Tax Season

Well, only about 10 more days of the 2009 tax season! Yippee!! Overall, it's been a good season. Not quite as busy as last year, which I guess could be good or bad. But for me personally, I feel like I have learned and grown much more this year than last. I guess it's just because it's not my first one.

I consider myself very fortunate to have a job that I absolutely love. I love the people I work with, the actual work I do, and most of the clients. MOST.

We generally have several things that happen every day to make us laugh as well, so that's a nice break to the seriousness of taxes.

I'm noticing though that due to everything happening in the economy, there seem to be two extremes of people. Half the people who have come through the door have been unusually demanding and eager to determine how much they will pay us and when. It seems like someone has put into their minds the idea that they should get everything handed to them for free, the way they want it and when they want it, without lifting a finger. I can't imagine where THAT idea would have come from!

The other extreme of people are completely discouraged. They're tired of working their tails off to support some "disabled" 25-year-old immigrant with twelve billion kids. I guess they are starting to figure they may as well quit their jobs and rely on handouts like everyone else. We are in bad shape, folks!

Here are a few other random things my job has taught me:

1. Don't get rid of ANYTHING! As soon as you shred something you will need it.

2. No one knows the correct way to abbreviate the word "Associates". For the record, the correct way is "Assoc." I'm sure you can imagine where I'm going with this..... Let's just say it's not so good for our self esteem!

3. Two words for this one: Retail Therapy. Not sure how I never knew of that before. My husband is thrilled that I've discovered it. :)

4. Oreos and Diet Coke are NOT a suitable meal when you sit at a desk all day long. Somehow, the oreos magically find their way to your hind side and like to stay there for a very long time.

5. Last but not least, coffee is an amazing hunger suppressant. And very good for you, according to my boss. Not to mention I can do twice the amount of work in half the time. Amazing! :)

~SM~

Empty

I'm feeling very lonely these last couple of days. Maybe it's the fact that it's a holiday weekend, and that makes me think of all the Easters back home with my family...

Egg hunts that would last several hours.

My cousins and I dumping all our candy out and trading it back and forth.

Just being with my family.

It's so easy to take those things for granted. You never think about how great it is until it's not that way anymore. But in my case, if I went back to the way it was, I wouldn't have my amazing husband, my sweet puppies, my house....none of the things that I take for granted now. Is that what my life is?? A series of events or phases that I will take for granted until they are gone?

I want it to be different.

I NEED it to be different.

Max Lucado was speaking on the radio the other day about this Easter weekend. He pointed out how everyone obviously puts a lot of emphasis on both Friday and Sunday, but you rarely hear anything about that Easter Saturday. He described the day as being sad and silent. Jesus' followers were waiting.....unsure what to do or think. Then he pointed out how he believes that many Christians are stuck on Saturday. They have been saved, believe in the power of God, yet there is something lacking. There is some kind of doubt....

...FEAR.

That really struck a chord with me. It kind of sums up how I've been feeling for quite some time. This spiritual "rut" that I'm in. It's like I've been waiting to get my life in order. To learn how to be a wife, an accountant, to live away from my family, to move to a (very) different state....to be an adult. After that it was the struggle of trying to find a church that we liked. One that taught truth, but that wasn't stuck in giving you a set of rules or expectations to meet.

Then it was friends....we didn't have any.

All that is different now. We've made an amazing group of friends, found an awesome church, my job is going awesome, and Matt and I are really happy. And yet I'm still stuck on "Saturday".

I want it to be different.

I NEED it to be different.


I'm going to tell you something awesome....ready? I may be stuck on "Saturday" right now, but Sunday's coming! It always does! And you know what happens on Sunday? Jesus gets the final victory! I think I may be experiencing some loneliness right now to prepare my heart. I am so desperate to have that closeness with my Savior. The closeness I haven't felt in a very long time. I can feel the walls starting to shake, and soon all these struggles will be nothing.

Joy comes in the morning!

~SM~