Life

Each step of life is a journey that you choose to walk.

Each moment of life is another line, sentence, paragraph and chapter of the book called your life.

Enjoy all that life has to offer, good friends, good food, good coffee and as always wisdom and a good laugh.

~Jen





10 December 2009

I have not been...

able to blog for the past couple of days. It sure seems like time has just flown by. There's been a lot of activity in our house over the past couple of days. My children have all bought presents from the school's Christmas store. I even gave them an "advance" on their allowances. I explained to them the dangers of borrowing money and that they need to spend wisely. I also expressed to each of them that I do not want a gift this year from them, instead I want them to think about giving a gift as a family, to either adopt a child through missions, or to support a mission family. That would be the greatest gift they could give me.

The more I think about my life, the more I realize that I am so blessed with an over abundance of just "stuff". Part of my goal for 2010 is to minimize the things that are in the my life, the stuff is really just not that important to me. I want to fix the septic, replace the carpet w/ different flooring so the kids allergies will minimize and really just save up for important things like college education.

The cars are paid for, the credit cards are now gone, so now it's just the mortgage and utilities. I am so glad for that. I just want to keep it as simple as possible and just live with what we have right now, not what we are "going to be getting". That is the mentality that has really gotten this country in a lot of trouble.

Today...has been a sol om day so far. Very grey and makes me want to snuggle in the bed and watch a good movie, but I know that is not going to happen. I have BNI today and my accountability meeting. Tonight I will be back at the Millhouse. The past 2 nights have been real good. I know that I only have 6 weeks left to work there so I am trying to make the best of it. I am using the tips for piano lessons, paint classes and the Atlanta Trip, but I do believe that things will continue to be ok once I am not there anymore. They are going to have to be, I need to be home for my children.

So that's it for the time being. Hoping to learn how to utilize this blog better, but I really am not sure how yet. I'll get it though. So until next time...

~Peace & Blessings~
Jen

07 December 2009

So what do you do...

when you know that you really need to simplify? I wish I had an answer for that questions, but I am still searching for it. I am really over stretched and my desire is to get all the unnecessary activities out of my life. It seems like I'm doing this all the time though. I know how I want my life to go...it's getting there that seems to be the challenge.

So what is my ideal day you may ask? Wake up, shower, dress, pray, read a chapter of my Bible. Eat breakfast w/ my kids, get them off to school and then go into work. Get the kids from school and then help them with their homework, and then if they are in an activity...take them...as a family...and enjoy that time together.

I want to have an hour a day to practice piano everyday and have a seamless worship practice every week. I would love to have no guilt when I feel happy and I would love to not feel like everything I am doing is an issue.

Maybe, one day, I will have that, but for now I now I need to complete the tasks set before me. I am going to continue to work p/t for a little while longer and I will work towards getting a keyboard or piano in the house so I can practice everyday & I am determined to do all that I can to help my children fulfill their dreams. And I have decided that no matter what may happen...I am going to continue to live to the best of my ability by God's word and Jesus' teachings.

Sometimes I dream of running off to the mission field and just living out my days preaching the Gospel....wherever He leads, I shall follow.

~Peace & Blessings~
Jen

05 December 2009

When it rains...

it pours! I mean that in every sense of that phrase. I had no time to blog at all yesterday. To start, I got a call from my mom to let me know that her car had died. We quickly came up with a plan "B" to get a things done, but only 1/2 of them did. I tried to drive her car after the battery was working again, but then there was a problem with the car not defrosting and then the car informs us that the coolant level was too low. We made it to the store and was informed by a very nice person that helped us that the temp gauge is stuck...that is what caused my Nissan to crack the engine so I told mom that I was driving her home and that I would drop off the 7' Christmas tree to the station and pick up the 5' tree for her office. So that was all I really got done the first part of the day.

I picked up the kids from school and quickly got them ready to go right back out the door. One to a friends house and the others to my moms...I drove all over the place! Off to work I went and no joke...it was a slammed night! There was an hour wait for tables...therefore I was very very busy with to-go orders. After that was all said and done I got talked into working tonight - TONIGHT!!!!

So here it is, after only a few hours of sleep, Saturday. The parade is in a couple of hours, I'm at the station to get the tree and take it to where we are putting the float together at and then off to the grocery store with mom (this is take 2) and rush home to put up groceries and go into work.

Now with all that said, Mike is meeting with his new "boss" to go over his new job. It's a 2nd job (for now) and it is taking over the festivals for the Halyard group. So I don't know how much longer I will be working @ The Millhouse. I'll know more by this evening. Off I go, time to leave and get ready for the rainy parade.

~Peace & Blessings~
Jen

03 December 2009

Thursday feels like...

you guessed it...Monday! This has been a week of Monday's for me and I'm not real sure why. I know that I have to get all the "stuff" out of my head and down so I don't feel so overwhelmed with details. So here it is.

Yesterday I was blessed, BLESSED with a suprise paycheck. God is so good. Then had a great Christmas lunch with all the staff of the station. I sure am blessed to be where I am. It was a crazy night at my part time job. I take care of Room Service and To-Go at the Millhouse, and it's a fun p/t job, but I know that it is coming to a close. Mike has taken a job offer to head the events and festivals for another resteraunt so that means that I will need to be home. Honestly I am glad...I miss tucking the kids in at night and I really want to just concentrate on the ministry at the station.

So today, I am so tired and it's hard to do a live show when I am not able to focus. I have so much that I need to plan out and make sure gets done, it's all swimming in my head. We have the Christmas parade this Saturday. I have to go get the tree after my BNI meeting today. I have my accountability meeting today - missed that last week - and lunch...have to eat. Not to mention all this has to be done by 2pm...otherwise I will be late picking up the kids. Haha...I am Superwoman!!! Not really. So I have to push some things back and around so I get it done. I am just hoping that I don't forget to do anything that is real important...I feel like I am. I know I still have to go and reregister my car. That needs to be done no later than Monday. I do believe it will be Monday by time I get to it. When can I slow down? Soon, I'm going to have to or I am going to blow up like fireworks on the Fourth of July! Ok...that is all I've got for now...busy busy and I feel a bit better now!

~Peace & Blessings~
Jen

01 December 2009

Today ended a chapter...

of my life that I am glad is over. I know that may sound a bit strange, but let me start by taking you back a couple of years. My husband and I have had a business from home. This was great and it allowed me to be a stay at home mom with our children. The business had been doing well during the housing boom and all though we weren't "rolling in the dough" we were able to be comfortable. As you well know the housing industry has all but come to a complete halt and with that, so has the drafting business.

With God at the wheel and knowing what was to come, I have been blessed to go back to work in my field of radio. I work for a Christian station and even though it was slow to begin with as I was getting back into the swing of things, I enjoyed going back to work. At the time, we did not need me to work, but the children were all in school and I need to stay busy...it's in my nature. Over the course of the two years as I said, our business has slowed down to the point of almost no income. Praise God I am doing well enough working again, but we still lost an ample supply of income. With that and a few minor house blow ups...eg...the septic tank, and few deaths in the family and some medical bills...our savings all but disappeared. So we had two options, loose the house, which was not behind, or file for bankruptcy. We decided for bankruptcy.

Today was our last court date and the weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders is great! I don't recommend going through such an ordeal, but for us it was the best option. Now the question remains, what now? To that I have no real answer. Things are still a bit shaky and we have to readjust our budget and continue to scale back, but we are standing firm in knowing that God is in complete control. I have the greatest friends who have prayed for us, for me, and have encouraged us as we have gone through such a terrible spell. All of this reminds me of one saying that keeps playing again over and over in my mind...You can't know the mountain top without knowing the valley.

I am very encouraged right now. I have the best boss in my general manager and I have great co-workers who know what has been going on. I shared very little with others as to the fact that I much rather share the victory and not the struggle of battle. It is a battle. I am still in that battle. I know that I shall win, but on the dark days even I get a little unhinged.

So that was the big event of the day...everything else was fairly calm. I got to talk with a friend from Okinawa that I have not talked with in years and it was so good to just talk and catch up. One of my most favorite things to do is keep up with people that I have met in life and see how God is working in their lives.

So that is that and I hope that I sleep well tonight. I am still sitting at the book store, trying to work out my thoughts and praying that tomorrow will be a better day than today.

~Peace & Blessings~
Jen