My Gift Is NOT...

God has blessed me with several gifts/talents.  I have the gift of hospitality.  It's fun to welcome people into my home.  I'm able to see and sense the needs of others.  God created me with the love of talking with people.  I don't meet a stranger, and I hate sitting in a quiet room. 

What I'm not so good at is public speaking.  It's so easy for me to sit around a table and chat it up with friends. But put me in a room with lots of people, and I feel nervous.  I have this desire to get to know all the people behind the faces staring at me.  I had words all planned out to say, and I've practiced those words over and over.  Then when I have all those faces looking at me, I find my mind going blank.  There will be a tiny moment of silence.  Mind my starts feeling the need to sing in that silence like ***la la la I forgoooot what I was gonna sayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.**  That mind struggle seems to create more awkward silence.  It's just an internal struggle!  I really do want to communicate my topic well....I really do.  It just does not happen.

Tonight did not go the way I had planned.  As I'm typing right now, I can think of things I was suppose to say, and I can think of things I wish I had left out while rambling.  It could have been worse, but it could have been better too. No more whining over "spilled words."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

What can I find positive out of my not so good speaking night?

* First humility. 

* I did learn some stuff while preparing.

* It's ok, to not be great at something.  I'm at peace that I will probably never speak before thousands of people. 

* My fabulous plan of getting my son to sleep on a couch in the lobby while I was speaking worked out perfectly (Have no fear, there were friends around to watch him sleep.  It just hard to get kids to fall asleep in different places sometimes)

* I will work on finding some more ways to practice speaking if I ever get asked to speak again (the asking thing is probably not very likely). 

* I can laugh at myself.  I find it "ok" to giggle at my awkwardness when I look back at the situation. 


* My makeup looked good tonight.  At least my face and words were not both flawed. 


* I can pray.  Lord, the over all result was not great, but please let parts stick with those girls.  Your Word is always amazing.   




Blogging always makes me feel better.  I have to deal with today so I do not carry over my burdens into tomorrow.  My favorite part in "Anne of Green Gables"  is when the teacher reminds Anne of tomorrow is a new day...leave no mistakes in it.  I can go to sleep now that I wrote how I feel.

Missing Him

Oh how I miss his face! 

 I miss his hugs!

I miss his voice!  And hopefully, only one more day until I get to hear him. 

ONE 

MORE 

DAY 

until Ryan is able to call home.

I want to hear he's safe. 

Then I want to hear every detail of his trip.

The other side of the world has become further away each day.

Now it's seem as if Africa is in another universe.

I want my man back in my world!

I'm ready for our family to be all together again!

It's been a great crazy long summer for all of us, but I'm ready for us to just be at home.

Home

with no place to go!

(well, maybe just for a little while)

Praying for safe travels for his team over the next couple of days.

Happy 50th Birthday Schiele Museum

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.  ~Vernon Howard

We celebrated with The Schiele Museum it's 50th birthday on Saturday. The celebration consisted of free admission, games, live animals, the Sun Drop Girl, a moon bounce, and several other special activities. It was a wonderful day!

When I ask Brody where he wants to go for a special outing, he will always request the museum.  He loves seeing and touching the many things at the Schiele Museum. His favorite new part is the live animal exhibit.  It is so sweet listening to him talking to the animals.  The Cave exhibit right now is pretty awesome too.  So if you're looking for a fun activity in Gastonia, Brody recommends a trip to the museum.  He will gladly share "his special place" with you.

Here a few pictures of the birthday bash!

They also had a live alligator to pet on Saturday.  Brody was so excited to touch a real one.  Plus the new live animal exhibit has a couple in it too.

The Cave

A puppet show

 

Change

Drinking coffee with Brody on the front porch

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.  ~Pauline R. Kezer

Change is the theme this week with our family.  Change is not always fun...in fact this week it's frustrating.  I'm missing my morning time with Brody.  Just looking at his sleepy face in the picture above holding his coffee cup makes me a little emotional.  Brody is missing his morning time with me too.  Before we left the house this morning he said, "I sick.  I just stay home with you today."  I put my brave face on with a big smile and told him what a great day he was going to have.  Poor kid is stressed out.  Last night he was a nervous wreck, and it was not easy comforting him.  Brody learning how to deal and cope with change with a new school and daily routine is going to be difficult.  However hard the struggle is, this is going to be a wonderful change one day.  Change always brings amazing gifts to our lives, but it's almost impossible to see those gifts while we are in the present.  I accept change.  I choose to embrace change.  I seek out the good things about the change.  And I will cry and laugh during this new season in our lives!  

Fruit salad for Brody's lunch

I'm learning how to be creative with Brody's lunch.  Please share any tips on how to make a kid's lunch fun.  I need to figure out some different meals so that he does not have to eat the same thing every week.

Brody eating pancakes in the car

Brody asked for a fo-hawk this week.  So I'm trying to learn how to do it.  It's also challenging to learn how to get him ready in such a short time period.  He has a few medications to take in the morning, and I'm trying my best to get it all done quickly.  Today however, he decided he did not want to do a breathing treatment for his allergies.  **SIGH**   Besides missing him, getting Brody ready for the day is the hardest change.

Redbud is bumper to bumper on both sides in the morning.

I'm also learning which way is the quickest route to Brody's school.  There are three ways to get to his school, but all three ways have us passing by other schools with their traffic.  We've been leaving 30 minutes before school starts to get there on time.  This means breakfast in the car for Brody.  He is not hungry when he first gets up so it's meals on the go for him.  

My new mop

My daily life routine was shattered when Brody started Kindergarten.  My personal change is having to create a new schedule for myself.  I'm going to create some new goals this week.  I'm one of those people who have to be working towards something.  I'm not sure what this something will be yet, but I'll blog about it when I do.   The one thing I do know is I will create a new cleaning schedule for our house.  


It's going to take some time to figure out how to deal with our new life changes.  It's ok to learn how to cope with change one day at a time.  The important thing is to keep rolling on the wheel of change whether you're on top or at the bottom!