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I have this week off for spring break. I’m going to take this week to rest and recharge. I hope to see you back here in a week.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I had no internet last night and I simply am not capable of writing an entire post on my phone.😀 I hope to be back up and running on Friday.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy

My son is out of school for fall break so I’m taking the day off with him. See you soon.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

On October 1st, in Las Vegas, the largest mass shooting in U.S. history took place. Before the dust even settled, the politics started, ranging from some hateful words uttered by a lawyer at CBS, to immediate calls for gun control. There was also the mass media’s obsession with the why.

But, I don’t think that’s the most important story here. In a horrific shooting where 58 innocent people were ruthlessly killed and over 500 were injured, the accounts of the beautiful side of humanity are seemingly endless.

There is story after story of people risking their own lives to save others. There was a teenage girl who was shot in the leg and could not run. A stranger hoisted her over his shoulder and ran with her. He put her in a cab and she was taken to the hospital.

There was a firefighter from Seattle who went back into the crossfire over and over to lead people to safety. There was an IT guy who helped people over a fence and then directed people to triage for hours. He said he didn’t know how he did it. He had no training, but adrenaline took over, or was it something else?

There was a retired Marine who stole a truck to drive two loads of people to the hospital. There were also countless civilians who took bleeding strangers in their personal vehicles to the hospital. They just simply stopped and opened their doors.

There was a man in the Army Reserve who passed by an injured man lying in the back of a truck with a tourniquet on his leg. It was in the wrong place. He adjusted it and saved his life. Another man, when asked by a stranger, literally gave the shirt off of his back to be used as a wound dressing.

Then there were those who gave their own lives to save their loved ones. Many used their bodies as shields.

The next morning, when the sun came up, the citizens of Las Vegas stood in lines all over town to give their own blood for the victims who were complete strangers. One line stretched for blocks. Then there were the donated supplies, money, bottled water and blankets, so much so, that they stopped taking donations.

The firefighter from Seattle said the words that I have been unable to forget, “We all became one that night. I got to see one person at their worst, but I got to see humanity at its best.”

This is a tragedy that America will never forget. I pray that we also never forget the stories of ordinary people who became heroes at a moment’s notice when faced with the unthinkable.

They remind me of the people who have always made our country great. They remind me of who we are all called to be. They remind me of what unity looks like. They give me hope. They make me proud to be an American.

Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I will have family in town over the next few weeks and so I’m taking a break. I pray that you and your family have a wonderful 4th of July. I hope that we all take a little time to give thanks for this country that God has so richly blessed and ask Him for continued blessing and guidance. I hope to meet you back here soon.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Due to a painting project that I worked on with one of my teens and then a cooking project for a Spanish class, that I worked on with the other one, and the fact that one of the main ingredients for the cooking project, got inadvertently used by my hubby and required another trip to the grocery store, I had no time for a post today. But, I will say, that I’m grateful for my family and their varied interests. I’m also grateful that this school year is drawing to a close. While I’m utterly exhausted as I write this, I feel incredibly blessed. I pray that you find something on this day to make you feel grateful and blessed as well.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

My kids have today off for a winter break. I really have no idea why, but I’m super thankful for an extra day to spend with them. I’ve learned in my faith walk to just give thanks when blessings happen, even when they don’t make sense. I am taking the opportunity to soak up every moment with them, so I don’t have an official post today. I hope that you have a great day and that you seek to see God somewhere today and that you seek to show His love to others somewhere today. I hope to meet you back here soon.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Last weekend, we celebrated my mama’s 70th birthday. It was a weekend of surprises, laughter and fellowship. My sister flew in as a surprise. Mama had no idea she was coming. We all went in together on a gift. It was a pendant to replace one that she had loved, but lost a few years back.

We sat around the table on Saturday for hours, talking and laughing. We retold stories and shared new ones with each other.

I couldn’t help but remember that twelve years earlier, we had a very different scenario. She had received a breast cancer diagnosis at Thanksgiving and after two unsuccessful lumpectomies, she had a mastectomy right before Christmas.

It was a dark time that I don’t think about very much. I remember pleading with God to save her life. Cancer was such a scary diagnosis and I didn’t understand why it was happening to our family. I wanted desperately for my children to know their grandmother. I wanted to keep my mama.

My prayers were answered and her surgery was successful. But, the diagnosis changed her. She drew much closer to God during that time and remained there. She became much less of a worrier. She chose to let peace rule her heart and encouraged me to do the same whenever I was spending a lot of time worrying about something, especially something out of my control.

My babies were tiny at the time and I couldn’t be there to help like I wanted to. But, my sister took a month off from her job to come and help her as she healed. They also healed their relationship which at times had been rocky.

Since that time, my brother and sister have married wonderful people and my sister has added three more grandbabies to the fold. Mama was there for the birth of each one. My daddy retired and mama encouraged him to join her in attending church. He did and not long after, he found Jesus and was baptized shortly after. Now, they are very active in their church together.

On Saturday night, as we all sat together for dinner at a local restaurant and they were bringing our salads, Daddy had us all take each other’s hands and asked my daughter to say the blessing. I don’t know when I have ever felt so blessed.

Sometimes, when times are very dark, and we can see no light at the end of the tunnel, we wonder if we will even survive. We wonder why we are suffering. We wonder if God even hears us. Unfortunately, there are times when we don’t get those answers on this side of Heaven, but sometimes we do.

Sometimes, way down the road on the other side of the darkness, we are able to look back and see God at work in our pain and heartache. Sometimes we can see those dots get connected in the most miraculous ways that only He could achieve.

Those are the times that I have to stop and take a breath in awe of His plan and to say thanks with a stronger faith, remembering that He always has one, even when all seems lost.

A birthday celebration reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My kids have the next couple of weeks off and I’m blessed to have a job that allows me to be off right along with them. I’m going to take the time to soak up a lot of family time and rest and re-charge. I hope to meet you back here right after the first of the year. I pray that you and your people seek and find the true meaning of Christmas and have a very merry one. I hope that you have a fabulous new year too. See you next year!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The fabulous technology that allows me to post daily encouragement and reflections is also reliant on my internet connection which for some reason, refused to work on my laptop last night. Since I’m way over the age of 20, I simply can’t type an entire post on my phone. So, I hope to be up and running again tomorrow and I hope that you take some quiet time today and soak up some of the joy of Advent.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy:)