Roller Coaster of a Week

It's been quite the roller coaster of emotions for me this past week.  What started out as such a great beginning to the New Year and a fresh start didn't last but one day (January 1st).  Then the hubs left after church on the 2nd and has been gone this whole week.  Him being gone has been part of the roller coaster along with the hormones that accompany the start of a cycle.  Oh joy.  I feel like I've been all over the map with my feelings this week.  Perhaps, it's good thing that the hubs has been gone (for his sake).

The sad part is he doesn't return until Friday night.  Crazy, huh?  What would posess a happily married couple to willfully be apart for 12 days?  The hubs is pursuing his Doctorate degree in Ministry/Theology/Religion and so he periodically goes away for two weeks of intensive course work.  He reads 4,500 pages before the classes meet, attends classes on site, and then returns home to write 40-60 pages afterwards.  The end result is 9 doctoral credits towards his degree for each session.  Not too shabby for someone like him who loves learning. 

This is the second time he's done it and he'll only have two more times left to complete all the coursework.  It's a sacrifice we both make in order for him to pursue a degree that enhances his current congregational ministry and may open up future job opportunities.  He's passionate about teaching and this degree would enable him to teach men who are training to become pastors.  That would be pretty cool should God decide to call him in that direction.  He would also be able to teach at any of our church's universities.

So we manage the time apart (though it puts a damper on TTC efforts), but this time has been harder than the first since I wasn't back to work regularly last week.  I had lots of time to be at home, relax, read, and miss him.  I head back into work mode fully tomorrow, so I'm hoping these last 5 days go quickly.

The nice part about having this week off by myself was that I was able to take time to reflect, journal, and read books that I've been wanting to for months.  I finished one book about heaven and I'm nearly done with another book called "Worshiping God in the Hard Times."  It's been a good, thought-provoking book because I really struggle with worshiping God fully ever since the first miscarriage.  It's not that I doubt my faith in God, I just struggle with how to handle my disappointments with a God that I know has full power to heal my body or provide a healthy, full-term pregnancy.  I'll write more about the book when I finish it.

So it's just sort of been up and down and up and down this week with my emotions.  I feel like I'm back on the upwards swing again (for now), so that's good.  I signed up for a beginning knitting class, which makes me excited since it's one of my 2011 goals, and I was able to go on a snowshoe hike yesterday with some friends.  There's nothing like being out in the beauty of nature to make me appreciate the great God and Creator of the Universe.  And since everyone's posting snow pictures, here's mine.