Living Today

Do you ever get lost in tomorrow? Do you ever catch yourself living for tomorrow and what you hope to have? I have to admit I have done that for the past 8 years, if not longer. It has robbed me of the joy of today. Not completely but I can look back and see how it did effect my daily life.

In 2003 we started "dreaming" of moving to Colorado. Other people move where they want to live so why not us? Surely we could find work there just as easily as here. We spend years looking for work, applying for jobs, even looking for homes. We went as far as to purchase land in Colorado with hopes of building a house on it someday. A friend drew up plans for that dream home. We lost that land to the bank after paying on it for 5 years. We kept the house plans and maybe someday... 

In 2009 we started down a path of discovery in the mission field overseas. We became excited to find the people group we were to GO to and live among. We began to dream and plan how that would be and what we would need to do so that our children would flourish. We began training for ourselves and our children to prepare us. Doors opened for training and for a huge trip across the world. We fell in love with the people there and the idea of living there and working to help them have water and a better understanding of Jesus' love. Then the doors began to close. Our hearts are willing should the doors open. Maybe someday...

But what about the here and now? Do you know some of the things that I did because of those dreams? I didn't put pictures up in the hall of my children. It seemed like such an effort for something that I was going to have to take down and pack away. I stopped paying attention to making my home better in little ways so I would enjoy it more. There are things I want to do in my kitchen that are small things but it would look so much nicer. I stopped planning things for the long term HERE. I just kept thinking "we might not be HERE for that". I have packed away my Christmas things more than once thinking "I need to pack these well so they will travel safely" instead of just packing them for the season and knowing I would get them out again in the same house. I have NOT gotten out my fall decorations for years because it just seemed like too much effort. (I have missed my fall angels.) 

I am so done living life this way! I am going to enjoy my life TODAY and let tomorrow come as it may. I am going to enjoy each season to the fullest. I am going to do the things with my family that are fun and make memories to last a lifetime. I am going to focus on doing little things each day to make THIS house a better home for our family. And if the time comes we have the money to build our home or buy a new one that is in a better location in Arlington, then I will be excited and work hard to make that the best it can be. (If we stay in Texas, Arlington seems to be where our family is going to live.) IF one day the doors open up to move to Colorado, we will make that move with excitement. IF one day the doors open up to move across the world to drill water wells and share Jesus with others, we will go with excitement! But no more living for tomorrow. I am living life TODAY and enjoying it. 

The birds are singing loudly outside as the breeze blows through the trees. The sun is shinning and the air is cool. God has blessed me with so much; a home, a wonderful husband, four great kids, some "adopted" kids whom I love as much as my own, grandparents who loved me enough to raise me when my own parents weren't able, sisters (and a brother who is now in Heaven, I pray) who though I didn't grow up with them was allowed to "find" them and have them in my life, other family members who I love dearly, a wonderful family in the faith, and lots and lots of great friends all over the world. I am so blessed beyond imagination. And God continues to bless me daily. Yes, there are the downs in my life, I have had many. But Jesus has carried me through them all. I trust Him to continue to do that throughout my life here on Earth. And when it is all said and done, I will live forever with Him in that heavenly place He has prepared for me. My prayer is that all of those who have touched my life will be there with me. 

Until next time...blessings to you!

At Year's End 2009

November was filled with lots to be thankful for, including a wonderful Thanksgiving day with all of my kids here, even if it was only half the day. That is such a blessing, to have us together for the holidays. I intended to make a list of what I was thankful for, but time got away from me. The kids did do some nice things for a few of our neighbors as a "Thanksgiving" gift. They raked and bagged their leaves for free. The ladies were so grateful and tried to pay them but they told them it was a gift to them. I am a proud mom!

December was filled with lots of "Christmas" happenings. It snowed three times and stuck twice!!!! YES, in Texas! Hard to believe, I know. But God blessed us with a white Christmas in Texas! We spent December baking goodies for others instead of buying things. We also had a "small" material Christmas. I had told the kids last year that this Christmas would be much smaller in that sense than all the other ones they had ever known. I am a huge over spender when it comes to gifts because I just want my kids to have it all! They DON'T NEED it all! After being a mom for almost 23 years I finally get it! Each child (plus each parent, yes it included us) got one gift around $50. They also got one gift from their older sister and then one from the two siblings they live with. So three gifts per person. (Plus, we put some small stuff in the stockings. My kids know the stockings are from us but we still like to pretend). I also got several movies sets for very low price to put in a box for everyone to open. We don't have cable or even TV without the use of a DVD or the Wii hooked up. And believe it or not, it was one of the very best Christmas' that we have ever had. I am so glad that I allowed the Spirit to guide me in this direction. We focused more on giving and more on Christ than ourselves, as it should be.

The year was filled with so many blessings that I am not sure I could even count them. God has been so good to us. Even through all the little things that didn't seem so good He brought good out of them.

I have many changes going on for 2010. I will go into that in another post. But just know they are major changes and it is quite a shock to a certain extent. But I am hanging on tight to HIM and waiting to see where He takes me on this journey in 2010! What an adventure life is with Him. May you all have a wonderful 2010. May you grow closer to Christ daily. 

Until next time...blessings to you.

Mother/Daughter Day In Colorado

We had a wonderful Mother/Daughter day with our friends, Michelle and Caroline. We had been planning it for months since I told her we were coming for the fourth of July weekend. We watched the fireworks with our friends, the Hillman's, like we did last year. Then on Saturday, July 5th we went on a Mother/Daughter picture and fun day. (We ended up taking Michael with us but that ended up OK) The guys went fishing and had a good time.

We wanted to take some mother and daughter pictures since we are both nuts about pictures. I think we both got some really great ones. I love this one of Jenni and me. She is such a special little girl and I am glad we were able to capture this moment in time. I am going to put some of them in a special frame when I get the time and find the right frame.

Michelle and Caroline got some really good ones, too. It was so much fun spending the day together in the mountains. She took us to a small mountain town and we looked in the shops and ate pizza and ice cream. We went to the mall after that to shop and eat dinner. The kids rode the carousel.

Of course, the girls had to get their pictures done together. They were always right next to each other so it wasn't hard to snap quite a few pictures of them. They had such a great time together on our trip.

We "big" girls had to have some fun, too! Jenni did a great job of taking pictures of us! I got both of us a frame that says friends and holds two pictures. So we are putting these two pictures in those frames. That worked out perfectly!

Our day was a blast and I am so grateful that God sent this precious friend into my life. He is so good and knows who and what we need all the time. I love you, Michelle! You are the best ever! Thanks for always being there for me!

Until next time...blessings to you.

Thankful Thursday

I love to do the Thankful Thursday's because it really gives me a time to sit down and think about all the wonderful things the Lord has blessed me with. Even the things that seem so small are such huge blessings in our lives.

I am thankful that I have security in the Lord Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation in Heaven with Him and that He is here with me each moment of each day to help me through all the challenging things that come my way. And with four children those challenges come quite often.

I am thankful for the Godly husband the Lord gave me and for the direction He is leading him in right now. I think it is so exciting to see him entering the seminary and ready to see where that will take him on his Christian walk and as he seeks to reach others for Christ.

I am thankful for Sami and how I see her growing into a competent young woman on her own and how she has overcome so many things that could have left her weak but she is allowing God to make her strong through them.

I am thankful for Nick and his music gift that God has given him. He can sit down and play very hard things on the piano after hearing them and printing off the sheet music. He is working on developing his singing abilities and has picked up a new instrument, the bass guitar (which his dad plays as well) and has already learned a very difficult song in a week. He is trying out for the youth worship band this weekend and I am excited to see what God is going to do with him and his music!

I am thankful for JC and his loving heart. He is a climber and loves to play games and do science experiments. He is getting so tall and more handsome every day. I know I am going to have some girl problems when he gets older!

I am thankful for Jenni, my last "baby". She is such a sweet and beautiful little girl, inside and out. She loves to wear pretty clothes and fix her hair. She loves to wear jewelry and lip gloss and dresses. Her favorite shoes are her black boots! She is always ready to climb into my lap or her dads for hugs.

I am thankful for the church family we are a part of and the wonderful summer music day camp the kids are attending there this week. It is a blessing to have that and to have had this family for over 20 years. What a blessing.

I am thankful for Mission Arlington, the mission we work through. I am thankful for the children and families we reach through them in our apartment ministry on Sunday mornings. Our group has grown so much that we even have a room full of youth. God is good to provide who we are to reach when we are willing to do the work.

I am thankful for the home we live in and the room we have in it. It is an older house and yes, I would much rather have a house in Colorado but I know we will in time.

I am thankful for my home based business, my daycare, and the children and families that are a part of it. The daycare allows me to be home for my family and do the things I need to do. The children bring joy to my heart as I teach them and love them. My children have learned so much helping with them and they love them as much as I do. The friendships I have made with the parents is priceless!

I am thankful for the new van we purchased this year so that I would have enough room to get places with all the many children the Lord has provided through the daycare. We have enjoyed taking it on trips!

I am thankful that the Lord is providing new kids for the daycare to help speed up the pay off of debt that we so desire to do. We want to be in His Will in all things and debt free is a big one. We know that will free us up to serve Him in whatever way or place he has planned for us.

I am thankful for the dream that the Lord has placed on our hearts to move to Colorado and the land He provided to do it on. I am so excited to see what blessings the Lord will bestow once we get there because I know His blessings are much more than we can ever imagine on our own.

I know this list could be even bigger but I have to get on with my day sometime. May you receive a blessing today!

Until next time...blessings to you.

What's My "Job"?

Do you ever ask yourself that question? As a stay-at-home mom who also runs a business out of my home I sometimes can get caught up in the worlds way of looking at things. I don't know how many other moms have that happen but I can't imagine that I am the only one.

In my quest to honor my husband one of the things that has been brought to my attention is the house and laundry. I know my husband feels proud and happy when the house is clean and organized so that he can find things when he is looking for them. So I have been praying for the desire to get things done and the energy to do so.

When we went to a marriage retreat last March I purchased a few books. There are always so many great books for help and encouragement with marriage, parenting and other great topics. The one I picked up today that I have been reading through in little bits is Celebrate Home, Encouragement and Tips for Stay-At-Home Parents. It talks about going from a job outside the home to the one in the home. And how it is a calling as well as a job. I agree with that, although sometimes I have forgotten that it was true. Shame on me.

Today I opened the book up to Chapter 5 Your Agenda: A Stay-At-Home Mom's Daily Duties", page 134. The title of the section was Cleaning House: Do I Really Have To? Boy did that catch my attention. Of course, I knew the answer was yes. She put some scripture verses in a section about doing the work but not liking it attitude. They really spoke to me. I would like to share them with you.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23

She mentions that it doesn't say "whatever you do that you really like to do." That is very true. I never looked at it like that before. Really makes you think about it.

"God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7

She mentions that we are "giving" continually as homemakers. Giving of our time, talents and energy. More than we care to think about, at times. As a mom we have committed to so many jobs and as people say "we wear so many hats". It can be very tiring. And sometimes we are not the least bit cheerful.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing." Philippians 2:14

She mentions that again it isn't "do just the fun things without grumbling or disputing." And that even though we try so hard to teach our children to do things we ask cheerfully we don't always set the best example. How many times do we gripe because of the chores we have to do, the laundry that has piled up or the lack of help with any and/or all of the chores that we have to do? I know I have been guilty many times.

So if I can give these things to the Lord and admit that I fall sadly short in this area and take the steps that the book says I should take to get a grip on it : Organize, create a workable plan and delegate, then I know that God will be faithful to bless my efforts.

It does talk about how we are to not sacrifice our time with our babies when they need rocking and read stories while they want to be read to. We need a healthy balance. We just need for things to be workable and orderly for us.

"Let everything be done in a fitting and orderly manner." 1 Corinthians 14:40

So even though I can't do things perfectly the Bible does encourage me to find a fitting and orderly way of doing things. So as my days go by I am going to work towards a goal of finding a way of doing things that will line up with what Scripture instructs me to do. I know I have so many goals but they all seem to point to one big goal that each of them lead to: Bringing glory to God and pointing all successes to Him and reasons for getting up each day. The Bible teaches that "God's mercies are new each day." So we can rely on that. If we mess up one day then we can start over and begin again. We are to forget what was yesterday and face a new day with hope. I need to remind myself of that so often at times.

I hope that by my sharing what I have learned and am learning that it has encouraged someone else to keep their chin up and their eyes on Jesus. He is the only One that can give you the hope for each new day. Being a homemaker is a very important "job". One that the world has decided is beneath us and not worth our time. That is one of Satan's lies. Don't believe him. Chose to believe God's Words to us instead. They hold the key to true peace and happiness.

Until next time...blessings to you.