You Might Not Know That...

...fried onions are my caloric kryptonite.   I can eat a whole Costco bag of them like potato chips.
...I love to lay in the sun, not for the tan - although that's nice, but because it makes me feel good.
...I once put a boogie on every single one of my sister's dresser handles because I was mad at her.
...the preposterous things I say are to distract from someone else that I can tell is uncomfortable.
...I care very little what most people think of me.
...for all my outgoingness, I usually prefer to be alone or with just my family.

...putting puzzles together is one of my favorite past times.
...I have stacks of books all over my house waiting to be read.
....usually I keep two fans going every night to keep me cool.
...I can't stay awake for movies anymore.  I've reached "that age" and tiredness level.
...despite all my energy, most days I go to bed near tears I am so tired.

...I value nothing more than my relationship with the Lord, but I can become complacent in that.
...new adventures are my most favorite things, but that's next to my family of course.
...going on vacation for my birthday is the best gift ever.
...I can't conceive of ever not wanting to travel every corner of the world.
...I'll choose a new experience and unknown over a great thing I've already done every time.

...for all my outgoingness there are a million facets of me, I keep very close to my vest.
...I generally love people and think most everyone I have met is incredible in some way.
...seeing the good in life is a choice I hope I can make for the rest of mine.
...that most days seem very tiring, but when I look at my life it feels like a dream it is so good.
...I think I am doing okay at this thing called life.

Teach Them Young

I have learned that service is one of the highest and noblest ways to show love to God and to our fellow man.  It's become a major tenet of my life.  I find peace in serving even when things feel crazy, hectic, and overscheduled.  It also shows me how great my kids and husband are.

And even though it's usually me overextending myself, my husband and kids will step in 100 out of 100 times to help me.  So whether you teach your kids to serve their own family members, their friends, their community, schools, or church, teach them to serve.

The dividends are countless.

My Second Home Will Be My First Home

A month ago, I was praying.  This is something of a regular occurrence for me.   I was pouring my heart out to the Lord.  I was feeling like my life was in somewhat of a rut.  I was at a plateau in growth and as a Type “A” personality, I was feeling restless.  I told Heavenly Father I would do whatever he wanted to continue growing and progressing.  Heavenly Father answered me, which wasn’t a first for me and he spoke saying “Even move to Texas?”  I immediately burst into tears.  Well this wasn’t what I had been expecting or even considering and it was totally overwhelming.  I pondered on this throughout the day, wondering if we were really supposed to move to Texas or if I was just supposed to be willing to do the proverbial whatever and this really was asking a lot.  The more I thought on it, I really did think we were supposed to move to Texas.

Next time I saw Travis, I told him about my feelings.  He laughed at me and said well good thing I haven’t received any revelation like that.  I was a little surprised by his flippancy regarding this, but in my desire to not really move, I let it go.  This really wasn’t a decision I would want our family to make based on something only I was getting. 

Three weeks later Travis was in Texas helping his brother prep his land to build a home on.  Travis was telling me how much he was loving Texas and how much he was loving the work he was doing.  I was glad that he was having so much fun, but didn’t think much of it.  The next morning as I sat to pee, once again I heard God speak from heaven and ask “Are you willing to move to Texas?”  Having been this course before, I didn’t burst into tears, but my eyes started to water.  I stopped and asked, “Heavenly Father, am I really moving to Texas?”  My body shivered from top of my head to the tips of my toes?  “Seriously?!?!?” once again the feeling came.  I looked in the mirror right in front of me, searched deep into my eyes to do a reality check and asked one more time, “You want us to move to Texas?”  Shivers one last time.

That day I started dropping finding questions to my kids about living in Texas.  Travis was still in Texas and I called him and told him I was getting some serious revelation.  I wanted him to pray and ask God if there was something he should know or be doing?  He agreed to pray about it later.  The next day he called me and said that he had gotten some answers to his prayers.  Clearly I was dying to hear what is was and feeling relief that all of this didn’t rest on my shoulders.  He continued to share and he told me that God had told him that his wife was indeed getting revelation and that he needed to heed the revelation she was receiving.  He then asked so what is this revelation.  I took a deep breath and told him that I had been getting the feelings and words that we were supposed to move to Texas again.  More than being willing to but actually doing it.  He was a bit floored, we moved to other topics.  We hung up and that started the pattern for the next week.  Each morning I would wake up and the first thing would be the voice of God or telling me we were moving to Texas followed by shivers, my go to spiritual confirmation.

Instead of burdening Travis I got started.  I started looking into homes, school districts, neighborhoods, church boundaries.  Each day, Travis and I would check in.  By the time he got home we were pretty serious about this and decided to hold a family fast.  We told each of the kids what we were thinking and feeling and that we would like to hold the family fast.  We did and most of us got the same answer that we were to move.  This exercise has done more for each of the kids than I ever imagined.  Now when the sad days come and they do, they can remember how they felt and it helps resolve their concerns. 

So how are we doing, well I tell people mostly we are 70% excited and happy for a new adventure, 15% sad to leave friends and family and 15% overwhelmed by all that we have to do.  There is comfort in doing what God tells you even if it seems like something dramatically different than what you had every imagined for yourself.  I know because something similar happened to us ten years ago to lead us here to Pennsylvania and I have had more joy and happiness than I ever imagined while living here.  So bring it on!