Sunday, August 31, 2008

Reunion time.


Tonight I was able to catch up with a friend whom I haven't spoken with in more than 7 years. When my wedding was cancelled in 2001, she was my best friend in the world and was even supposed to be my maid of honor. We slowly lost touch when she herself got engaged and then married. I think my own hurts, disappointments, and pain kept me from continuing a relationship with her. Lately I have missed her so much and it was awesome to be able to talk with her tonight and begin working on our friendship again. She was the best friend to me over years and years and there is nothing I wouldn't do to regain the relationship. I am just praising God for this reunion. When you have a true friend in life, you don't want to lose them. She also has a little girl now and she is precious. I can't wait to meet her in person. I just wanted to share this news and thank God for it on here. I like to chronicle my whole journey and she is a huge part of my entire journey. I am happy to have you back Keisha! :)

Friday, August 29, 2008

School update


Hey everyone, so school is officially back in action. I have only had 3 of my 5 classes so far due to schedule differences at the program. On Wednesday I had Psych testing. It is really going to be a lot of work but I am excited to learn how to administer tests and score and things. On Thursday I had both special topics and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and they were both really cool. There is a large work load in all of my classes but after 2 years of this, I was prepared for that. There are quite a few writing assignments, a ton of reading, and two clients so far that I have to have for my classes. I need one client for testing in order to administer, score, and interpret the tests and one for Cog B to learn techniques and practice them.

The classes I haven't had yet are Case conceptualization and Clinical Psychopharmacology. I am excited about both because I am a total nerd and love being in school. Also, it has been really nice since Anthony is working for both of us and I don't have to have a job. I am making small amounts of money on the side right now doing things from home and a small assistantship at school. From home I am doing online lesson plans for a tutoring company, recycling, online tutoring, etc... At school I am going to be decorating for Holidays and cleaning up the Grad Psych department on a regular basis and it makes decent extra cash for groceries and household supplies. It should be a busy but good semester.

I just started at a new practicum site location. I am still with the same agency but I am just working at a different school. I was able to visit the school today and it was a much better environment than my last school and I am looking forward to working with the clients there. I am very excited for all that this semester brings and the ability to focus on school entirely this year! Graduation in May never looked so good though! :)

I hope everyone is doing well, leave a comment with what's new in your life or jot me an email. I miss everyone back home so much!

--Erica Lewis--

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

It's official

I just wanted to write in here and let everyone know that I went to the Social Security office today and changed my name legally to Erica Lea Lewis! YAY! I am officially Mrs. Lewis! :) Just wanted to let everyone know!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Give Peace a Chance


So tonight I was watching one of my favorite ministers recorded on DVR and it was about putting on the full armor of God and I was just thinking about the shoes of peace. She (the minister) asked the congregation what stole their peace. I began to think about the things that literally steal my peace and I came up with the following list:


1. Procrastinating-- When I procrastinate on things I really need to get done I lose all of my peace. I can't sleep well, I don't enjoy rest time, I don't feel good in my spirit and it makes me feel badly toward the project or task I need to do. An example of this is having an assignment to do for school. Let's say I have to read 25 pages of text by the next Wednesday. I have one week to complete the reading assingment and get the material digested. I will not do this until Tuesday night possibly Wednesday morning and then I might not even do it at all if I am pressed for time. This makes me want to skip school and not go to class or it makes me feel inadequate once I am in class. I often don't do as well on assingments as I could have if I finished the reading and I can not really engage in class discussions without having read the assignment. Procrastination steals my joy and my peace!


2. Being spread too thin -- When I overbook myself I tend to lose all of my peace. Sometimes I will take on too much in order to look like a superhero and in turn, wear myself out and I end up doing nothing to my full potential. The house will look awful, my school assignments will be half done and my clients suffer in my attention span and rest. I have learned not to do this but the old self sometimes rears up and I want to take on more in my 24 hours than I honestly can do. I am ok being a human, superhero status steals my peace!


3. Not keeping comittments -- When I fail to keep a comittment I have no peace in my life. This might happen in something I have agreed to do for my husband, an appointment I have slept through or cancelled due to earlier said procrasination, forgetting to call a friend, etc... Not keeping comittments steals my peace!


4. Money issues -- This one is going away slowly day by day with God's help but when I am in financial crisis, I have no peace. This is usually brought on by myself but lately God has really been changing me. Before, I might go out and buy lunch out, a new shirt, spend $60 at target on absolutely nothing, etc... and I would have no peace about it after I did it. Now, I know how to tell myself no and there is so much peace knowing I am doing the best thing for me, my marriage, my home, and my God. Money issues steal my peace!


5. Feeling Ill -- Being sick makes my peace go out the window. Again, usually this is self-inflicted as I am a diabetic and have often not taken good care of my health. I gain weight, my sugar goes out of control, I get headaches, I feel depressed, I get infections of all sorts and my doctor visits are always bad news. This completely steals my peace!


These are the big 5 things that steal my peace. The minister also said that we need to change ourselves in order to walk in peace. If we know what steals our peace, we should be making changes to walk in peace like the Bible tells us in Ephesians. That is part of our armor against the Devil's attacks. The way I plan to make changes are below:


1. Stop procrasinating and do things when I think of them and when they are assigned. Give myself shortened periods to be on the internet by setting a timer and only earning time on the internet when I have completed my tasks. Get adequate sleep, rest, and self care time in order to refuel myself to do assigned tasks.


2. Say no! Think logically about the responsibilities I have in life such as keeping my house clean, making meals, shopping for the household, laundry, homework, client paperwork, practicum hours, class time, work projects, etc...and realize that no new comittments really fit!


3. Let my yes be yes and my no be no. Remember that faithfulness is one of the fruits and when I am not faithful to my word, I am not sharing the fruits. Do not comitt to things I can't do.


4. Let God have the money issues and pray over the things God trusts us with and learn to say no to myself about things I might want but will regret later.


5. Take time to exercise daily, eat correctly for my disease, take all necessary medications, listen to the doctor, attend all appointments, and try to make healthier choices daily.


This is what God spoke to me tonight and I wanted to share it in case someone else struggles in letting their peace get stolen. I am no longer allowing my peace to be out there for the thief to steal!


--Erica Lewis--

Ericaland has a new look

Hey, for those of you who are avid readers of my blog, you have probably noticed I have a new look. I also changed our look over at The Lewis Family Blog at http://www.anthonyericaunplugged.blogspot.com where you can find all of the Lewis Family news. I wanted to let you all know that I got this awesome background at a really cool site where you can get free backgrounds for your blog that are simple and cute and also don't take over your blog or make it hard to read. You can find this amazing site at http://www.simplychicblogs.blogspot.com/

Have a lovely day and posts to come...

Erica Lewis

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Discipline continued and other news

So Anthony and I have been husband and wife for 11 days today. We got married on August 9th in Las Vegas which was planned for about 2 months. We had a really beautiful ceremony and moreso are really working toward a beautiful marriage. Every night we spend time going through the Four A's which are affirmation, affection, apologies, and Amen (asking for prayer), we are praying together and working through a devotion we got for a wedding gift. God is really moving in our lives and teaching us great lessons through our marriage.

I see Anthony growing so much and I hope he sees the same in me. We are excited to be married but also realize that we have to constantly keep our relationship centered in Christ if we want it to be blessed, happy, and strong. A cord of three strands is not easily broken after all.

Britt was here for two weeks from August 4-18 and it was a blast having her here. We watched a ton of movies, went to Ripley's Believe it or not, enjoyed Vegas together, had coldstone and Joe's Crab Shack, went clearance shopping, made cupcakes, had my birthday party, and all kinds of other things. She went home on Monday of this week and I miss her terribly! I will most likely be going home in October though so only a few months until we can hang out again.

Discipline has not been going so well in August due to the wedding, birthday, and having a houseguest so I am back on track today and working toward getting my goals for the day done. Those are keeping the kitchen cleaned and working out mostly as well as hearing God's word in some form or fashion. I am making small steps because when I have made radical ones in the past, it hasn't lasted. I want lasting change in my life so I am working slowly and taking small bites.

I will write again tomorrow most likely and update on my progress. God help me!