Wow! I watched most of a documentary on 9/11 tonight. It is amazing to think that tomorrow will be the 5 year anniversary of 9/11. I'm sure that like many of you, I remember where I was when I first heard about 9/11 (my mom came in my room and woke me up to tell me about it). It is much like my parents' generation and when JFK was shot. I was thinking that I remember before 9/11, when I thought that the Oklahoma City bombing was going to be the defining moment of my generation. Wow!

So much has happened in the world in the last 5 years! I can personally say that is has been a busy 5 years for me (between graduating college, starting new job, and all that come with both of those experiences). BUT, in the middle of all that has been going on in this crazy, mixed up world, ONE thing is certain. That one this is that God is still sitting on the throne and the verse, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" seems all the more applicable, given what has happened in the last few years.

In closing another verse (the words of Jesus) also seems to fit right here: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Well, I just played in one of the most lopsided soccer games ever (sadly, my team was on the losing end of it). It was a bit rough, but regardless, God still sits on the throne, so all is good with life.

Other than that, life has continued along. BTW, how many of you all have read the book: The Five Love Languages? It is a great book to read, because is comes from a Christian perspective, but it is very insightful. I have heard about it for years and finally got around to reading it. It was really cool. I figured out my top love languages (i.e. how you feel most loved - like I like to spend quality time with people). Who all else has read the book? Where did you end up in the 5 languages?

Well, other than that and the general business of life, things are going well. Although I have to say that one of Pastor Pieter's comment today in his message really hit me. He said (and I'm paraphrasing here a bit) that those who are walking in the middle of God's will experience an inner strenght and security in the midst of tough times. There has definately been a lot going on in my life lately, but if I'm going after God's will, there is a peace that comes with knowing that you are walking in the center of His will.

Well, enough talking for now. I need to head to bed soon, because I have negotiations tomorrow at work and it is scheduled to last for a long time. So, talk to you all later!

~Deborah

Hey everyone!

Well, life has continued to be busy since I last wrote. I had my 26th Birthday! That was fun. I played hookey from work (yes, I let them know ahead of time) and had lunch with my Mom and Sister-in-law and did some shopping. Then I had dinner with my entire family, plus my sister's boyfriend. It was a good birthday. I ended the day with coffee with a portion of my family. So things went well.

Since I last wrote, I also went to Des Moines, Iowa for training. It was an interesting trip. I met a person up there that I spoken with numerous times on the phone, but didn't know that she was also planning to attend the training. I also met a lot of other people from various other state agencies and a few other places. Imagine that, I went to a training and met a bunch of new friends? It would probably be stranger if I went somewhere and didn't meet anyone.

Other than that, things have been progressing along at a normal pace and I have gotten some interesting open doors with friends. So, please pray that God does great things in their lives. I have also been seeking God in numerous areas of my life (the gals in the Covenant have heard the list). I just finished reading Every Woman's Battle, which is a good book and very insightful! I'm in the middle of reading The Five Love Languages for Singles, which is also a good book.

Well, that is about it for now, so I pray that all is going well with you all and that God is blessing you all!

~Deborah 

WOW! It has been a while since I updated! Oops! Well, as you can well imagine, a lot has happened since I last updated, but I will spare you all the details. Let me think, since I last updated, KCCC has ended and EPA came in 5th place again this year. With regard to that, I ended up getting and award for doing the most events. When I got the award, I told the guy that presented the award to me (a friend of mine that also happens to be one of the attorneys that I work with) that this must be an award for not having a life. I ended up swimming all but one event, playing soccer, flag football, softball, bowling, doing a 1 mile walk at the kickoff and volunteering at an event that EPA had to supply people at. So that was fun.

My family and I went on vacation to Oklahoma over the weekend of July 4th. That was really hot, but it was a nice diversion from my normal weeks. At the end of that week, the top guy where I work came and presented awards to all of us that had helped with the Hurricane Katrina/Rita clean ups. That was nice.

Indoor soccer has started up again. This go around, we are playing on Sunday evenings. So, my Sunday evenings are booked for a while. Other than that, things have been busy with work. I had training last week, which was LONG!!!!! I'm not used to having to set in a classroom setting for long periods of time any more. It was tough. Luckily, I did get a few breaks for some pressing matters that I had to take care of for work. I also had my mid-year performance review this week and that went well.

As a fun side note, a Chemical Engineering classmate of mine gave me a call this morning (and woke me up at the crack of something like 10:30am) and let me know that he had received an amazing promotion within his company. He is now in sales and selling their product worldwide. He called me from Germany this morning. I'm really happy for him. It sounds like my classmates from college are doing well for themselves.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Hope all you all are doing well!