Manners and Importance

There was a gentleman I waited on at Kohls.. older gentleman who had awesome manners, and somehow the conversation came up about how his teenage grandson was at the dinner table on his phone.

I told him i totally agree, that during meals, and during family time, we keep our devices put away as much as possible. We need to be in that moment with each other. To spend the time with people around us, and put "stuff" behind us. It can wait.

That also reminded me of a comment that was made to me this morning at church.. my girls were with friends and family, so they weren't at church with us. And when I went to the cafe to get a cookie, the lady asked me about my girls, and said "they are always so polite when they come up to get a cookie".
Thank you, God, for showing me how to raise my children, and I'm glad I'm choosing to follow the way He's leading me as a mom.

I don't want my girls to be the ones at the table with the phone in their face.
Sometimes i'll get a text or an alert when i'm at home making a meal or tending to something, and Jaz will want to bring me my phone.. I tell her "leave it there, i'll get to it when i get to it". They need to learn that other things are more important than to constantly stay connected to some form of electronic or media. I want to show them that by living it.

Wisdom

I am not wise.
It is God using my voice as a vessel to speak to those around me.
It is His wisdom that people hear.

I am merely His servant, and I have made the decision to listen to Him and offer myself to Him.

I Die Daily

Numbers

 I never realized how much of the numbers nerd I am.
 I always get a kick out of seeing 1234 on the clock.
 My daughters birthdays and weights intrigue me as well… Born 06, 07 and 08..  Weighing 5 pounds, 6 pounds, and 7 pounds.  And Jazzy was born on 1-6-06  at 1:16 AM .

 When I sort things at work, I like to see how much each box adds up to, and sometimes I will count my steps and other people's steps.
 I will even catch myself counting steps in movies.

 When I have a sale or refund, I think it's fun when something comes up to $3.33 or an even amount with no change..  I actually had someone's receipt the other day that was  and even dollar amount before and after-tax,  on the dot.
 Even drivers license numbers intrigue me.  Also sequences, like $151.51.

 I love closing at work, because I like to countdown the registers.

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 Sometimes I wonder if this has to do with genealogy… My maiden name, TenCate, means keeper of the books.  Unless it's just a happy coincidence :-)

Perspective

 I was at work last night, on Mother's Day, and I got a bit of perspective from a customer I was waiting on.

 She was bringing in a return and I asked how her Mother's Day was, she said "good but I had to work".
 I smiled and said "ha ha, me too" :-)

 It's like she had an Aha moment right in front of me, and she said "that's right, I'm sorry".

 I said "not at all, you're fine". :)

 I proceeded to tell her about the song that Jazmine wrote for me, and about the fact that my children had packed my lunch pail and I didn't know what was in it. LOL.  So I was even able to take Mother's Day with me to my job.

Kind of makes you think about what you say to people every day, and the fact that even though you don't think that you're complaining about life, or not realizing what you're actually saying about yourself and the people around you… Just kind of puts it into perspective, the things we should be more thankful for and how we should  be more grateful for all of the good moments in between our busyness.

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 What kind of perspective can you bring to the table?
 Is there something that you've run across that you would like to share? I would love to hear it.

Phillipians 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me"

this is my life verse.

I believe that anything God gives me a strength and a passion for, the drive for, that's what i'm meant to do.

when i was younger, i had a passion for cheerleading. i love every aspect of it.

then i grew into a passion for computer work, office work.

after that, when i started having a family of my own and needing to lean more on my home skills, i started having more of a passion for my sewing abilities, and to help other people learn about bettering our lives and our children's lives through ecofriendly products. so i made them and sold them and educated other people about them.

i believe now, my passion for customer service and health (both physical and mental), is leading me to a new stage in my life.
physical fitness and customer service as paid positions to help my family, while enjoying the "want" i have for them.

and because of the passions that God has instilled in me, and the personality that I have, no matter how hard it might be.. He will always strengthen me.

my love for children

i've really noticed that my love for children has played a huge part in my life.

from an early age, i helped out at church, be it in nursery or VBS (vacation bible school).

i babysat
i always wanted to be around kids, to care for them, to hug them, to make them laugh, to play with them, anything..

and now i'm taking that into parenting my own children.. and looking over the children who play in the park behind our house, as well. and keeping my eye out for neighbor kids.

and also as a missionary to Romania, my main focus there has been the kids.. loving on them, helping them in any way

i've also felt led to help in the church nursery lately, so i'll be taking that on starting next week.

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i truly believe this is one of the gifts God gave me. and i'm glad to use it in any way that i can

ready for change?

as some of you know, this year i've been feeling like this is going to be a big year of change. 

1. we finally have 2 years of business records on file for taxes, so we were able to get a bank approved loan for a potential home. 

2. we can actually start looking at a new home.. so we're just taking it slow, getting our feet wet, seeing what's out there. 

3. i've been working on getting my sewing business back to where it was a few years ago before the renovation here at the apartments we live in. (i had to close for 3 months, and that hurt pretty bad. i basically took a nose dive.)

4. i'm realizing that even though i LOVE my retail job, the floating hours, being on my feet a lot, and the need for a higher paycheck is leading me to check out the job market. so i'm also searching to see if there's another place God would rather have me be. 

5. i'm feeling the need to help in church again, but i'm not feeling led to use my voice on stage like i did for the first 30 years of my life. that part of me is still on hiatus, but i'm loving the fact that i can search the rest of my heart for other areas i can helpful. i've basically landed on the fact that my love for children/babies can be useful working in the nursery. 

so for me, for US (my family), this year looks like it's shaping up to be amazing and life-changing. 

God has been working in us over the past few years, helping us get back on our feet, learning humility, trust and strength that only comes from Him. so now, after being where we are for the past 6 years.. i believe it's time to move on and move up. 

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footnote: i generally don't like change, it takes me a while to get used to something new. but i actually feel ready for this. 

put us where you want/need us, God. you'll help me with that. you already have.