning when I'd pass his desk overlooking the south side of Sioux Falls, he'd ask me, "How are ya, Bets?" and my response would always be "Great!" He'd laugh, and smile, always seeming surprised that I could always be great. And, at my job before that - my first job out of college - I was referred to as the "ray of sunshine" for my unfailing sunny disposition.

Now, all of this isn't to say that I don't have bad days. Or that I don't get grumpy. Or that I don't snap at my husband. No, that's all me, too. But I'm always striving to portray the happiness - the joy - that Christ fills me with each and every day.

Even when things are stressful or difficult or life is just hard (we live in an imperfect world, after all), I try to keep my focus on what matters: Christ. God's love. His love for us (of all things). Romans 8:28 reminds us, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." "His good" in this verse doesn't always mean "our good" but lately there's been a lot of good in our lives, and I'm oh-so-thankful for it. Here's what's been making me respond, "Great!" lately:

Med School
Jordan passed his first section - Foundations of Medicine - so there was much rejoicing in the Larson household. Next up: MusculoSkeletal. 

Friends

• I had lunch with another med student wife this week. She had her little daughter with her, just at a year old; so cute. We had a great time getting to know each other and the hour I had for lunch just flew by. We're hoping to get together with our hubbies for dinner one evening soon. 
• Friday evening we went to Josh & Audrey's house to celebrate the end of the guys' first section of medical school. Liane surprised me with a chocolate cake for my birthday (birthday extension!)...so sweet. There were even candles and singing. And delicious chocolate cake. And wonderful new friends. Thanks, friends. Audrey had a fab spread of food for the guys' celebration including bbq (this is KC, after all). There were about 15 people or so that came, a good group. We're so glad to already have a group of friends.
• After Josh & Audrey's, Jordan and I ventured to FOP - here's the description on the KCUMB 2016 Facebook page:  Hey all! Congratulations on almost being done with your first section of medical school! One of the fine traditions we have here at KCUMB is for the first and second years to get together at the end of a section to celebrate (and forget everything we just learned)! We call this Foundations of Partying.
  
  This year "FOP" will be at the Velvet Dog in Martini corner. There will be free cover, and drink specials from 9-midnight for KCUMB students and guests. (Still working on what we will be offered). The deal has also been expanded to their sister bar/club, the Monaco, across the street. See you all there!!

Needless to say this was WILD. I used the excuse that I was driving to not drink, lol, but I really was driving. There were hundreds of med students. Jordan and I spent almost 3hrs meandering from the front of the bar, up to the 2nd level, up to the 3rd level, to the back of the 3rd level, down to the 1st floor and to the back of the bar (which was an outside courtyard) talking with Jordan's classmates and meeting other med students and their spouses. I was VERY surprised that I had a good time. A really good time. And I wasn't even drinking. ;) Although, I could have used a glass of water from all the shouting I was doing to communicate over the music, haha. Earlier, I'd told Jordan that I'd like to leave no later than midnight, but when midnight rolled around I was enjoying myself and didn't say anything to J - he was very surprised to look at his phone and see that it was 12:45am and we were still out. A good night.

• This weekend we have our first non-family apartment guests! Matt and Cathy are in KC for a wedding (Matt is originally from KC) so we were more than happy to have them stay with us. We, of course, had to get bbq from Bear's Smokeshack (Jordan's FAV) for lunch. We're so glad to have some friends from home visit us, even if it's just for a bit!

Community

• I went to my first PC meeting here in KC! I had a lot of fun, met a lot of fun women and picked up some tips for my PC biz. I even found my way home WITHOUT my gps. Be impressed.
• Thursday evening was our church's first Gospel Community Group get-together. Our church is so, so, SO intentional about these groups. There are 60 of them every week, and each group has 10-15 people that were placed in the group according to where they live. I'll admit, while I was excited, I was a little apprehensive, too. Liane was in a group that was 10mins from mine, so I was bummed that we weren't in the same group. But I know that God's plans are good, and that He must have had a plan for her in that group and a plan for me in my group! So. I went by myself (J tells me often how blessed he is to have a strong independent woman who can do things alone, but I'd still rather  do things with him) on Thursday, straight from work in the rain. (People in KC can't drive in the rain. Good grief.) Then I tried to turn the wrong way down a street, so I guess I can't drive in the rain either. But back to the intentional part. There's a 15-pg Group Participant Manual that our church puts together for us, and it is so thoughtful. If you have time, peruse it. This first week we shared a meal and 6 people shared their stories - we're all a mix of ages from 20s to 50s+ and a mix of single, married, married with kids, and married emtpy-nesters. I felt so welcomed and I'm so excited to see what God has in store for our group. Next week, the other 4 of us will share our stories. Despite my initial apprehension, that was immediately washed away. This is a good group, as I'm sure all the Gospel Communities are, but I'm super excited that this is mine. 

Today, Jordan and I had a relaxing afternoon together. I read a new little cookbook (yeah, I do weird things like that) that I'd gotten for free from PC. I read a magazine. I fell asleep in the chair. Jordan played xbox (something he hasn't done since med school started). I warmed up some leftovers and we had a little picnic in the living room. Now he's frisbee golfing with Josh and Preston and we're planning to play a game after Matt and Cathy return from the wedding. Tomorrow after church we're heading out for lunch on base with my aunt, uncle and cousin. They are far too good to us, and we're so blessed to be living so close to them. Should be another wonderful afternoon.

So that's life this week. It's been great. I hope yours has been, too.