Hello world!!! Hope you are all having a great October! I'm participating in a 12-week online bible study about a book called "Calm My Anxious Heart" and I'm loving it. I have dealt with anxiety issues for a long time. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up in the middle of the night with a racing heart because my mind won't rest or how many times I've struggled just to fall asleep. Some of the issues I deal with are being a good mother, a good wife, my busy schedule and trying to fit everything in, and of course finances. I think as women we feel like we have to control everything but actually we just need to "let go and let God" and realize He will always provide for us. The past 3 weeks I've felt like this book was written just for me! Like the author was talking directly to me. How does she know I deal with these issues nearly every single day and she is telling me how to be calm and not anxious, where has this been all my life???
This weeks chapter is on being content with my role in life. My role in life is a full-time stay at home mom and wife. That means dealing with a moody teenager, a moody preteen, a energetic boy, a kindergartener and a husband who has been working tons of extra hours lately and it's hunting season (hello hunting widow). There are days when I feel pulled in so many different directions that stretch armstrong has nothing on me! The book talks about 3 different women with 3 different lives and each wishing she had one or both of the others' lives. In my life, I have found myself in the same situation. Some days I wish I could just get away and take a nice long break from the drama, chores, laundry etc. Or I wish I could go back and do some things differently. When one of my older girls thinks I'm the worst mom ever or the evil step-monster I wonder if I made the right choice or handled the situation correctly. I think in life we all think wow that person sure is lucky to have that kind of a life.....vacations, no kids, the single life etc. Don't misunderstand me, I love my life, my kids, my husband and I have no desire to not have any of them in my life! But I found myself this summer when my kids were fighting with each other constantly counting the days until school started......then school started and I wanted summer break again.
God gave me this life I have. He put me in this life for a reason and some days I wonder what was that reason???? I'm learning through this book to be content with what I have. Why wish away my kids' childhoods??? Before I know it, they will all be grown and out of the house and starting their own lives and families and I will be wishing they were little again. My son turns 9 this weekend and I can't convince him he isn't allowed to turn 9 he has to go back and be 7 again.
I believe God put my in my stepdaughter's life for a reason. She needs me to be the mother figure for her. It isn't easy....I hear at least once a month that she hates me, she doesn't want to live here anymore if I'm here etc. It's hard to hear this and more than once my husband and I have had discussions about it. It normally only comes up when we are in a typical teenage fight. I remember fighting with my mom when I was younger, it's part of life except she thinks she has an out. However, her mother, father and I are on the same page in that we believe this is the best place for her and for her to be able to have the best chance at a good future. She knows I love her like she's my own and I'm not ever going to give up on her and I'm not going to let her give up on herself either. I'm going to push her to give her all in everything and work with her to make good decisions. Special K and I have some of those lovely arguments, I swear it's like history repeating itself not just from 3 years ago when B was going through this stage but 20+ years ago when my mom and I were going through this. The difference is Special K has no choice but to learn her lesson and move on, take the punishment and learn from it.....she doesn't have an "out". My two youngest kids frustrate me when they just leave their stuff laying around and don't pick up after themselves and I find myself counting to 10 sometimes 20 or 50 in order to not totally freak out.
I am embracing my role in life. God gave me these children to raise and he gave me the tools I would need to raise them in His word. Instead of looking forward to the day when they are grown; I'm going to embrace them now and focus on today. We are not promised tomorrow, tomorrow belongs to God and before we know it, tomorrow will be today and we will look back and see today as the past. I don't know about you but I don't want to constantly live with regrets.
My role in life is also as a wife. There have been a few times where I've struggled with this role. But in the end, God put me in this life for a reason and every day hasn't been a fairy tale......but as my now 12 year old daughter told me almost a year ago, Everything happens for a reason and sometimes we don't know that reason until we are older but God doesn't make mistakes, and HE always helps us through the tough times. She actually shared those words with me after I'd shared them with her so that lets me know although sometimes it doesn't feel like things are sinking in, they really are. We are faced with struggles every day. But they don't have to be struggles. Instead of asking why me???? we should ask why not me??? God isn't going to give us anything we can't handle. And when something feels like it may be too much, that's just God's way of getting us back to him. In every situation, we need to say, "ok God, I know you know the plans for my life and I know you are going to help me through this, I'm going to give this to you. I know you are going to take care of me and you are going to bring me through this and I'm going to look back and know you were with me the whole time."
I relied on these words many years ago. Picture it, I was newly married, pregnant for the first time, husband has emergency surgery to remove his appendix when we were supposed to be attending the wedding of a good friend. I was all alone, no family, very few friends etc. Husband gets home from hospital and I wake up in the morning to blood. I lost the baby and in the weeks that followed it was discovered that I had cervical cancer. The only thing I every wanted to be growing up was a mom so this was devastating. The doctors told me I'd never be able to have kids. So, husband and I made a new plan, I'd go to school and get my degree in accounting and we'd discuss other options in the future except I felt like a failure, I felt like I had my dreams ripped away from me and I was in a bad place emotionally. Hubs and I were fighting constantly and it looked like we weren't going to make it and I hit my knees and asked God to show me his will, asked him how he could take my dreams from me??? Well, we decided to take it one day at a time and I prayed for a sign. My 6 week checkup after surgery showed I was pregnant! The doctor gave me all the negatives....you probably will lose the baby in first trimester, probably won't carry full-term, could hemorrhage and die during delivery, etc but all I wanted was to focus on this happened for a reason. God granted my deepest desire and I conceived. Well, that pregnancy ended up being the greatest birthday present I could ever receive. I was blessed with 2 other children as well each their own individuals and each with their own special qualities. So, instead of wishing I could have something else (even just a fleeting wish), I'm going to embrace the gifts God has blessed me with. I'm going to embrace my role in life and I'm going to focus on being the best wife and mother I can be. And instead of being anxious about my life, I'm going to just put it in God's hands. God will provide for my needs and when I'm feeling anxious I'm going to pray for God's peace.
I encourage you to learn to be content with your role in life. It isn't easy. I woke up this morning feeling slightly crazy because B has cross country meet at 4 today and K has volleyball game at 5 and I've only gotten to see B run cross country once this year and it kills me......her dad has made her meets so she has had someone cheering her on but I want to see her run....well the catch is B's meet is in a different city than K's games so I'm going to be picking up T-man and M early from school, rushing to B's meet then basically as soon as she finishes rushing back to school to watch K play volleyball and then cheer. But unlike in the past, I'm not going to beat myself up if I miss 10-15 minutes for K's game. I'm going to just do the best I can to be there for both of them and not freak out like in the past. B told me I didn't need to stress out making her meet since her dad would be there but I know she would love to have me there and K told me not to stress out if I miss part of her game. Then both told me they know I'm their biggest cheerleader!
I love my crazy, busy, beautiful life God has given me and although sometimes when life gets a bit too crazy for me, I close my eyes and picture myself sitting on a warm beach, relaxing with a good book in my hand, I wouldn't trade a moment of this for the world. I'm going to thank God every day for the life he has given me, the ups and the downs and know that there's nothing I can't handle when I have him leading my life. I'm going to live for today. I hope you all have a wonderful day and if I can pray for you, just let me know!
Making the most of my precious role,
Kathy
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Judgement
The word judgement is defined as the ability to make a decision or form an opinion by discerning and evaluating. I got that from the good old Webster's dictionary. We are people make judgments every day but how many of those are accurate? When you make a decision or form an opinion about something do you jump to conclusions or actually discern and evaluate? There have been times when I've just looked at something and judged it. Or I've taken someone else's opinion and formed my own without knowing all the facts or the whole story. We are all guilty of jumping to conclusions or judging someone or something without knowing the whole story. However, what if we knew the whole story? I love a picture I found a while ago of a woman standing in a storm and the words "Don't judge her, you don't know what storms I've asked her to go through" Powerful right?
Think about it......you see a person in the grocery store buying her kids candy and pop.....in the past I've thought wow that's junk she's feeding her kids but now I think maybe it was a treat for something that they earned???? I went to the store last week to stock up on snacks for our weekend at the Kansas Junior Livestock Show. When I was checking out, the woman behind me was very vocal about the reason our kids are obese in America when parents fill them with junk food. Normally I would have just shrugged it off because I mean my cart had some twizzlers, chips, lemonade, cheez-its, oreos, and cookies. I also had apples, grapes, cheese-sticks and granola bars to balance out some of that. But I turned around and told the woman that she formed an opinion without the facts. The facts are my kids were going to be very busy at KJLS this weekend and it would be nice to have some easy to grab snacks for them to eat as well as the fact that my children are far from obese! It wasn't a normal shopping trip for me, it was a special trip to have some snacks to feed my kids and the candy and cookies were to be rewards when they finished showing their animals. I point blank told her not to judge me without knowing the facts and if she was going to judge me to keep it to herself. It was very out of character for me because I don't normally speak up, I would have just fumed about it and kept my opinion to myself. But you see, I've been judged for the past year. I've been gossiped about, I've lost people I thought were my friends because they didn't like my choices. I've been a victim of unfair judgments made by people who don't know my story only what they've heard from other people. I've seen people so afraid of what other people will think if they are seen with me act like I don't exist when they are around those people even though they just spoke to me the week before. I'm sorry I thought I graduated too many years ago to count! Oh and the best ones are the ones who pretended to be my friends just to be able to talk about me to other people. I can't change the way people behave, I can only change the way I respond to it. You see, no one knows the storms I've had to face. They may think they know, they may say oh if that were me I would do this and this but you see you never really know how you would react to something until you are in that situation. Jer 29:11 is my verse. God has my life in the palm of his hand and he knows the plans he has for me. He knows the days of my life and he knows the tests He will put me through. I have the opportunity every day to choose the path that leads to eternal life or choose the wrong path. But no matter what path I choose, God is always there with me and willing to forgive me when I make a mistake. We all have storms to weather in our lives. Maybe your storm is financial, maybe it's the loss of a child, maybe it's the loss of someone close to you, perhaps it's the betrayal of a friend, spouse, family member, child.......we all have storms to weather and our job as Christians is to help each other through those storms. Not to judge because if we look in the mirror we are not perfect. God doesn't expect us to be perfect! That's why he instructed us not to judge and that's why he sent us the ultimate Savior to take on our sins and give us eternal life. The best thing you can do when you want to judge someone is to learn all the facts and try to help that person through the storms of their lives. And if you can't help them through the storm, pray for God to put people in their lives to help them.
If I can help you through the storms in your life, feel free to comment. I would love to pray for you. Hope you all have a blessed day and remember we all have our own crosses to bear and storms to weather.
Think about it......you see a person in the grocery store buying her kids candy and pop.....in the past I've thought wow that's junk she's feeding her kids but now I think maybe it was a treat for something that they earned???? I went to the store last week to stock up on snacks for our weekend at the Kansas Junior Livestock Show. When I was checking out, the woman behind me was very vocal about the reason our kids are obese in America when parents fill them with junk food. Normally I would have just shrugged it off because I mean my cart had some twizzlers, chips, lemonade, cheez-its, oreos, and cookies. I also had apples, grapes, cheese-sticks and granola bars to balance out some of that. But I turned around and told the woman that she formed an opinion without the facts. The facts are my kids were going to be very busy at KJLS this weekend and it would be nice to have some easy to grab snacks for them to eat as well as the fact that my children are far from obese! It wasn't a normal shopping trip for me, it was a special trip to have some snacks to feed my kids and the candy and cookies were to be rewards when they finished showing their animals. I point blank told her not to judge me without knowing the facts and if she was going to judge me to keep it to herself. It was very out of character for me because I don't normally speak up, I would have just fumed about it and kept my opinion to myself. But you see, I've been judged for the past year. I've been gossiped about, I've lost people I thought were my friends because they didn't like my choices. I've been a victim of unfair judgments made by people who don't know my story only what they've heard from other people. I've seen people so afraid of what other people will think if they are seen with me act like I don't exist when they are around those people even though they just spoke to me the week before. I'm sorry I thought I graduated too many years ago to count! Oh and the best ones are the ones who pretended to be my friends just to be able to talk about me to other people. I can't change the way people behave, I can only change the way I respond to it. You see, no one knows the storms I've had to face. They may think they know, they may say oh if that were me I would do this and this but you see you never really know how you would react to something until you are in that situation. Jer 29:11 is my verse. God has my life in the palm of his hand and he knows the plans he has for me. He knows the days of my life and he knows the tests He will put me through. I have the opportunity every day to choose the path that leads to eternal life or choose the wrong path. But no matter what path I choose, God is always there with me and willing to forgive me when I make a mistake. We all have storms to weather in our lives. Maybe your storm is financial, maybe it's the loss of a child, maybe it's the loss of someone close to you, perhaps it's the betrayal of a friend, spouse, family member, child.......we all have storms to weather and our job as Christians is to help each other through those storms. Not to judge because if we look in the mirror we are not perfect. God doesn't expect us to be perfect! That's why he instructed us not to judge and that's why he sent us the ultimate Savior to take on our sins and give us eternal life. The best thing you can do when you want to judge someone is to learn all the facts and try to help that person through the storms of their lives. And if you can't help them through the storm, pray for God to put people in their lives to help them.
If I can help you through the storms in your life, feel free to comment. I would love to pray for you. Hope you all have a blessed day and remember we all have our own crosses to bear and storms to weather.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
What a difference a year makes
Look back at your life a year ago??? Have you learned a lot in the past year? A little? Are you maybe a little lighter/heavier than a year ago? How about your looks, more gray hairs, wrinkles? Maybe you have had a great year......What about those goals you set at the New Year??? Have you reached any of them? Abandoned them all? Made new ones??? Why am I asking all these questions???
I am coming off of probably the hardest year of my life. Harder than losing 2 grandparents within months of each other, harder than suffering a miscarriage, being diagnosed with cervical cancer and being told after treatment for it I would never have children (by the way God proved those doctors wrong). It's been a VERY rough year. Almost a year ago, the small town I live in was rocked by scandal and a member of my family was right in the middle of it. A year ago, I was hurt, bitter, angry, betrayed and I felt completely alone. But one thing I wasn't was broken! I've always been a very strong person. It's true, you can ask anyone! I don't ask for help, I don't back done from a challenge and I am stubborn in what I want. My mom called me strong-willed from birth and my mini-me has those traits as well. I never knew how strong I was until this past year. But in the midst of scandal and betrayal, I had a few verses in my life that helped me through it.
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make straight your path."
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you."
When the scandal erupted, I had few friends to call and check on me or even talk to me. They say in bad times you find out your true friends and it is so true! People I thought were my friends wouldn't even look my way let alone say something as simple as "hi!" My children became outcasts in our town, talked about, gossiped about etc. The one thing that kept coming into my head was "I don't understand.....I didn't do anything wrong, my children didn't do anything wrong???" However, I had to move past that and I had to make some serious decisions regarding my life and my future. Where did I turn for this? My father....and let me tell you it wasn't an easy task either! But my dad I swear seems to have a direct line to God. If I ask him to pray for something, he does and I usually get a response to whatever I'm needing. Now not always the response I was looking for but we all know God doesn't always give us what we want. So I turned to my daddy and I asked him what do I do? How do I handle this? His response was to pray and he would pray for God to speak to me. So of course I did what my dad said and I prayed and one thing has been repeated to me over and over and over this past year........just one simple word stays on my heart.....FORGIVE. Jesus tells us several times in the bible we have to forgive those who've hurt us, those who've wronged us and we have to forgive as he has forgiven. Forgiveness is NOT an easy thing. I struggled for a while with this task I was given. To forgive everyone who hurt me from the ones close to me to the ones who just gossiped about me. I also had to teach my children to forgive. Not to be clear, my 2 younger children have no idea what happened but my 2 older children were exposed to the fall of a man they held dear to them. And if I was going to teach my children how to forgive, I had to lead by example.
This past year has been a blessing as well. I've become a better mother, I've told my children the dangers of trying to grow up to fast, to go with the flow of what other people are doing. I've expressed to them that when they see something going on that they know isn't right, they need to speak up to stop it before it gets out of hand. You see, this whole scandal could have been avoided if months before when people knew what was happening had spoken up before it got out of control. I've also learned not to ask why me??? Why not me??? Obviously there was a reason why God put me in this position. I read several books this past year and the one that got to me the most was "Every Heart Restored" there were 2 points in that book that took the air out of me and made me stop asking why me! First point was this "God may have created your marriage in part for the messy work of helping Him heal your husband's wounds, of assisting your husband in his journey to Christian maturity." Second point "God may have picked you to be the central figure in this work of restoration from the very beginning. How do you know this marriage isn't among God's highest dreams for your life?" Wow, talking about making me stop in my tracks.......I've always maintained that God put my husband in my life for a reason. I've questioned God a few times because being married and trying to raise children with good Christian values is difficult with a man who doesn't not believe in God but doesn't have a relationship with him. I can't tell you how many times in 13 years I've prayed that God would help me reach my husband and have him give his life to Christ. Well, turns out, God did that without my help. God turns a mess into a message and a test into a testimony! I honestly can't sit hear today and wish that the past year hadn't happened because out of this horrible time my biggest prayer has been answered.
I've also learned people can change. When someone who has been walking a life that doesn't have Christ in it and finally accepts Christ the change is breath-taking! Now, it's taken a year to get to where I am today where I feel like I can post this blog. But the only way I've gotten to this point is because I finally listened to that one simple word and I forgave........There's a new song by Matthew West called forgiveness and the lyrics are powerful! Here's some of them:
"It's the hardest thing to give away, and the last thing on your mind today, it always goes to those that don't deserve. It's the opposite of how you feel when the pain they caused is just to real it takes everything you have just to say the word......Forgiveness, Forgiveness.
It flies in the face of all your pride, it moves away the mad inside it's always anger's own worst enemy. Even when the jury and the judge say you gotta right to hold a grudge it's the whisper in your ear saying 'Set it free'....Forgiveness
Show me how to love the unloveable, show me how to reach the unreachable, help me now to do the impossible....Forgiveness
It'll clear the bitterness away, it can even set a prisoner free, there is no end to what it's power can do. So let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace the prisoner that it really frees is you.....
I want to finally set it free, so show me how to see what your mercy sees, help me now to give what you gave to me...Forgiveness."
Powerful words right??? Forgiveness is a powerful thing. I can honestly say I can hold my head high and let go of the things I hear about myself. For the record, I am NOT a weak person......I have come through the hardest year of my life and my faith hasn't been weakened, it's been strengthened. I have learned who my true friends are and I don't feel the need to try to live my life according to how other people think I should. I make my own decisions in life and no one should judge me because they don't walk the path I walk, they haven't weathered the storms I have been in and I am living my life according to what I feel led by God to do. Gossip is gone from my life. Now when someone tells me something, I THINK T-is it true? H-is it helpful? I-is it inspiring N-is it necessary and K-is it kind? I never realized exactly how hurtful gossip was until I was faced with all the absurd stories that flew around about myself and my family......most untrue and I saw how people changed the way they treated me based on what they heard through the grapevine. Funny thing is, the friends that showed up at my lowest time in my life are a few I figured would be there and a few I never would have imagined......I've forgiven all those who hurt me and it's such a powerful feeling to let that go. I pray for those who were involved and I pray for those who hurt me. I will not spend the rest of my life being bitter or angry. I choose to let those feelings go and let the love of God flow through me. I have been blessed with so much that I have decided to dwell on the good in my life and let go of the bad.....Let go and let God.
Hope you all have a blessed day! Until next time, I pray you find peace in your life.
I am coming off of probably the hardest year of my life. Harder than losing 2 grandparents within months of each other, harder than suffering a miscarriage, being diagnosed with cervical cancer and being told after treatment for it I would never have children (by the way God proved those doctors wrong). It's been a VERY rough year. Almost a year ago, the small town I live in was rocked by scandal and a member of my family was right in the middle of it. A year ago, I was hurt, bitter, angry, betrayed and I felt completely alone. But one thing I wasn't was broken! I've always been a very strong person. It's true, you can ask anyone! I don't ask for help, I don't back done from a challenge and I am stubborn in what I want. My mom called me strong-willed from birth and my mini-me has those traits as well. I never knew how strong I was until this past year. But in the midst of scandal and betrayal, I had a few verses in my life that helped me through it.
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make straight your path."
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you."
When the scandal erupted, I had few friends to call and check on me or even talk to me. They say in bad times you find out your true friends and it is so true! People I thought were my friends wouldn't even look my way let alone say something as simple as "hi!" My children became outcasts in our town, talked about, gossiped about etc. The one thing that kept coming into my head was "I don't understand.....I didn't do anything wrong, my children didn't do anything wrong???" However, I had to move past that and I had to make some serious decisions regarding my life and my future. Where did I turn for this? My father....and let me tell you it wasn't an easy task either! But my dad I swear seems to have a direct line to God. If I ask him to pray for something, he does and I usually get a response to whatever I'm needing. Now not always the response I was looking for but we all know God doesn't always give us what we want. So I turned to my daddy and I asked him what do I do? How do I handle this? His response was to pray and he would pray for God to speak to me. So of course I did what my dad said and I prayed and one thing has been repeated to me over and over and over this past year........just one simple word stays on my heart.....FORGIVE. Jesus tells us several times in the bible we have to forgive those who've hurt us, those who've wronged us and we have to forgive as he has forgiven. Forgiveness is NOT an easy thing. I struggled for a while with this task I was given. To forgive everyone who hurt me from the ones close to me to the ones who just gossiped about me. I also had to teach my children to forgive. Not to be clear, my 2 younger children have no idea what happened but my 2 older children were exposed to the fall of a man they held dear to them. And if I was going to teach my children how to forgive, I had to lead by example.
This past year has been a blessing as well. I've become a better mother, I've told my children the dangers of trying to grow up to fast, to go with the flow of what other people are doing. I've expressed to them that when they see something going on that they know isn't right, they need to speak up to stop it before it gets out of hand. You see, this whole scandal could have been avoided if months before when people knew what was happening had spoken up before it got out of control. I've also learned not to ask why me??? Why not me??? Obviously there was a reason why God put me in this position. I read several books this past year and the one that got to me the most was "Every Heart Restored" there were 2 points in that book that took the air out of me and made me stop asking why me! First point was this "God may have created your marriage in part for the messy work of helping Him heal your husband's wounds, of assisting your husband in his journey to Christian maturity." Second point "God may have picked you to be the central figure in this work of restoration from the very beginning. How do you know this marriage isn't among God's highest dreams for your life?" Wow, talking about making me stop in my tracks.......I've always maintained that God put my husband in my life for a reason. I've questioned God a few times because being married and trying to raise children with good Christian values is difficult with a man who doesn't not believe in God but doesn't have a relationship with him. I can't tell you how many times in 13 years I've prayed that God would help me reach my husband and have him give his life to Christ. Well, turns out, God did that without my help. God turns a mess into a message and a test into a testimony! I honestly can't sit hear today and wish that the past year hadn't happened because out of this horrible time my biggest prayer has been answered.
I've also learned people can change. When someone who has been walking a life that doesn't have Christ in it and finally accepts Christ the change is breath-taking! Now, it's taken a year to get to where I am today where I feel like I can post this blog. But the only way I've gotten to this point is because I finally listened to that one simple word and I forgave........There's a new song by Matthew West called forgiveness and the lyrics are powerful! Here's some of them:
"It's the hardest thing to give away, and the last thing on your mind today, it always goes to those that don't deserve. It's the opposite of how you feel when the pain they caused is just to real it takes everything you have just to say the word......Forgiveness, Forgiveness.
It flies in the face of all your pride, it moves away the mad inside it's always anger's own worst enemy. Even when the jury and the judge say you gotta right to hold a grudge it's the whisper in your ear saying 'Set it free'....Forgiveness
Show me how to love the unloveable, show me how to reach the unreachable, help me now to do the impossible....Forgiveness
It'll clear the bitterness away, it can even set a prisoner free, there is no end to what it's power can do. So let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace the prisoner that it really frees is you.....
I want to finally set it free, so show me how to see what your mercy sees, help me now to give what you gave to me...Forgiveness."
Powerful words right??? Forgiveness is a powerful thing. I can honestly say I can hold my head high and let go of the things I hear about myself. For the record, I am NOT a weak person......I have come through the hardest year of my life and my faith hasn't been weakened, it's been strengthened. I have learned who my true friends are and I don't feel the need to try to live my life according to how other people think I should. I make my own decisions in life and no one should judge me because they don't walk the path I walk, they haven't weathered the storms I have been in and I am living my life according to what I feel led by God to do. Gossip is gone from my life. Now when someone tells me something, I THINK T-is it true? H-is it helpful? I-is it inspiring N-is it necessary and K-is it kind? I never realized exactly how hurtful gossip was until I was faced with all the absurd stories that flew around about myself and my family......most untrue and I saw how people changed the way they treated me based on what they heard through the grapevine. Funny thing is, the friends that showed up at my lowest time in my life are a few I figured would be there and a few I never would have imagined......I've forgiven all those who hurt me and it's such a powerful feeling to let that go. I pray for those who were involved and I pray for those who hurt me. I will not spend the rest of my life being bitter or angry. I choose to let those feelings go and let the love of God flow through me. I have been blessed with so much that I have decided to dwell on the good in my life and let go of the bad.....Let go and let God.
Hope you all have a blessed day! Until next time, I pray you find peace in your life.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Long time no write???
Hello from the land of great intentions....anyone ever heard of it?? It's that place where you mean to do something but never seem to have the time or get around to it. My husband was at a supervisors conference a few months back and brought me home a whole bunch of round discs with TUIT written on them. He told me they were my around to its.
Anyway, I've been busy with kids honestly. This is the first summer that I can remember not looking forward to my kids going back to school. I mean a part of me is kinda looking forward to it when it's over 100 degrees outside and they are fighting with each other like crazy, I admit I get a little excited about back to school. Or when all of the 4 kids are bottomless pits, I think man I'm actually going to save money when they go back to school on my grocery bill. Of course that was before I had to pay for a month of lunches for each kid this week at registration....yikes that will leave a mark! My 2 oldest actually told me we don't have to prep the week before school to get back into the routine. There have been very few days all summer where anyone has gotten to sleep in. But it's been a pretty good summer I must say. The kids saw all their hard work with their animals pay off at fair time, the older girls have been busy with cheerleading plus Special K with volleyball and the kids put all their gift cards and money they've been saving together for a pool (we kicked in some money to help out) and they have really enjoyed playing in it since it's been so hot and dry.
Next week starts a new chapter in my life.....all 4 of my kids will be in school full-time! Yikes, I'm not old enough for this epic day! Special K has changed so much these last few months that I swear I have heartburn every day. I didn't realize she would change so fast. It's almost like I'm measuring her every day and she's grown even more. She's now only about 3 inches shorter than her sister and I, her foot is almost the same size as B and she just looks like a young lady now and not a little girl. It's amazing! Now that's not taking away from the other littles, T-man has grown and he's losing his baby face but not to the extent of his sister and Mae, well, she is getting so independent and she's going to be taller than all us other girls in the family, I can tell already! Plus she's just an amazing kid. She went to get her kindergarten shots Monday. She wasn't scared or nervous even after the doctor kept us waiting for almost an hour! Seems he had a well-child check up with his kids that was more important.....I got a little nervous because you could hear his kids screaming while they got shots and I thought Mae has been so brave and looked forward to this day and now it's going to sink in but nope, she got 4 shots and didn't shed a single tear! She had a huge grin on her face walking out of the office because "She's officially an kindergartener now!" I had tears because she's my baby...... So, Friday the kids go back to school, I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do with my free time. While they are in school, I will have free time after school gets out, totally different....that's when I will run around like crazy getting kids to practices, meetings, sporting events, etc. I'm thinking I will take the time when they are in school to get my house organized, it's going through a tornado, earthquake and hurricane this summer with the kids, I fear it could be declared a disaster area! (ok not quite but it seems like it) and I'm going to spend some time reading. I've slacked this summer big time on reading the bible in a year so I have a lot of catching up to do! I've found lots of neat crochet ideas to make, I taught myself to knit this summer and I find it relaxing plus I listen to books on my iPod while I crochet or knit so I'm multitasking! I was thinking if I knit and crochet, I could have a booth at the craft fair and sell my items.....who knows! I think I'm going to just leave it in God's hands. I'm sure He's going to lead me down the right path as He has so many times in my life. I know the first couple weeks will be strange and I will be lonely home all by myself but I'm sure I will find something to do. Plus it's almost breeding season for the goats! That's always fun to make sure a) they all get bred but b) not at the same time! Maybe I'll get all my tax info in order or my goat paperwork filed with ABGA! I was thinking of going back to school but with the evenings crazy busy I'm not sure I can swing that. I will certainly try to be better at blogging. If not, here's one of my round tuit chips :)
Anyone have any suggestions on things I can do with my time???? I would love to hear them! I'm going to be free from 7:30 until 3:45 Monday-Friday. Hope you all had a great summer! I'm off to enjoy my last week with my little blessings.
Anyway, I've been busy with kids honestly. This is the first summer that I can remember not looking forward to my kids going back to school. I mean a part of me is kinda looking forward to it when it's over 100 degrees outside and they are fighting with each other like crazy, I admit I get a little excited about back to school. Or when all of the 4 kids are bottomless pits, I think man I'm actually going to save money when they go back to school on my grocery bill. Of course that was before I had to pay for a month of lunches for each kid this week at registration....yikes that will leave a mark! My 2 oldest actually told me we don't have to prep the week before school to get back into the routine. There have been very few days all summer where anyone has gotten to sleep in. But it's been a pretty good summer I must say. The kids saw all their hard work with their animals pay off at fair time, the older girls have been busy with cheerleading plus Special K with volleyball and the kids put all their gift cards and money they've been saving together for a pool (we kicked in some money to help out) and they have really enjoyed playing in it since it's been so hot and dry.
Next week starts a new chapter in my life.....all 4 of my kids will be in school full-time! Yikes, I'm not old enough for this epic day! Special K has changed so much these last few months that I swear I have heartburn every day. I didn't realize she would change so fast. It's almost like I'm measuring her every day and she's grown even more. She's now only about 3 inches shorter than her sister and I, her foot is almost the same size as B and she just looks like a young lady now and not a little girl. It's amazing! Now that's not taking away from the other littles, T-man has grown and he's losing his baby face but not to the extent of his sister and Mae, well, she is getting so independent and she's going to be taller than all us other girls in the family, I can tell already! Plus she's just an amazing kid. She went to get her kindergarten shots Monday. She wasn't scared or nervous even after the doctor kept us waiting for almost an hour! Seems he had a well-child check up with his kids that was more important.....I got a little nervous because you could hear his kids screaming while they got shots and I thought Mae has been so brave and looked forward to this day and now it's going to sink in but nope, she got 4 shots and didn't shed a single tear! She had a huge grin on her face walking out of the office because "She's officially an kindergartener now!" I had tears because she's my baby...... So, Friday the kids go back to school, I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do with my free time. While they are in school, I will have free time after school gets out, totally different....that's when I will run around like crazy getting kids to practices, meetings, sporting events, etc. I'm thinking I will take the time when they are in school to get my house organized, it's going through a tornado, earthquake and hurricane this summer with the kids, I fear it could be declared a disaster area! (ok not quite but it seems like it) and I'm going to spend some time reading. I've slacked this summer big time on reading the bible in a year so I have a lot of catching up to do! I've found lots of neat crochet ideas to make, I taught myself to knit this summer and I find it relaxing plus I listen to books on my iPod while I crochet or knit so I'm multitasking! I was thinking if I knit and crochet, I could have a booth at the craft fair and sell my items.....who knows! I think I'm going to just leave it in God's hands. I'm sure He's going to lead me down the right path as He has so many times in my life. I know the first couple weeks will be strange and I will be lonely home all by myself but I'm sure I will find something to do. Plus it's almost breeding season for the goats! That's always fun to make sure a) they all get bred but b) not at the same time! Maybe I'll get all my tax info in order or my goat paperwork filed with ABGA! I was thinking of going back to school but with the evenings crazy busy I'm not sure I can swing that. I will certainly try to be better at blogging. If not, here's one of my round tuit chips :)
Anyone have any suggestions on things I can do with my time???? I would love to hear them! I'm going to be free from 7:30 until 3:45 Monday-Friday. Hope you all had a great summer! I'm off to enjoy my last week with my little blessings.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The toughest, most stressful and rewarding job ever
I wonder about those experts who compile the list of the most stressful jobs in the world. I found a list on the internet of the top 10 most stressful jobs of 2012.
1 Enlisted Soldier: as the daughter of a military man and for a short while my husband was enlisted and most of my friends from back home and my family have all served so I have to agree with this one absolutely!
2 Firefighter: absolutely!
3: Airline pilot: daily this person has hundreds of lives in his/her hands and that would be stressful
4: Military General: his/her decisions affect hundreds of lives every day
5: Police Officer: never knows what the day will bring
6: Event Coordinator: I had to do a little research to see why this one is on the list
7: Public Relations Executive: especially if they have well-known high profile clients!
8: Senior Corporate Executive: this one and the next one I'm not so sure about
9: Photojournalist
10: Taxi driver: traffic, rude customers, complaints, I guess I can see this one
I would have to agree that all those jobs are pretty stressful. I found 4 other sites that had the same list almost, the only difference was #1 was a deployed soldier and #3 was the pilots and included Air Traffic Controllers as well. But on none of the lists I found was a parent. I would have to say that being a mother is the toughest, most stressful but also most rewarding job ever! I can't even begin to count the number of hours of sleep I've lost, the number of blood-pressure spikes I've had, the number of ulcers I swear I can feel forming, or the money I've spent hiding all the gray hairs my kids have given me and I've only been a full-time mom for nearly 12 years. We joke around our house that I found my first gray hair a few days after I got married and since I got +1 when I got married.....well that must explain it.
The bible says "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it" Proverbs 22:6. I've tried to always instill biblical principals into my children. From the time they were old enough to hear I've told them to treat others the way they should be treated, love everyone (even those that are hard to love), forgive those that hurt you and ask forgiveness for those you hurt, do what is right even if it goes against what everyone else is doing. And I've tried to lead by example. I haven't always succeeded but when I have failed, I have explained to my children what I did wrong and tried to make it a teaching lesson. But lately, my stress level is through the roof with one of my precious little people God blessed me to raise. I've spoken repeatedly with this child and tried to get her on the right path and she says all the right things and does all the right things when I'm around but when she's on her own she's a completely different person! I don't know how to get through to her. I kind of feel like I'm trying to drive a plane and the controllers just told me there's a huge storm I can't land for another 2 hours and I have about 30 minutes left of fuel onboard. Anyone else ever feel like this? Any suggestions? I've prayed on this and this is one of those instances I just wish I could talk face to face with God and have Him tell me what to do! I know I can't live my children's lives for them but it is soooooo painful to watch one of them make huge mistakes and go against everything I've tried to teach them. And how frustrating is it to have them listen to my words of wisdom, my teachings about how to treat people, how to behave and then find out that once they get out of my sight, they are completely against everything they've heard and agreed to do???
I was outraged a few weeks ago at Special K's middle school track meet and I had to post to Facebook about it because I hope to never see anyone have to go through what I witnessed. There were some students at the school that was hosting the meet who were out of class to support their classmates who were participating in the meet. Now, I'm not naive I know they probably just wanted out of class to goof off and hang out. Well, one of the host teams' members was running in the 100m dash. He was running his hardest in the race and these students were yelling to him during the race that they could walk faster than he was running and they said some pretty horrible things. He came into the stands when he was done excited because he'd just run his best time and they teased him relentlessly about his weight and how slow he was. I saw the hurt on this little guy's face and my heart just broke for him. I would never have let any of our school's students behave like that, I would have spoken up if I'd heard those comments and i felt compelled to post about it in the hopes that the students from our school would see it and choose not to act that way. Sadly, I'm sure the ones that are most guilty of that kind of behavior probably didn't read it or didn't care. But I got to thinking, what did those kids' parents teach them? Then I got to thinking what if they were taught to speak kindly to people, show support and build people up and they just chose to ignore those teachings? Then I was thinking if one of my kids ever acted like that, well I won't say what I would do but they would be in some big trouble when I got wind of it or witnessed it.
So, parenthood is one of the most stressful jobs. Motherhood especially with girls is tough! I want to be my daughters' friend but before that, I HAVE to be their mother. I want and I have a close relationship with all 3 of my girls but sometimes that fizzles a little when I have to be the parent and instill the proper values in them or correct them in their behavior or actions. Then I become the worst mom in the world, the step monster, hated person until they get over it. I remember feeling that way a few (ok many) times in my life but now I'm grateful for the moments I hated my parents. I'm sure in a few years, I've have an entirely different post about pre-teen and teenage boys or maybe it will be similar who knows?
Parenthood is also one of the most rewarding jobs ever as well. I'm a stay-at-home mom so I don't make any money at all. No, I don't sit around eating bonbons and watching soap operas all day. Most days I don't turn on the television at all until the evening if I'm home. I DVR most of my shows and try to squeeze in time here or there to watch one of them but my DVR is full of things I just haven't gotten to watch yet.....we are 11 shows behind on American Idol and don't get me started on my other shows.....My life lately seems to revolve around laundry, planning meals, driving kids to and from practices, going to watch kids in their activities, driving kids to church activities, trying to keep goats alive and healthy and get them ready for shows and laying down exhausted in bed every night but not sleeping because I am trying to figure out how to get through to them, replaying what happened during the day/week to see where I can improve my parenting, mistakes I've made etc......however, being a mother is also the most rewarding job ever! When I see my kids smile, get those unexpected hugs or "I love you's" or from the teenager the very rare but very treasured "thank you".......I don't need material things in life. My only hope is that one day, they will wake up and realize mom might just be right......and I hope especially one of them wakes up soon and comes to the realization. But regardless, I'm not going to change my ways of raising my kids just because one or all of them don't like it. God gave me these precious lives to raise in His ways and that's what I intend to do while I have them. I know all to well how precious life is, how we aren't guaranteed tomorrow. I want to raise my kids to make every day count and to live in a way that they can go to bed at night knowing that they lived a good life for God. I will just keep hoping and praying that I can reach all of them and maybe they can help reach some of the others that maybe don't have influences in their lives teaching them how to respect people, how to turn the other cheek, how to forgive and pray for those who treat them badly. In this life, my most important, rewarding, stressful job is teaching my kids how to be Christ-like and I will continue until I take my last breath and God calls me home.
Hope you all have a blessed day.
Hope you all have a blessed day.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday
I've been feeling a little melancholy this week. Happens every year around this time. I grew up in the Catholic church even though both my parents are southern Baptists. I used to attend church with my close family friends whom I called my aunt and uncle and their 2 daughters and I were like sisters. I remember every year going to mass on Holy Thursday and watching the priest wash 12 parishioners feet and then Good Friday the teens would reenact the stations of the cross. I was lucky enough when I got older to participate. And of course, we'd go to Easter Vigil mass on Saturday night and then have a big dance afterward to celebrate easter. My family never was big on the Easter bunny because to us that wasn't what the meaning of Easter was about. I've been attending a local community church and I've raised my kids to know the true meaning of Easter. The Easter bunny doesn't really visit our house, instead we talk about the greatest gift ever. I start to feel melancholy because I think about how Jesus a sinless man went to the cross for us. Then I start to think how maybe I don't really deserve that kind of sacrifice. I'm a sinner. No matter how hard I try, I sin. Sure, I don't commit the big sins like murder but in God's eyes any sin is a sin. We can't qualify our sins and try to make ourselves any less of a sinner than someone else because then we start judging and we all know what God says about judging......"Judge not lest you be judged"
I've struggled this week big time. I feel like a leper in this little town we live in, an outcast. I've struggled with my +1 this week and her behavior and I've snapped at my 11yo for her attitude towards her brother. Then I've found myself asking for forgiveness and God's assistance to be a better person. There's a song by Casting Crowns I've listened to over and over these past few days....."Jesus friend of sinners" I encourage you to listen to it because it speaks volumes about the way we treat each other. I've played it so much my older kids practically have it memorized trying to get through to them the way they should be treating people regardless of how they are treated.
So, today, was the icing on the cake. I planned to go to Costco and get some things we needed plus indulge in a little kid free time before I'm a single mom next week and it's a 75 mile trip so I thought I could get some good time in with God and the Christian satellite radio station my car seems to me locked on a lot lately. Well, I go out to get in the van and my left rear tire is flat. I'm freaking a little because I know it's a holiday weekend and husband is leaving early Monday morning and I don't want to have to drive his big truck around while he's gone and don't want to deal with trying to fit in time to get the tire fixed plus today is the only day I can get to Costco kid free and be home in time to be here when kids get home. So, I had a pity party, then husband says he will take van to get it fixed when Mae gets home, I just have to take his car to Costco. I'm thinking this can work but have to be careful what I buy since I won't have as much room for bulky stuff. So, I load into his car and off I go. I should mention first song I hear on the radio......yup Jesus Friend of Sinners. I get to Costco and I badly timed my trip! Hello, it's Friday before Easter, and it was 11:30! Everyone was there getting their Easter dinner supplies and looking for free lunch from all the samples. There were people everywhere, and they camped around every sample station and wouldn't even let people through waiting for the next set of samples to come out. I decided I was going to avoid trying to sample anything for one because it's Good Friday and even though I don't go to Catholic church any more, I still observe Lent and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I will say all the Costco samples were meatless which was kind of nice even though I didn't get any. I just took my time and tried to get everything on my list and then I felt I needed to head for the exit before I lost my religion! People were just soooooooooo rude and wouldn't move for anyone to get by anywhere. I head for the checkout line and every line was long but I noticed the lady behind me only had 2 things in her cart while I had a cart full so I told her she could go ahead and check out in front of me. She thanked me then gets up to check out and I had to wait 5 minutes because she wanted to pay for the stuff her daughter was ordering at the little food counter and she was waiting in line. I just shook my head and said Ok God! I get it! Today's lesson was all about patience! I immediately felt peace at that moment. I enjoyed my nice ride home and husband was kind enough to unload all my purchases for me.
Tonight I will take whatever kids want to go with me to Good Friday service, guaranteed the older 2 because they will be singing in the choir and I will once again marvel at the sacrifice God has given to me and to all us sinners. And I will try to treat people with love and mercy and not be judgmental, as well as be more Christ-like. Yes, I am a sinner but Christ died so that even though I sin, I can have eternal life and although I may not feel like I deserve it, God thinks I do. So I will continue to pray for forgiveness, try to be a better person and be grateful for the ultimate sacrifice given for me. And Easter Sunday, I will take my kids to church to celebrate the glorious resurrection of Christ Jesus and will spend the day with those I love and God blessed me with and we will have a lovely dinner and play games and be thankful for all we have been blessed with and given.
"Living he loved me, dying he saved me, buried he carried my sins far away, rising he justified freely forever one day he's coming oh glorious day!!!" Another wonderful Casting Crowns song!
I've struggled this week big time. I feel like a leper in this little town we live in, an outcast. I've struggled with my +1 this week and her behavior and I've snapped at my 11yo for her attitude towards her brother. Then I've found myself asking for forgiveness and God's assistance to be a better person. There's a song by Casting Crowns I've listened to over and over these past few days....."Jesus friend of sinners" I encourage you to listen to it because it speaks volumes about the way we treat each other. I've played it so much my older kids practically have it memorized trying to get through to them the way they should be treating people regardless of how they are treated.
So, today, was the icing on the cake. I planned to go to Costco and get some things we needed plus indulge in a little kid free time before I'm a single mom next week and it's a 75 mile trip so I thought I could get some good time in with God and the Christian satellite radio station my car seems to me locked on a lot lately. Well, I go out to get in the van and my left rear tire is flat. I'm freaking a little because I know it's a holiday weekend and husband is leaving early Monday morning and I don't want to have to drive his big truck around while he's gone and don't want to deal with trying to fit in time to get the tire fixed plus today is the only day I can get to Costco kid free and be home in time to be here when kids get home. So, I had a pity party, then husband says he will take van to get it fixed when Mae gets home, I just have to take his car to Costco. I'm thinking this can work but have to be careful what I buy since I won't have as much room for bulky stuff. So, I load into his car and off I go. I should mention first song I hear on the radio......yup Jesus Friend of Sinners. I get to Costco and I badly timed my trip! Hello, it's Friday before Easter, and it was 11:30! Everyone was there getting their Easter dinner supplies and looking for free lunch from all the samples. There were people everywhere, and they camped around every sample station and wouldn't even let people through waiting for the next set of samples to come out. I decided I was going to avoid trying to sample anything for one because it's Good Friday and even though I don't go to Catholic church any more, I still observe Lent and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I will say all the Costco samples were meatless which was kind of nice even though I didn't get any. I just took my time and tried to get everything on my list and then I felt I needed to head for the exit before I lost my religion! People were just soooooooooo rude and wouldn't move for anyone to get by anywhere. I head for the checkout line and every line was long but I noticed the lady behind me only had 2 things in her cart while I had a cart full so I told her she could go ahead and check out in front of me. She thanked me then gets up to check out and I had to wait 5 minutes because she wanted to pay for the stuff her daughter was ordering at the little food counter and she was waiting in line. I just shook my head and said Ok God! I get it! Today's lesson was all about patience! I immediately felt peace at that moment. I enjoyed my nice ride home and husband was kind enough to unload all my purchases for me.
Tonight I will take whatever kids want to go with me to Good Friday service, guaranteed the older 2 because they will be singing in the choir and I will once again marvel at the sacrifice God has given to me and to all us sinners. And I will try to treat people with love and mercy and not be judgmental, as well as be more Christ-like. Yes, I am a sinner but Christ died so that even though I sin, I can have eternal life and although I may not feel like I deserve it, God thinks I do. So I will continue to pray for forgiveness, try to be a better person and be grateful for the ultimate sacrifice given for me. And Easter Sunday, I will take my kids to church to celebrate the glorious resurrection of Christ Jesus and will spend the day with those I love and God blessed me with and we will have a lovely dinner and play games and be thankful for all we have been blessed with and given.
"Living he loved me, dying he saved me, buried he carried my sins far away, rising he justified freely forever one day he's coming oh glorious day!!!" Another wonderful Casting Crowns song!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Back to Reality
I was just out in the barn and Kenny Chesney was on the radio singing about a break from reality. Well, that's exactly what I had last week. The husband and I took a much needed vacation to Cancun. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and had a nice week. While we were there, we enjoyed 3 days of nothing but laying on the beach under an umbrella being served whatever the fruity drink of the day was. I read 2 books while I was on vacation! One of the beach days also involved getting massages. I opted for a deep tissue back massage which was amazing but the poor guy really worked hard to get all my knots out and wasn't able to get them all taken care of but it sure was nice! Hubs got a full body massage and loved it. He'd never had a massage before and he's already been looking for some good places here in Kansas for massages. We took 2 sight seeing trips while we were there. One to a small island which was nice. Once again, I sat by the pool and relaxed, hubs swam with stingrays and got to see some sharks up close and personal. We also took a trip to Chichen Itza which is one of the new 7 wonders of the world. It was an amazing experience and inspired me to learn more about the ancient mayan people. They were amazing in the way they built their temples and buildings. I also want to learn spanish now. I took 4 years of french in high school and spent 1 year abroad in Denmark and learned Danish but now I'm inspired to learn another language. On the way to Chichen Itza we saw several towns in Mexico and I was shocked by how these people live. We saw numerous houses that were clearly nothing more than sticks tied together to make a house. It was an eye-opening experience. It gave me a new perspective on how much we take for granted. I didn't see many houses with air conditioning or even windows or doors just curtains covering the openings and hammocks inside the houses. Although I did see one house that was just sticks tied together to make a shack with a satellite hanging off the side which caused me to wonder. I asked one of the workers at he resort that we got to know well about this and he said their culture is very different from ours as we could tell but the government will subside the satellites for people. I may have gotten confused with the way he put it but it still seemed so sad to me. On the 2 trips we took, I was floored by the number of women and children selling crafts. Everywhere we went we were approached by people asking us to buy things from them. We had to wait about 10 minutes on the island trip to get back on the boat and these people just kept approaching everyone loaded down with their handmade bracelets, anklets, hammocks etc trying to get people to buy from them. When we were at Chichen Itza they had numerous hand carved statues and whistles and crafts that when we were approached to by during our tour. Our tour guide kept having to shoo these people away so he could give us the tours. We learned that what they sell is how they make their livings. They make these crafts at night and then try to sell as many as they can during the day to pay for their houses, clothing, food, materials to make more crafts etc. We've been other places and see the stands set up for the vendors but never been approached so many times. And at the resort we stayed at, all the workers were very hard working. I saw this guy every morning dragging chairs and umbrellas out to the beach to set up for the guests and every evening dragging them back in and he always had a smile on his face. Whenever I thanked someone for anything they did for me the response was always a smile and a genuine "it's my pleasure." What I learned from questioning many of the staff and talking with them is they are genuinely happy to have a job to make money to support themselves and their families. It made me realize how much we take for granted that luxuries we have here in the US and how blessed I truly am. I honestly can't wait to go back to Mexico and see more sights because their's sooooo much to see there.
Sunday I had to jump right back into mom mode with taking several trips into town for the kids and I went grocery shopping while I was in that general directions. I guess everyone didn't get the sense of renewal and gratitude I did because people were so rude and in a hurry. I was heading for the checkout line and an older man actually ran to get to a line ahead of me. I just shrugged it off and headed to the next line. I found a little joy that when I was leaving the store, he was still standing in that line he had to hurry and get to. Of course back to mom mode means back to running all around chasing kids. Special K the 11yo is now on the middle school track team so my tiny break I thought I would get from attending both middle and high school events is gone but I know I will find a way to work everything out. My April calendar looks the busiest so far with track meets, cheer tryouts, church activities, doctor appointments, and various club activities but I have a new outlook on things. I'm unbelievably blessed not only with the fact that in this economy I can stay home and be involved with everything my kids do but also that my kids are healthy and active and want to be involved in everything they can. Besides, April will have nothing on May, June and July when at least 3 of the 4 kids get active in base/softball and we start getting ready for fair! :)
Hope all of you take a moment and thank God for the blessings He has given you. I almost forgot to mention! The 3rd day of the month is one of my favorites because in my daily bible readings I always get to read my favorite verse: Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Sunday I had to jump right back into mom mode with taking several trips into town for the kids and I went grocery shopping while I was in that general directions. I guess everyone didn't get the sense of renewal and gratitude I did because people were so rude and in a hurry. I was heading for the checkout line and an older man actually ran to get to a line ahead of me. I just shrugged it off and headed to the next line. I found a little joy that when I was leaving the store, he was still standing in that line he had to hurry and get to. Of course back to mom mode means back to running all around chasing kids. Special K the 11yo is now on the middle school track team so my tiny break I thought I would get from attending both middle and high school events is gone but I know I will find a way to work everything out. My April calendar looks the busiest so far with track meets, cheer tryouts, church activities, doctor appointments, and various club activities but I have a new outlook on things. I'm unbelievably blessed not only with the fact that in this economy I can stay home and be involved with everything my kids do but also that my kids are healthy and active and want to be involved in everything they can. Besides, April will have nothing on May, June and July when at least 3 of the 4 kids get active in base/softball and we start getting ready for fair! :)
Hope all of you take a moment and thank God for the blessings He has given you. I almost forgot to mention! The 3rd day of the month is one of my favorites because in my daily bible readings I always get to read my favorite verse: Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)