Find Your Adventure In Each New Day

Time passes. No, really, it does. Quickly. When we aren't "looking" is flies swiftly by. We get wrapped up in work or our problems or just the crazy things that are going on IN the world. Some people live their whole lives this way. They wake up one day and realize that they forgot to live their lives with a purpose in the day to day and just focused on the distant future.

I'm not saying it is wrong to plan for the future. I love to plan! But if we forget that we have a purpose TODAY then we miss out on what God has for us right now. We were put here for a purpose. God has a plan for our lives, for each day that makes up that life. As a follower of the Jesus Way, I know that purpose is to bring God glory in all I say and do. Sadly, that doesn't always happen. I want it to. I really do. The sermon this morning was about that very thing, finding purpose in our lives. I have been working on that concept and thinking about this blog post since mid June. I thought I had "my plan" figured out earlier this year. I only had part of it figured out. God began to show me new things in the last few months and weeks that I hadn't thought about. I would like to share those with you and ask that you lift me up in the coming months and years as I strive to bring Him glory in all of my actions and decisions. That others will see HIM and not me and will be encouraged through my actions.

I have been married since I was seventeen and a half years old. I went from living with my parents to living with my husband. That was over thirty-four years ago. For the past thirty years I have been a mom of at least one child under the age of 18. I have four children. My third child just graduated high school and is headed off to a big university in August. My youngest child will turn 16 this year. After she graduates in two years, her goal is to dance with a professional school or mission that travels. Those two things have shifted my thoughts about my life the past several months.

You might be wondering what I mean by shifted. Here's the deal. We will be what people call "empty nesters" in a little over two years, despite the fact that my youngest promised me she would give me an extra year before moving out. I am sure she doesn't remember those words spoken over a year or two ago as I cried that I couldn't stand thinking of her moving away from home. She has fallen in love with dance and now has a vision and direction for her life, one she didn't have when she made that promise. No, I will not hold her to it. That isn't the kind of mom I am or ever want to be. I never want to hold my children back from following the path they feel life is leading them down. But...my heart aches when I think about it.

My oldest daughter is so wise. I was sharing some of these thoughts with her earlier this month. She gave me some very good advice, beyond good actually. She said, "You are going to have to find your way and enjoy some freedom" That really got me to thinking about "Finding My Way". At first, I shook it off and told myself I didn't want to "find my way". I don't know how to do that anymore. I wanted to dwell on how lonely I was going to be. Since I'm not really one to dwell on negative things for very long, I began to slowly start thinking about how I saw my life after none of my children lived at home full time. What did I want it to look like? That is a complicated question, one I am still sifting through. I'm working on a list of things I want to do and accomplish along with a list of things I feel would need to change for those to happen. There are a few challenges ahead, but I am going to pray my way through them and seek His direction.

I can share ONE change that will be coming in the next FIVE years. I have had a home kidcare and preschool for the past 18 years. I have enjoyed teaching the children and building relationships with the children and the families. It is bitter sweet when they go off to Kindergarten or move away. I keep in touch with many of them. Two of them just graduated high school. I feel that season in my life is coming to a end. I will complete the work I started with the children in my school right now. But when the time comes that I send them off to kindergarten, it will be the ending of that chapter in my life and continuing on with the new one that has just begun.

In two years, I will lose the best assistant my kidcare has ever had, as she goes off to bless others through her talent. That alone changes things. At least, the youngest children will be two by then and I will no longer be taking any under the age they are. The youngest now will be the last of that age I will teach. (There are two babies that will start at some point later this year and the beginning of next year.) The younger the children are the more challenging it can be without a great assistant. I don't want to turn away siblings to the kids that are in my care now, but we will have to play it by ear depending on when they are born.

I am by no means planning on doing less as a teacher. I am writing new curriculum that will carry me through the rest of the years I will be teaching. I am pleased with how it is coming along. I've been able to find many new resources that will make it even better than I had hoped. I am even considering putting that curriculum into a format that I can share it with other kidcare teachers. I just have to figure out all of the copy write issues if I mention the names of the books I use. That would be a way for me to pass on what I have learned in the past 18 plus years of teaching young children.

I know what you may be thinking. "How are you going to make a living?" "How can you retire when that is your main income?" I know that God has a plan because He is sharing it with me a glimpse at a time. I saw that change awhile back but didn't understand how it was going to be possible. It started to become clearer earlier this year. A seed was planted a year ago about a company and a product that I really liked a lot. I was reluctant to let that seed grow in my heart because of the things I had tried that didn't produce the results I wanted. I do have to say that I learned so much every time I took a step forward and tried something new. I will use all that I have learned to succeed in this one and to help others succeed by sharing what I have learned.

In February of this year, I took that leap of faith again and found what feels like my dream job, my perfect fit, if you will. I am having such a great time working this business. After all, I am a self proclaimed bookaholic! THIS is the career I plan on being in for this half of my life. I can work it when I am at home or when I am traveling with my family or friends. That is a great plus for me because one of the things on my list is to travel, a LOT. I will be working hard to grow my business and that means sharing these wonderful products with as many people as I can and helping others do the same. I am already succeeding in this venture. I am also using the products in my preschool, to homeschool my teen and with my grandchildren.

I have a lot of work to do. I have let work and the every day take over a bit of my joy in each day. I have also let things get in the way of my relationship with my husband. Sometimes, as moms, we can do that. Life gets to be too much and we don't feel like we have the mental energy left for anything or anyone else at the end of the day. But with our children gone and my time freed up, I personally will have more time on my hands and I want to spend a lot of it doing fun things with him. We need to spend some time figuring out what things we want as a couple in the years ahead since things are changing.

My mission in life really hasn't changed. I'm continuing to work on several things; making my home chemical free, my body as fit as it can become for a long and productive life, memories with my family and friends and doing ALL of that while living life on the Jesus Way. Sharing His love in all that I do and to all that I meet along the way.

My goal for this blog is to document those things much better than I have in the past few years. I hope you will stick around and share this journey with me. It's going to be an exciting ride here on out! Not that it hasn't been the first 51 1/2 years! Thanks for dropping by!

~~Terri

Helping Transform Lives One BOOK At A Time!

When God Closes A Door

What do you do when God closes a door? What feelings run through your mind? While I have had many times where God has closed a door, there was one time that stands out more than all the others. I believe that we should learn from our life experiences and grow from them. So, as I celebrate my 50th birthday I want to look back over a period of time where I struggled and grew the most in my faith. I want to share that with you so that you can know you are not alone. The struggles are real. We all have them. 

In 2009, we changed churches. We had been members of a different church for over 22 years so it was not an easy thing to do. But we felt God was closing that door and opening a new one. We joined First Baptist Church of Arlington. We had been working with a ministry that is connected to that church for the past decade and a half, Mission Arlington. It seemed right. They are very missions oriented and had great programs for the kids. It has been a huge blessing to our family. The younger two kids have grown up in this church and are now in high school and the leadership in the preschool, children and youth has been the same since we joined. The pastor has been here for over a decade, too. And he just leads the flock with such love and compassion. 

In 2010, we had some HUGE ups and downs. We struggled with our teen through some difficult years, this one bringing it all to a head. We struggled financially and lost some land in Colorado and a vehicle. In January we began mission training. At the end of the 5 months of Perspectives training we both felt called to missions in a different country full time. In the fall we started a more in-depth mission training, Panorama, to prepare us for the full time commitment to missions abroad. The two kids had their own training as we did ours. We felt they needed to be prepared, too, so they came up with teachers to work with them. It was great. We also got involved with ministry that does low cost water well drilling. John felt that this what the type of work God wanted him to do. 

In 2011, we started part two of the Panorama missions training. We touched on some deep subjects. We also went through some testing through the counseling center that everyone who goes into the field through our church must go through. We did a week long training with Water for All, the water drilling ministry. That was really great. We were asked to go to Kenya with another group that summer for 3 weeks. John was to do water well drilling there, teaching them how to do it. Our two younger children went with us. They were a part of all our missions training. They even sat in the back of the room of our Perspectives classes. The trip to Kenya was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us. But my son really didn't want to do that full time and he was quick to tell us. He didn't want to move away from our home and our church. Our daughter didn't voice it, but she probably felt the same way. 

After ALL of that training and experience, the doors SLAMMED shut. We were told they would NOT send us. Here is one of the hard parts for me. It was because of me. In the testing it revealed that I need people too much. I made friends while I was in Kenya. I feel like I would have done OK because my needing people would have just drawn me to these people in whatever place we lived. But it didn't matter about our trip to Kenya. It didn't matter that the kids did well. It didn't matter that John really enjoyed his time there teaching them how to drill. 

I was hurt, mad, and upset. I even became very bitter. Other people were being sent. We planned on making this a lifetime commitment. A couple who had done the water drilling training at the same time were sent to another country in Africa. They have been there all this time. They now have foster adopted 2 children and are expecting one of their own. I was so confused as to why God closed the doors. Every time they would announce in church that they needed people willing to go, my mind would scream inside "WE WERE WILLING AND YOU SAID NO!!!" It hurt for so long. I did my best to pretend it didn't matter that the doors just shut. But it did matter. 

I honestly can't remember when those feelings stopped. But they did. I no longer feel angry or bitter. And I look back at the training and the mission trip that the 4 of us did together and I am so thankful. We have life lessons and experiences that we would not have had otherwise. We have friendships from those trainings and from the trip. I would NOT trade that for anything. 

The following year God took our apartment ministry church through Mission Arlington and moved it into an actual church building. Our congregation tripled in number. We began meeting not only on Sunday mornings at 11 but also on Wednesday nights. John now is a part of a worship team on both of those days. He also teaches the older kids in Bible study both days. He has done ESL classes, too. Our church there is all Hispanic. Most are from Mexico. So in a way, God is using us to reach people from a different country, just not in that actual country. John hasn't been able to do any more water drilling but you never know what God has planned for the lessons He teaches you. 

In the years that have followed the relationship with my oldest daughter has grown by leaps and bounds. It was in a very precarious place at the time. That is something I would not have had IF we had moved overseas like we thought we were supposed to. We would not have been here for our granddaughter's birth and first year of life. Our other son would not have gotten to know his sweet girlfriend and fallen in love with her. Our youngest would not have found her love for dance and been a part of this wonderful dance school for the past 3 years. I would not have reopened my preschool and had the wonderful children and families that have been a part of it in our lives. I would not have found a love for fitness and become a Beachbody coach. 

I know that God has MORE for me. The years to come are exciting to think about. God KNOWS His plans for me, even when I don't. HE KNOWS when to close the doors even when I am confused and hurt because of it. HE has great plans for my life. I just need to allow HIM to direct my path and change it when needed. As one of my friends says "Jesus is big y'all!" He really is. He has walked me through this journey for the past 50 years and He isn't going to leave me now. 

I tell you all this not to have you feel sorry for me or to judge me for my anger. But to be real with you. Feeling anger and disappointment is a very human thing. God understands. You just have to take it to Him and He will help you deal with it. I cried out to him many, many times. But I hung on to the hurt for longer than I should have. I was angry at people for deciding my future. When really, God decided it. He KNEW what He had for me that was so rich and worthwhile. So many blessings He bestowed upon me since that time. I am so thankful!!! 

When God closes a door, stop and think. Remember He has great plans for you. Then ask Him to show you what they are. He may not show you everything right away. But He will give you glimpses. You can chose to see good in things or the bad in them. Life is much better if you can find the good in each situation. Hang on to those good things. And let God handle the bad ones. Take it all to Him.

Until next time...blessings to you. 

Desires Of Your Heart

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Do you know the verse? What do you think it means? What has it come to mean to you? I would love to share the insight the Lord gave me this morning on my daily run in the park. I have said many times that running has never been my thing. Whenever anyone mentioned running my automatic response has always been "I can't run". I honestly believed I couldn't. I was terrible at it in school and never realized that I could take it slowly and get better at it or even want to run.

Here is where this verse comes in. The Lord has created in me a desire to run. He has shown me that it is something I want to do and can get better at. Eleven weeks ago, God placed a new desire in my heart. It started as a little glimmer of an idea from a friend who said she was going to run in a 5K in February. All of a sudden, it sounded like an awesome idea. I wanted to do that. I looked up the Couch to 5K and found a treadmill version. I spend the next 9 weeks running on that treadmill at the pace they set forth for each of the three days a week. I even added a day or two each week from time to time. I didn't JUST run the three days a week that I had to on the plan but I even chose to run MORE than required. ME. Running. WOW! 

I have to say that running outside has really changed things in another way. I don't just want to run because it is what I am supposed to do because I signed up for the 5K already. It is something I get up extra early to do and even WANT to do. I have even added to the amount of time and distance that I am running. I use a new app that helps me keep up with it and I push myself because I know I can do it and feel wonderful afterwards. I have been running outside for two weeks now. 

Can I picture myself running a 10K? Before today, I couldn't. But since I ran 4 miles today, who says I can't up that and actually run 6 miles at some point? I CAN do it! I know if I keep running each week and increase my time little by little I can also add to my distance in the hour that I have to run. It has become a desire of my heart. 

As I was running this morning, a joy filled my heart as I listened to my worship music (I spend my run time worshiping the Lord every step of the way). I realized that HE put the joy in my heart to run, the desire. And I realized that when I decide ahead of time what I am going to do, I do it. On Wednesday, I decided before my run that I would run the whole 3 miles without stopping. Today, I decided before my run that I could run the extra two laps and run the 4 miles. I didn't let myself quit because I made the choice before I got out there. I even got up five minutes earlier so I would have extra time to run if I ran at a slower pace. I actually ran at a faster pace than the other times so I was able to complete the 4 miles in under an hour. 

It is my desire to become stronger and healthier so I can live a longer and better life with my family. I have changed the way I eat and changed the way I move. I am making small but long term changes in the way I live and how my body looks. I can't wait to get to the weight I am going to stay at. But that will not be the end of the road on this running journey. It will only be the beginning. Thanks for coming along on the ride with me and cheering me on. It means a lot. 

Changing my life, one day at a time. 

Our First Day of School 2008

Today we took longer than I had hoped to do school, in fact, we are still working on it right now and it is after 4 in the afternoon. But we took a long break, so that is fine. I am happy working with my kids a little here and there throughout their day.

My children have been working on memory verses throughout the summer. We decided that since they learned the Lords Prayer and the 23rd Psalm we needed to learn the Beatitudes. So they are taking one verse a week and they recite it everyday. Then the next week we add the next verse so they do two verses. It will keep going until they learn the whole thing. We also talk about what those verses mean as we go along. I love it! They are doing a great job. We are on the third verse this week.

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

Because the kingdom of heaven is their.

Blessed are those who mourn,

Because they will be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle,

Because they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

Because they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

Because they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

Because they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

Because they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness,

Because the kingdom of heaven is their.

Matthew 5:3-10

I was not trying to take pictures of the kids while they were working, we were too busy working! I don't know how many pictures I will take but will try to take them when we have something special going on, like a field trip or project. Please pray for our little school. God is showing me all sorts of things today and I am trying to be very still and know that He is God! I am getting more and more excited about this school year and where it will take us. Stay tuned for more home school details!!!

That is our progress report for today. Thanks for stopping by. 

He Speaks to Me

"I'm your servant, ready to listen."

1 Samuel 3:10

On Saturday, May 3 at my church we had a ladies spring luncheon. The theme was "He Speaks to Me". As you can see from above the verse is out of the book of 1 Samuel. We had a lovely morning of fellowship with one another and good food, salads from Sweet Tomatoes. I had never eaten there so it was nice to get to try it. One of the ladies sang a song and then we had our wonderful guest speaker, a dear friend of mine. She had many wonderful things to say about how God speaks to her. And advice on how to listen to God speaking to us straight from His Word.

The focus to her talk was John 14:15-26.

If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever, Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. Judas said unto Him, not Iscriot, Lord, How is it that thou wilt manifest theyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

She taught us a really neat trick to help us remember verse 20. She gave us three different size envelopes and one small bright colored square. She told us to take the largest envelope and write God on it. The second one we wrote Jesus on it. The smallest one we wrote our name on it and then we took the small square and wrote Jesus on that one, too. We put them all inside of one another smallest to largest. So It reminded us that Jesus is in God. We are in Jesus. And Jesus is in us. Isn't that a neat little trick to remember it? She had really cute decorated envelopes and told us that we could take ours and decorate them when we got home if we wanted to. She is such a crafty person! 

She also talked about the words in red in the Bible. We know they are Jesus' words. The whole Word of God is very special, no arguing that. But it really peaked my attention when she would refer over and over to the Words in Red being Christs' Words. The Words He spoke to His followers and to us, all of us from then to the day of His return. Wow! We are so fortunate to have His Word. Some do not have a Bible. I find that so sad. I try to make sure that all the children who ask for one, and any adults for that matter, have one if I know they do not.

Some of you may know and some may not know the struggles my family has been going through. As we have been seeking His will and guidance through it I have had to listen very carefully to what He was saying and the timing on that. When the doors were opened so quickly that I could hear God speaking through that. God is using this to bring our family closer and to work through so many things. I am excited to see what God is going to do through all of it.

So how do you hear God speaking to you? How do you speak to God? Prayer? Song? Through service? Through friends? If there is a certain way that God has spoken to you lately, please share it with me.

Until next time...blessings to you.