Once again, we haven’t posted in forever! It’s not very often that I find myself running out of things to do, errands to run, tasks to take on.. and so, since I also have writer’s block leading to a lack of writing urges, I just haven’t been posting. Joe can post his own excuse/explanation, but I think it’s just been a quick-paced season of our lives right now.

So, what’s going on? You all know about Joe’s busy schedule. As for me, I’ve been working on my fellowship with Building Hope in the City while also being Program Administrator for the Law & Leadership Institute Program at Case. Another part-time job is very likely to be pinned down shortly, but I’ll wait to share about that one until it’s finalized.

The rest of my time has been taken up with Butters, house care, cooking, meetings, volunteering, and occasional traveling and nights out. I was very grateful to have several friends celebrate with me as I passed the Ohio Bar Exam a few weeks ago! Everyone keeps asking me if I feel different, but I don’t… the past several months have brought so many changes from a new home to a dog to several new jobs and responsibilities to becoming a lawyer. It’s difficult to tease out the changes and feel different about anything in particular.

I should say that I’ve had some enjoyable lawyer moments – particularly when Sara, her boyfriend Brad and I went out for karaoke last weekend. Sara wrote on my song card that my name was “Sheila the Lawyer”. When it was time to sing, the deejay asked me what kind of lawyer I was. I responded, “An Unemployed Lawyer!” and to my amusement, the whole restaurant cheered for me. Talk about compassion, or perhaps it was commiseration..

On one hand, I feel incredibly blessed. There is very little I could want for at this point in life. We’re busy, but it makes Joe and I grateful for our bond and our marriage, and the rare but special times we have together. On the other hand, I still get asked on a regular basis, “What are you doing with your law degree? Have you found full time work? Do you know what you want to practice?” My answers are, “As much as I can right now”, “No”, and “No.” And I’m fine with that. I have whatever amount of time God wants to give me on this Earth to use my degree and my license, and it doesn’t make a huge difference to me that the ways I’m using them now don’t make me a ton of money (well… except for the student loan part..). Yes, I’m still looking for full-time legal work, but now that has to take a back seat to the jobs placed in front of me. Again, I’m okay with that. But sometimes I wonder if now is the time to take risks – to start my own nonprofit, or maybe even an event planning business, or to go into real estate.. Tough financial circumstances tend to breed ingenuity, right?

But I feel like I’ve been learning a lot about coming to terms with things in my life, whether it’s work or money or relationships or questions I’ll always have about faith, politics, and things going on in the world. Maybe it’s that healthy dose of cynicism that comes with being a lawyer. Or maybe .. slowly.. I find myself actually growing up a little and learning to accept with gratitude what’s been placed in front of me, even if it doesn’t meet my expectations. It’s such a work in progress, learning how to grow up and be accepting… but still keeping that childlike sense of healthy and positive risk.

Just a few thoughts for this Friday night! I’ll have a more fun post this Sunday.. I have something interesting in mind!