Open for Business!

On our first day we filled 27 prescriptions which was about what I would have expected. We had a few computer glitches here and there so we spent half of the day on the phone with field support. I got there about 6:15am so I could blow up balloons and get everything ready for the big day. Grand opening ceremonies started at 7:30am and we opened the doors to the public at 8am. I intended to leave about 7pm but because of the computer issues I didn't feel comfortable leaving so I stayed until 9pm, so needless to say I was pooped after that 15 hour day. I didn't have to be there until 1pm today and so I didn't set an alarm this morning and I slept until 11am!!!!!! What?! I haven't slept that late since Saturday mornings in high school! It felt wonderful!!
Today we filled 56 prescriptions and had new computer glitches to deal with but both days have been rather smooth. Now I am off to bed again.

Pictures!

My computer and my camera have not been friends over the past few months. The computer would only recognize the camera like once every hundred times I tried to download pictures. This morning at 2am I was lying in bed thinking of all of the stuff I have to do for grand opening tomorrow while listening to Kala snore and I received a bit of divine inspiration about the camera and computer, so I got up and removed all of my camera software and then downloaded it all again and so far so good....so I have some pictures from October.

Here are some pictures of our fall decorations. I love the warm colors of fall and wearing hoodies and jeans and building fires and driving down the road looking at God's awesome creation as the leaves change.

EJ's mom was here a few weekends ago and bought us some knock out roses (left flower bed in above picture) for our flower bed. The lady at the nursery said it is near impossible to kill them, so we'll see how long they survive at our house.

Here are some pictures of the pharmacy all set up for grand opening. Nine years ago this month I started with this company and never imagined I would be a pharmacy manager today but here I is.

3 days til GO

We officially open our doors in 3 days!! Oh my goodness! I looked around the pharmacy before I left on Friday and we are technically ready to open. We have everything we need to dispense medication and everything is in order and put away. I can't believe this day has already come. When I accepted the job, I felt like it was so far away and now the day has come.
We have an open house for family and friends on Monday from 6-8pm. Registers will not be open, it is just a time to look around, so all day Monday we will be decorating and putting the finishing touches on everything. Everyday I get less nervous and more excited...I am just ready to get it up and going and bringing some money in.
I have been blessed with an incredible assistant manager. She is a couple years older than me, newly married, and great with patients. We have worked together at another store the past few months and we get along great. She is just as excited about the new store as I am. I am just sad that we won't really get to work together because my days off will be her days to work, but I know that the pharmacy and patients will be in good hands with her there.
More posts to come after grand opening :)

9 days til GO!!

Oh my goodness!!! Next Wednesday is Grand Opening for my new store! YIKES! There is so much to do and so little time! I have been stressing over supplies that I ordered about 2 weeks ago and still haven't received. I called the warehouse today and they said, "Oh we put those on hold to ship with all of your drugs. You should receive all of this tomorrow." What in the world?!? I ordered them 2 weeks ago so I could have all of them put away BEFORE drugs came, but instead we get 14 boxes tomorrow all to be unloaded by Friday. Then Friday I get another shipment...geesh...it's gonna be a long week. All of the hardwork will pay off next week when we open. The store is really nice and I am proud to have a part in it. If you are in the area next Wednesday, stop by and say hello, I might even have a little freebie for you (and I hear Charlie Daniels will be there...if you like that kind of thing.) Now I am going to bed so I can be there at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

6-2

Watertown Purple Tigers won again last Friday night. They played a local rival and the game was not so friendly. The other team played dirty and should have had a kid ejected but it didn't matter in the end because the tigers pulled out another win, 21-19.
EJ's dad, step-mom, aunt and uncle all came to the game and shivered through the cold game. We spent Saturday with them shopping, watching football, and just enjoying time with family that we don't get to see enough.

Content in Christ

Here are some notes from my Sunday School lesson for this week. Hope it encourages you this week as much as it has me.

Joy and contentment are not based on your circumstances.

Phillipians 4:10-11 "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it. I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." (Paul was writing this letter to the Phillipians encouraging believers to rejoice and be content in Christ's power & God's provision while he was in prison...WOW!)

learned: conscious decision to depend on Christ
As Christians we have to think through messages that bombard us everyday telling us we need a certain phone, car, clothes, etc. Learning to be content requires that we "love God with our mind, heart, soul, and strength." Mark 12:30

content: not to want more
There is irony here because Christians should want more...to be more like Christ, more patience, more peace, more love, Christians should want children to have food, homes & families...
so what does it mean for Christians to be content?
Depending on Christ for every need. Recognizing Christ as the source of all they have. Being able to say, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. PRAISE the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Corrie Tenboom and her sister, Betsie, were imprisoned for their efforts in an underground sanctuary for Jews in Holland during WWII.
Corrie and Betsie smuggled a Bible into the camp and traded it back and forth during the day. If the guards found one or caught anyone having meetings, they were to be executed.
Corrie describes a typical evening in which they would use their Bible to hold worship services: "At first Betsie and I called these meetings with great timidity. But as night after night went by and no guard ever came near us, we grew bolder. So many now wanted to join us that we held a second service after evening roll call. . . (These) were services like no others, these times in Barracks 28. A single meeting night might include a recital of the Magnificat in Latin by a group of Roman Catholics, a whispered hymn by some Lutherans, and a sotto-voce chant by Easter Orthodox women. With each moment the crowd around us would swell, packing the nearby platforms, hanging over the edges, until the high structures groaned and swayed."
"At last either Betsie or I would open the Bible. Because only the Hollanders could understand the Dutch text we would translate aloud in German. And then we would hear the life-giving words passed back along the aisles in French, Polish, Russian, Czech, and back into Dutch. They were little previews of heaven, these evenings beneath the light bulb" (Ten Boom 1971, p. 201)
Why were no guards coming to check on them? Betsie excitedly told Corrie, "I found out for sure, Corrie. I overheard two guards. The guards will not step foot in the bunkroom because of the FLEAS!!" Thank God for the fleas!" she exclaimed.
WOW! Thank God for the fleas?! These women had joy even in the worst circumstances...
so if joy and contentment aren't found in circumstances, where can we find them?

Phillipians 4:12-13 "I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content-whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me."

The last verse is often used to motivate people to do things especially in sports, but what Paul was really saying was that Christ gives us the strength to deal with whatever God calls us to do. God gives us what we need when we need it.

'Many years ago when a seminary professor was battling cancer, one of his students visited him in the hospital. "I don't know how you do it," the student said. "I don't think I could ever endure what you're going through." The professor replied, "Of course not. God hasn't asked you to. God does not give dying grace on non-dying days."'

Failure to understand this truth can rob us of our joy because we'll spend a lot of time wondering "what if". What if a loved one dies? What if I contract a terminal illness? What if I lose my job? What if? What if? Those thoughts lead to worry and crowd our joy. In Matthew 6:28-34 Christ told us not to worry about what we will eat, wear, or drink...not to worry about tomorrow, but seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all of these will be provided for you.

Don't be content with your relationship with God but seek Him and you will find contentment in life (or as the old hymn says...the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.)

KNOWN-Lifeway Christian Resources

A Convert???

I am happy to report that we stayed dry at the game on Saturday! It rained until about 30 minutes before kick-off but didn't even sprinkle the whole game! We had a great day of hanging out with each other that we haven't had much time to do since football season started. E even wore a Power T!!!! Look out...is he converting? hmmmmm...