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Week one of my sabbatical was a complete blur.  It started out with the death of my beautiful niece Maelee Grace Sanchez.  She was born premature at twenty two weeks and was a fighter from day one. 

  She surprised the doctors and nurses with each passing day of her short life.  Sadly, she died on May 13^th 2017 from an infection.  Our family is heartbroken and completely devastated.  We take comfort in knowing that God will carry us through every storm in life. He will give us strength to make it.  We serve an awesome God.  Please continue to pray for my nephew Carlos, my niece Brandy, and all of our family.

The rest the week was consumed with wedding planning.  This was a first for Vera and me and let me tell you….it was crazy.  The wedding was beautiful and a huge success.  I am definitely glad that it is behind us now.  The three highs from the wedding are, escorting my beautiful daughter down the aisle, father-daughter dance, and we were truly amazed by all the people that helped make this event possible.  Vera and I will be forever grateful.

“Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”

– Thoreau

This is what I tell myself on days I don’t catch any fish. Fishing for trout is vastly different from fishing for bass (what I’ve done much more of recently) – flies smaller than my pinky fingernail disappear in moving water and easily spooked trout will turn their noses up at your offering if it’s not presented perfectly, or if it’s not the right color, or if the sun casts your shadow over them, or if you breathe too heavily…

I had a lot of rust to shake off, but I’m going to do better tomorrow; I can feel it!

It is COLD in Colorado at night… my mind thinks summer, but my numb toes this morning screamed winter! I’m about 9,000 feet above sea level, and there are stubborn patches of snow a mere stone’s throw from my campsite!

I spent time last night and this morning in the Word. I’m reading through Luke, and any time I read about angels appearing to people I chuckle. Not because it’s silly, but because every instance I can think of describes the sheer terror or the folks to whom the angel revealed himself. What creatures angels must be to make humans “like dead men” by just showing up.

I’m headed back up the mountain for another chilly night. Thankfully, I’ve got firewood and I brought lots of socks to layer!

I spent this past weekend in Houston with my mom and sister. It’s no fun being so far away from family members, especially when you’re as close-knit as we are. We spent all day Friday doing your typical girly things. We woke up early and went a class at a cycling studio. They definitely know how to make you sweat! After we got ready for the day, we went to the cutest little brunch restaurant. It was straight out of a dream! Despite the humidity (yuck), we sat outside and just enjoyed chatting and catching up. After brunch we went to visit the Menil Collection, which is fairly new art museum, got manicures and pedicures, and enjoyed a nice trip to the local Cat Café. I know you’re wondering, “What on earth is a Cat Café?!” And “Did I read that correctly?!” Yes, you did! Basically, cats are adopted from the Houston Humane Society and brought to the Cat Café. You pay a small entry fee and go into a cute little café that just happens to also have 12 cats in it. Now I know this sounds absolutely terrible to some people, but it is pretty wonderful to a cat/animal lover! The whole point is to get all of the cats adopted and taken to their forever homes. They’re really popular in foreign counties, especially Japan. I could honestly go on and on about the Cat Café (weird, I know), but I don’t want to sound too cat-ladyish. You can ask me about it next week if you’re interested. 🙂 Anyway, we did LOTS of girly things, and I loved every second of it.

My trip home was extended about 15 hours thanks to American Airlines. FYI, if your plane lands on time, but doesn’t de-board for another 30 minutes due to technical difficulties and you miss your connecting flight because of it, it’s your own fault and not American Airlines. So there I was, stuck in DFW at 10:00pm alone. Luckily, I have some really wonderful friends that live near the airport that let me stay with them, and it was super great to catch up with them. I caught the earliest flight out the next morning and am back in good ol’ Potosi. I have lots to catch up on this week before I fly out to Denver on Friday. Joe and I are going to enjoy a nice, long weekend in the mountains before the end of my sabbatical. I can’t wait to update you guys on how it goes!

It has been a little over three weeks since I started my Sabbatical and it has taken about this long for me not to think about what I have to do at work tomorrow. I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn’t going to work tomorrow. It finally started to sink in this last week and I can honestly say it felt calming and I felt relaxed. I felt bad for leaving people all my responsibilities but this last week I came to the realization that I needed to trust the people that took on my responsibilities and know that everything is going to be okay.

Trust has been a very big part of my Sabbatical. For instance, trusting my parents and in-laws to take care of Duke (my 3 week old son) while Christina and I went on a date! It felt so nice to actually have an adult conversation with Christina because those have been few and far between these past few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, Christina and I have been communicating a lot these past few weeks, but our conversations have usually consisted of wondering if Duke has a dirty diaper or when was the last time Duke ate? So, all that to say, we had a great time just the two of us and it was really nice to talk to Christina in a different setting. Now, back to this trusting my parents and in-laws thing. It’s so funny that we had somewhat of a hard time leaving him by himself with our parents. I’m pretty sure they raised us pretty well. I don’t think we should have anything to worry about. Yet, nevertheless, we still have to trust them with our son.

I can’t tell you how much I am thankful for my parents, siblings and in-laws for helping us out when we’ve needed a break or possibly just a nap. It makes me so happy and blessed to know that my family is there for Christina, Duke and I. Those little breaks that they’ve given us over the course of the last few weeks may seem like nothing to them but to us, they’ve been the best thing since the invention of sliced bread. I don’t know why God has blessed me with such great parents, in-laws, and siblings but He has and I am forever grateful.

Here is a quick update on the Dukemeister. He is slowly starting to sleep better and better at night. For the past few nights, we have been able to sleep about 4 hours in between his feedings which when that happens, we literally feel like we can conquer anything that next day. Yes, I will have to admit, the requirement of 8 hours of sleep is not exactly happening every night. But, it’s hard to blame my little bundle of joy for that! He is also growing and growing sooo fast! We are about to move out of newborn diapers and move into size 1 diapers. He is really starting to fill out and become a little “Michelin Man.” I think this will be the only time in his life that I am wanting him to get as fat as possible. The more rolls he has the better! Keep on eating like a champ buddy!

Last week, we also did Duke’s newborn pictures. We had Kelly Gilgenbach do Duke’s newborn pictures and Kelly really did an awesome job. If you need to do family photos, school pictures, newborn photos, wedding photos, maternity photos and pretty much any other type of photo, Kelly is the man for the job! He is incredible at creating lasting images that you will hold on to forever. Here are a couple of his photo shots for your viewing pleasure!

Talk soon!

As you can guess from the title of this blog… the first week of my sabbatical was very memorable. The 30 days started off with getting our 3 boys packed in the car and driving 14 hours from Abilene to Destin Florida. It was quite the adventure! From changing diapers to changing the overhead movie in the car, to getting hit in the back of the head with a sippy cup, we finally arrived at our destination. The beaches were absolutely perfect and to say the water was beautiful would be an understatement. We spent the next couple of days, swimming, building sand castles and playing bean bag toss with total strangers in the hot Florida sun. Even with 3 boys under the age of 5, it was pretty relaxing, but the fun didn’t stop there. It was on the 4th day that the excitement really began. My brother-in-law had informed me earlier that he wanted to catch a shark, but I really thought he might be joking…oh he wasn’t! We purchased about $200 worth of fishing gear (with our 7 day Florida fishing license) and once the sun had set, we headed out for the beach (isn’t it more fun to do dangerous things at night?) We had heard that most people shark fish by casting their line from the shore…. Not us, we got in a Kayak and headed out with the line, hook, weight and a bloody fish head and got out as far as we could and dropped it…then headed back to shore as fast as we could without tipping the Kayak over (we might have made the morning paper if that would have happened). Needless to say, after repeating the same process 3 times and 2 hours later, we caught us a bonafide reef shark! It was pretty exhilarating reeling him up to shore, and it was an experience i’ll never forget. (Don’t worry, we released the shark after catching him). The rest of the vacation was absolutely wonderful and i’m just so thankful and grateful for the opportunity to experience the Sabbatical. I have been reading the book “Not I but Christ” by Watchman Nee and to say that it has been transformative would be an understatement. I am extremely excited about continuing in the book and seeing what the Lord will reveal to me in the next 3 weeks.

-Aaron

Video of the Shark Catch is below:

My time on sabbatical has allowed me such good, quality family time. Since I just got married, there’s a lot of family bonding to do. Because I have a son, it’s not just about me and my new hubby, but it’s about the three of us learning to be a family. My time off work has allowed me to pick up Jackson everyday after school. The other day Jackson told me he loves all this extra time we’ve been getting to spend together. It breaks my heart that I don’t get to have all this time with him all the time, but I am forever thankful for this sabbatical, this gift.

Most of this first week has been spent doing some of the things I put off until I had my Sabbatical… Although, I am beginning to think I was optimistic about how long a month really is.

I had to get car/motorcycle/trailers inspected and registered on Wednesday and Thursday. I live in Tuscola. This took most of those two days. (I think I may have a ‘municipal gridlock’ theme going here)

Additionally, end of year school stuff and Rylee’s theater and dance rehearsals has us running all over town constantly. Add clearing out the garage, cutting the grass, getting groceries…  Sometimes I think I could make a full time job out of just the stuff I do in addition to work.

Lisa and I were both starting to become scared and frustrated as we watched this first week vanish instantly before our very eyes.

But then I realized something… Things were a little different. I had slept. I don’t usually do much of that, but I was at least getting some rest. And sure, I was crazy-busy running all of these errands and shuttling our daughter all over creation, but at least I could. I actually had the time. Just like participating in jury duty, I had the time to do the things I needed to do – without taking away from something else.

I believe that much of the stress that we feel is exponentially compounded by how it affects our other stressors. For example, going to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist causes me some degree of stress. Having to do it during business hours (because that’s when the dentist’s office is open) tends to compound that stress – exponentially. Having an unexpected volleyball game, and a client with an issue that needs my attention – even further compounded…. You get the idea.

All of that to say that I am finding peace in having the ability to be intentional and to be present while performing the tasks at hand. I am trying to avoid my natural behavior of trying to be more than one place at a time… trying.

I am hopeful that this will of use to me as I prepare for a very long week of work for my service project.

I’ve received numerous jury summons over the years – but for one reason or another, I have never actually gone. Not because I’ve shirked my civic responsibility, but it just never worked out… until day one of my Sabbatical.

I jokingly remarked on the timing; thinking, “That figures!” But, after giving it some thought, and remembering to allow myself to be where God and chance put me as a part of this Sabbatical process, I decided to embrace it.

I will spare you the details as I think that the only thing more boring than having endured this would be for you – as a reader of this blog, to hear me talk about it.

But, here are the highlights:

I ultimately was not selected – although that decision was not made until 2:30 that day with no lunch break…

The entire case was roughly/hypothetically laid before us in very general expression during the selection phase. If selected, we were to be sworn to abandon all logic and reason and render a decision based only on what was to be presented thereafter.

This was a murder case… My analytical side ablaze…

Now, those of you who know me know that I absolutely cannot sit still – ever. I guess I was sending body language to this effect and caught the prosecutor’s attention. He specifically and directly asked me (and I cannot recall the exact language he used) if I could, without reservation, render a decision given only the facts I was about to be presented. Upon thinking about it only briefly due to his somewhat rude prompting, I had to answer, “no”. Seven or eight other potential jurors had answered “yes”prior to me. I was the first “no”.

A hush fell over the courtroom (I always wanted to say that and have it mean something)…

I was not prepared to enter into what quickly should have become a brief debate with a professional litigator, so as not to be too disruptive to this process, I responded by simply saying, “You asked me a question. I gave you my answer.” He prodded further by grilling me in front of this group, “You mean to tell me…………” I don’t remember the rest. My angry ears don’t always hear so well – and I did not engage.

After that, several of the next few potential jurors were asked the very same question. There were now several “no’s”, and even more ranting from the state prosecutor until he shortly thereafter gave up this particular line of questions and moved on.

As I said, I was not selected. Part of me was a little bit angry for having this experience ruined by this guy. But, the larger part of me was just frustrated with my own inability to deal with the fact that so much of we do as participants in society – in being human, continues to be reduced to such a low common denominator by those in authority – only so that it can presumably be practiced and understood by one and all. I know it’s the greatest system in the world, but I left the experience… underwhelmed.

Underwhelmed… and thankful.

This morning I begin a journey to camp and fly fish in western Colorado – despite a few obstacles and some apprehension on my end!  I’m so grateful for the chance to spend some time alone with my Creator, in an environment where I often feel closest to Him.  I’m not sure I’ll ever get a chance to do something like this (on my own) again!

In advance of this trip, it was great to spend a weekend with the kiddos.  We (and by “we” I mean “I” – but the kids were good sports) volunteered to paint faces at the Baird Railhead Festival with Palette of Purpose, the art nonprofit I work with.

I painted SO many unicorns (including one on my daughter’s arm) and SO many ninja masks I went cross-eyed… but it was fun to talk to kids about art and make jokes about messing up the designs.  The look of terror on a kid’s face when he thinks I painted a unicorn instead of a dragon is pretty priceless.

Ciao from Rome!

A few months back, I was at the early stages of deciding where I wanted to go during my sabbatical time to get away. I initially was going to plan a trip to Europe (a few different counties) alone, as I didn’t know anyone that could take time off to accompany me for an extended period. A few weeks later I found out that some friends in Austin were actually planning somewhat of the same trip so we aligned our itineraries! This past week has been an exciting and culture filled week to say the least.

I started my week in Barcelona taking in so much of what this Spanish city had to offer. I was able to see and pray in Segrada Família, the chapel in Barcelona that has taken over 140 years to build and STILL is not complete, but will be finished in 2026 (talk about a long project!). Along with meeting interesting people from around the world, I’ve been able to create stronger relationships with some of the friends I came with on this trip. An awesome accomplishment was talking to my friend, Emily, about the meaning behind why we participate in Sabbaticals and how this is a time to strengthen your faith. She has joined me in my devotional and the time that I take in a day to give thanks and receive the message, it’s been truly powerful.

I am now in Rome trying to fit as much site-seeing as I can in a matter of two and a half days (HA!). One of the most memorable parts of Rome has been seeing the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and being able to stand in silence at Michelangelo’s magnificent creation inside. No pictures were allowed, which was great because in 2017 it gave everyone an excuse to stay off their phones even if it was just for 20 minutes.

One of the best lessons from Rome has been taking things slow and enjoying the moment. Meals here last a long time so that a meal is a social gathering, rather than eating in front of a television as fast as you can. The culture here is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered, full of love and hospitality. And yes, every meal is the best meal I’ve EVER had!!! I’m an Italian food fanatic.

We’re heading to Lisbon, Portugal this week and back to Barcelona to finish out the trip.

Bye for now!

I began my service project this week. I have been working with Meals On Wheels delivering meals and groceries to those in need. Having a nutritious meal each day is something I take for granted because I haven’t faced the obstacles many of these folks do. Most of the recipients of this service are elderly and simply cannot so for themselves like they once did. I was first introduced to this service through FDLIC. I love visiting with each of these people when I’m delivering. They are always so grateful and thankful. I believe God had called us as Christians to take care of others in need, especially giving respect to our elderly. And I am so thankful for the opportunity given to me to be able to do this for others. Still feels like I’m living in a dream. 🙂

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40

Hello, friends!

I cannot believe I have already been on sabbatical for over two weeks! I also can’t believe that I’m just now blogging! And that just means I have lots to talk about. 🙂

I spent my first few days just completely relaxing and taking it all in. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and I spent time each day on my porch swing with The Purpose Driven Life in hand. I am enjoying reading this book so much. It is really helping put some things into perspective for me.

On Friday, May 5^th I helped deliver for Meals on Wheels with Emily. It barely took us an hour to pick up and deliver the meals, yet the people who received the meals were so incredibly grateful. If you are ever on the fence about volunteering with Meals on Wheels, DO IT! It takes such a small piece of your time, and makes a pretty significant difference to others.

Last week I spent most of my afternoons and evenings at Camp Able. I had the pleasure of sitting down one afternoon with Renee, their founder. I could listen to her talk for HOURS. Seriously, y’all. This woman is amazing and easily one of the most passionate people I have ever met. She has, without a doubt, found her purpose in life and has changed so many lives in doing so. We had quite a few children come out to ride last week, and I was privileged with leading some of them on rides. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous leading horses around while small children were riding them, but I quickly overcame my anxiety! You can instantly see the children perk up and positively change their attitudes when they ride these horses. Equine therapy is a pretty magical and fascinating to experience. It was honestly even therapeutic for me! I even got to make some new [furry] friends. 🙂

This past weekend was all about celebrating my husband, Joe. He graduated with his MBA (hooray!) and also turned 30! We hosted some out-of-town friends and had a fantastic time attending Western Heritage, sharing memories, and just being thankful for Joe. We were also able to spend some great time with Joe’s mom for Mother’s Day. I didn’t get to see my mom, unfortunately, but I will get to see her this weekend! I’ll be flying down to Houston to spend some much-needed, quality time with my mom and sister. I cannot wait!

I have had such an amazing last couple of weeks. So much has been going on, and I am so thankful to say that I am still feeling rested!

Spent the weekend with my son for Mother’s Day. It was a tough weekend for my husband, we lost his mother last year. I’m looking forward to this week, tomorrow I set out to pick up my dad from Thornberry. He will spent the rest of the week with us at the lake. On the 19th we will be hanging out at the VFW for game day, a day for us to spend time helping and visiting with the elderly in our community. I can not tell a lie we will be spending some quality father daughter time fishing off the doc. It will be nice to hang out with dad, he has a hard time getting around these days but we have a golf cart here so we should be ok. I thank god that I have this time to spend with my family life is short but gods love is long. Father thank you for all you do, thank you for the fathers that teach us, the mothers that love us, and the soldiers that protect us, it is in your sons name we pray, amen!

Well…perhaps my vision of the service aspect of my project was a little ambitious.  Unlike those of God’s children who are suffering each day and available for us to help, helping grieving children and families is a little more indirect (at least what I’m trying to do).  The challenge I have had is that there are individuals involved that have schedules…and, often times their schedules are dictated by those who sign their checks.  Anyway, through several phone calls, meetings and emails, I do have some GOOD traction on providing publicity for Children’s Grief.  Rather than beat myself up over reaching the finish line with my service project prior to the end of my Sabbatical, I realize this will continue to be an ongoing project.  And, I’m very excited for the seeds I’ve planted and the potential to work with MN Bound and Due North outdoors.  This dedicated time I’ve had has really provided me with an opportunity to learn more about how to navigate through the media industry and I’m confident we’ll get there some day.

Last week I mentioned that I was going on a fishing trip with my dad…and, we went.  We traveled to and fished Devils Lake in North Dakota and the ‘Devil’ definitely wasn’t there.  It’s amazing how when you embrace the fact that God wants us to be happy and to enjoy each other, the devil is nowhere to be found, isn’t it?  Simple concept but incredibly powerful.  It was simply amazing for a couple of reasons.  First, the fishing was very good which generally isn’t the case.  However, us fishermen keep going in hopes we’ll have a trip like the one I enjoyed last week with my Dad.  Second, I really enjoyed spending time with my dad.  We talked about a lot of personal things and bonded in a way I didn’t think was possible.  Over the years, our differing opinions on MOST issues has really prevented us from gaining a deeper appreciation for each other.  My strategy?  Listen and leave the criticism at home.  With my guard down, our time together was so much more enjoyable.  And, I could tell he was in a better place as well.    BTW…just the 2 of us caught 35 Walleyes and over 100 northern pike in 2 days.  That’s pretty good fishing but they said the walleyes are only just starting to bite.  Here are some pics:

Notice in the picture with my Dad cleaning fish…the pan to his left.  Those are all walleye fillets.  We finished off the last day with some shore lunch.  Absolutely one of my favorite trips of all time!

Also have been spending a lot of time with Ben and Will (Ben mostly as he only has school 3 days a week) and helping coach Ben’s baseball team.  In exchange, Ben has been helping me with fixing and chores around the house.  And, in place of my exercise for several days I traded the treadmill for a landscaping project.  Believe me…the landscaping was much more rigorous.  Helpers pictured below including my dog Indy.

On a final note, I’ll end my Sabbatical with some pictures of my Daughter’s graduation day.  She and her long time boyfriend Adam graduated from the University of Minnesota Liberal Arts college and commencement was this past Sunday.  I’m so proud of those two and know they both have bright futures ahead.  Adam is an expert with video production and photography and Regan is much like her mom and excels with organization and event planning.  She starts next week at Life Source in Minneapolis part time to continue to build her skill set and resume.

I’m truly grateful for having had this Sabbatical opportunity.  I really have come a long way in a short period of time and really feel fresh, renewed and blessed (and a little sore from my landscaping).  The rest and reflection opportunity was something I just haven’t had time to consider in the past.  And, without the barrier of everyday business in my way, I’ve been able to learn a lot about myself, enhance relationships and establish a vision for me to work toward.  The book Wild at Heart is really a good book (Thanks for the referral., Todd) and I’m ready to start another.  Although I still probably prefer fixing carburetors over reading.

To those that are coming, I look forward to seeing you at MFDA convention next week.  For those who are not, hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to see you this summer either at the sales meeting or on a VIP trip.

God Bless!

Scott

Hello!!!

I feel like you’ve already found out a lot about my 2 week mini-sabbatical if you’ve been reading Kyle’s blogs. I did a lot of praying about a full sabbatical vs a mini-sabbatical. I just felt like I really needed to do a mini-sabbatical and I am very gracious I was able to take part of this. As you probably know, our first week was spent in Disney World with Kynlee. As cliche as it sounds, it really was “magical”. Disney World has their “stuff” figured out and they know how to treat people. I couldn’t get out of my “customer service” role and I appreciated their kindness and patience more than some people probably would. True customer service is rare and I’m proud to say we work at one of those rare places! This week at Disney World was something we will never forget!

While we were in Disney World my mom had called and told me that my Uncle Tom had decided to go on Hospice Care and was going to stop taking blood. He had Myleofibrosis and had been sick for several years. For the last several months he had to go get “new blood” every other day or he would be completely lethargic. My uncle passed away last Monday (a few days after we got back from Disney World). I had planned on doing Meals on Wheels the week we returned from Disney World but those plans changed. My mom was absolutely distraught over the loss of her older brother. My dad is 79 and was unable to attend the service which was in Houston. Kyle & I spent last week taking care of my mom before she left for Houston and stayed back and took care of dad while mom was gone. This was definitely unexpected but God knew what he was doing. It honestly couldn’t have happened in better timing (all God!). I had a week to devote to loving and caring for my parents and family and that is something I wouldn’t have normally been able to do. Uncle Tom’s service was recorded and was ABSOLUTELY the most beautiful service I have ever seen. He had preplanned everything (in the typical Tom fashion) and had a full choir in their robes, a trumpet player that played “The Lord’s Prayer” and a violin player that played “It Is Well”. He spent a huge part of his life serving South Main Baptist Church as their Minister of Administration and the place was packed with people that absolutely loved and adored him. Couldn’t have been more beautiful!

We have all heard that you don’t plan for your Sabbatical but the Lord will show you what you will be doing and that couldn’t have been more true! Thank you for this opportunity!!!

This week is all about family.

After finding out that the annual family beach trip was cancelled, we were saddened to say the least. However, as plans would have it, my Uncle graciously offered to let us stay in his house in California. The trick would be getting there. With less than a weeks worth of preparation, we set off on a 1600 mile adventure with a 10 month old in the back seat.

On the way, we were able to stop in the Mojave Desert and Joshua Tree National Park.

Two days and 25 hours later, we finally made it and I am writing this to you on the porch of a lovely cottage about a mile from some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

Even though this is not what we had originally planned, it was a great way to find a moment of peace and time to reflect on what God is doing in me and my family. It is also a great way to reconnect with my Uncle and spend time with him before his cancer treatment begins.

John Calvin, as quoted by Piper in Desiring God, says, “If God contains the fullness of all good things in himself like an inexhaustible fountain, nothing beyond him is to be sought by those who strike after the highest good and all the elements of happiness.”

There is great joy to be found in family trips, California, and seeing my son experience the ocean for the first time, but all of those pale in comparison to the immeasurable joy we can experience as we worship the Father. As Piper puts it: “Happiness in God is the end of all our seeking.”

One of the best things about this sabbatical is it allows for us to make time for the things we should always be making time for: seeking the face of the Father in everything that we do. My prayer is that when our sabbatical month is over and we return to “normal” that our lives would be anything but normal. Is it possible that our problem is not pleasure itself, but that our desire for pleasure is too weak? We settle for the short-lived pleasures (a new car, a vacation, television) and have lost sight of what it means to worship the eternal Father. May we use our sabbaticals to remind us of where our true desire can be found.

I am happy to say that my last 7 days have been spent relaxing, reading, and enjoying some rare one on one time with Kelsey. It has probably been close to a year since I have got to spend an entire week with my wife where it is just me and her. It was great!!  We went and played golf, which hasn’t happened in a few years, got to go to an early matinee, and even spent a few days walking around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, towards the end of the week Kelsey’s uncle passed away in Houston. He officiated our wedding and will truly be missed.

Now the hard part of my sabbatical begins…I have to be by myself. Kelsey goes back to work tomorrow and I can’t help but think what these next two weeks are going to look like. I’m almost halfway through my book “Marriage on the Rock” and I’m a bit indifferent so far. There have been some points that have been spot on for me and others I can’t quite grasp onto yet. I’m hoping to finish it by the end of next week.

I can’t wait to see what is in store for me over these next two weeks. I know that anything I plan will be thwarted by what God has in store for me. I’m just along for the ride.

Hint #2: I bet you thought I forgot about you all didn’t you? Well the key hides behind doors that have been owned by more than one. They lay beneath a ball of fun. 

**BONUS**

If you get this right and tell me the answer at kickball you will get a 3rd hint. What is brown and sticky?

Well people, I guess it’s back to reality for this gal. I spent last week getting ready for my big day. The week flew by, but it was all worth it. My wedding day was absolutely perfect and I’m a married woman now!

The day after the wedding Brad and I whisked away to Cozumel. We’ve spent the week touring the island, snorkeling, laying on the beach, and watching sunsets. It’s a rough life, but someone’s got to do it! 🙂

As I sit in this Mexican airport waiting for our flight, I am reminded of how good God is. He has done so many things in my life, especially over the past few years. I have the best job in the world, and I’m married to the most wonderful man. There is so much to be thankful for. I feel like I’m in a dream.

That’s right folks. My service project has been an ongoing service project my whole Sabbatical so far. That service project being changing diapers! In all honesty, I feel like I’ve never been more blessed than right now.

I’ve really been able to focus on spending good, quality time with my family and that’s all a brand new father could ask for. This Sabbatical has been exactly what I needed in this time of my life.

As far as what has been happening since my last post, well, not a whole lot. Christina and I have been just trying to get the hang of this “parenting” thing. I’ve heard it’s a work in progress. We’ve been trying to get out of the house at least once a day, though, to make sure the sun is still shining and what not. The good news is that Duke absolutely loves car rides!

This last week we went over to Christina’s parents house for Cinco de Mayo and that was a blast! It’s always fun to get together with family and drink margaritas! Don’t worry, we didn’t drink too many because, well, we have a baby to take home with us at night now. Over the next few days we spent time over at my parents’ house and also went to see my sister’s and brother-in-law’s new house too! My older sister, Amanda, has a two year old and he was finally able to meet Duke and they hit it off great! I mean Graham talked to Duke and Duke just sat there but I could definitely feel the love between those two cousins!

As much as I love talking about my son, I wanted to share with you all another interesting event that happened this week. Over the last few months, I have been training an 8th grade girl in track. She has been a lot of fun to coach and we are hopefully just starting our coach/athlete relationship. The reason I tell you this, is because last week, her dad called me and told me that last weekend, his step-dad passed away unexpectedly at the age of 64. He said they had no idea what to do after he passed and didn’t realize that there was so much that had to happen when someone passed away. How many times have we heard this in our profession?! So, he started asking me questions and wanting to know how to get his own plans in order. He and his wife are in their early 40’s but because of this traumatic experience, he wanted to get his plans in order so that his kids wouldn’t have to worry about doing the things he was having to do over the last few weeks for his step-dad.

It’s amazing how God works you guys. I started a relationship with this family a couple of months ago and because of the profession that I am in and since I have a license to sell preneed in the state of Texas, I was able to sit down and meet with them and share with them the importance of pre-planning. It all made sense to them once we had finished our conversation. He said, “Man, I wish I would’ve met with you about 3 weeks ago!” I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard of families having to go through a traumatic experience before they realize they need us and the funeral home. As sad as all of the traumatic experiences are, this is why I love being a part of this company and this industry. You see, we are able to impact so many lives with the work that we do every day. Regardless of what department you are in, you ALL play a role in helping families get through one of the worst days of their lives.

Anyways, I think my service project kind of changed after I started thinking about it. It went from dirty diapers to being able to serve this family with two priceless gifts that their family won’t hopefully be opening until many many years down the road. But one thing is for certain, when the family does have to open those two gifts, FDLIC and the funeral home will be able to give them peace of mind knowing that all their parents’ plans have already been taking care of because of a decision they made 40 years ago to prearrange and prefund their funerals with a preneed insurance policy through FDLIC.

God is awesome and I can’t thank Him enough for all the many blessings he has given my family and I.

Until next time FD family!

P.S. here are some more pictures to help you get through the Monday woes next week!

This past weekend my husband drove me to Oklahoma City for a birthday weekend with my family. We enjoyed hours of family time and on Saturday I shared a birthday party with my uncle. It was great food, great friends and family and the biggest surprise was my little sister driving down from South Carolina. It was a weekend I won’t soon forget.  Even if it was for a few days I felt like I was on top of the world.  It’s been amazing to spend that time with my son.  He doesn’t get to visit with family very often and that was a huge thing when I was growing up.  We all said we would try harder to make this happen.  So now we already have two visits planned within the next two months.

Psalm 55:14

We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of god  in the throng

Hello, friends!

Week one of my sabbatical is done and I’ve learned/been reminded of a couple things. The first is that I’m not as good at relaxing as I thought I was. The first couple of days of my sabbatical, I spent thinking about customers, admin work, and the people on my team. It’s difficult to change such a frequent weekly routine! The next lesson I was reminded of is that MY plan isn’t always God’s plan for me. After a full week, I can say that I’ve haven’t felt this peaceful in a very long time.

My week started with diving back into a daily devotional (Jesus Calling) and reading more about God’s intentions for me in this world. It has felt amazing, being that I have unfortunately failed at allotting much time to this lately. The love that God has for me and everyone (despite our flaws) never fails to leave me speechless, and motivate me to be more like the person He wants me to be.

I also made it back home to Abilene for a few days, which hasn’t happened since Christmas. I love the feeling of coming home after an extended period. The reason I went to Abilene was to spend time with my parents (long overdue) and to volunteer at a few places that I knew of in the community. The humbling visit was exactly what I needed at this point in my life.

I volunteered a few days this past week at the Food Bank of West Central Texas, helping the team there receive shipments, prep for outgoing deliveries, and organization of the stock. I can honestly say that before I actually started, I was hesitant to spend my time here because I had the preconceived idea that this wasn’t as important as other volunteer opportunities I could be partaking in. After a few days there, I realized that helping here was just as important as any other organization I could be giving my time at. This food bank serves a total of 13 counties and helps pantries all over west central Texas give food to people in need in their communities. I was directed by a lady here named Becky, and it was really great to see someone so passionate about what they do.

I also gave my time for a morning at Beltway Park Baptist Church. My dad volunteers most weeks here by helping prep and cook the Wednesday night dinners, and this week I asked if I could join. This was also very needed for me. Living in Austin now, I truly do miss the tranquil feeling of walking into Beltway and worshiping with my family. I was able to spend a few hours with my dad while also giving back to the church and lending a hand to prepare dinner for over 300 people.

I ended my week by traveling to Dallas and spending time with friends that I haven’t seen in quite some time, and even mended a relationship that I didn’t realize was strained in the process.

I plan to read the book, The Go-Giver, this week. I’ve heard great things about it from friends who have already read this. After this book, I plan to re-read a couple of books that I think it’s time to look back on from when I participated in the Leadership Development Academy. The books I read during that time positively impacted me and I think revisiting a few will help polish up my sales skills for post-sabbatical world.

I am so thankful and blessed to work for such a great company that allows me to participate in a sabbatical. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this month has in store for me.

After getting back home on Saturday, it was obvious we needed to take the next two days to recoup from our adventures last week. Kynlee needed to get back on her schedule and we needed to get back into a routine. Only problem is, I don’t know how to get in a routine that doesn’t involve work. Even as I’m writing this, it feels like I will be getting up at my normal time and stepping right back into my daily routine to get to work. It is going to feel strange in the morning when that doesn’t happen and even stranger when it doesn’t happen 23 more mornings. It is crazy how we crave routines and I’m excited to see what new routines I pick up over the next 23 days.  I will leave you with a fantastic quote I got from John Maxwell which is my inspiration for the coming days.

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”

– John C Maxwell

It has been a busy week! I spent my volunteer time with the Grace Museum working on whatever they wanted me to do. I had two main projects:

The first project was installing shelving in their children’s wing of the museum. They plan on using them to hold artwork and sculptures that children create while there. Dont worry, that is where they wanted them. 🙂

The second project (and much more time consuming) was to catalog book donations to the Grace. One donor had given her entire collection of 2000 books. I counted how many were paper back and hardcover. I also had to record the title, author, and illustrator of each book.

The week went by very quickly, but it was exciting to give back to a museum that I had grown up loving and spending so much time at.

In regards to my devotions, John Piper writes in his book Desiring God, “I know of no other way to triumph over sin long-term than by faith to die with Christ to our seductions, that is, to gain a distaste for them because of a superior satisfaction in God.”

My goal for this sabbatical is to rediscover the immense joy and delight that God brings to his children. It is not just the things He does that should bring us joy, but who he is. Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Our ultimate joy and pleasure is to be found in God and nothing else because it only makes sense. Why else would we seek fleeting satisfaction in anything else when God is allowing us to partake of eternal satisfaction in his presence? I am praying that God let this truth sink in and help me, and all of us, to begin living more like our joy is found in nothing else but to be in the presence of the Lord.

Wow, this week really flew by. I have had a terrific week and have enjoyed every minute of it. Tuesday and most of Wednesday I was going through the pictures I had taken and making sure the names on the markers aligned with my notes. I also needed to compile a list of pictures that I thought needed to be re-taken. I have learned I am not a great photographer but for the most part the pictures were good. Thursday and Friday Butch and Kim (sisters) took off work to help me and be a part of the project. A huge part might I add and a debt of gratitude is owed to them. Not only for taking off of work but for helping me now and in the future until the project is finished.

Thursday, Butch drove from Sonora, about 2 1/2 hours, arriving around noon. The three of us drove to Breckenridge first. We wanted to go to the courthouse to get a copy of the deed to the cemetery and see what other things we could scrounge up. In an earlier life Butch had done some land work thus knew more about what we needed to ask. So she took the lead on this. We soon learned she probably knew more than the very sweet young woman at the court house. However, while we were standing there, a landman named Lucas Knickerbocker, from Ft. Worth who happened to be working in the area, volunteered his time to help. He not only pulled out the county maps but also said we needed to go the abstract office and look for some records. He told  us they charged $150 an hour, minimum of 1 hour for us to do our own research. I was taken back a bit at that amount. He said he had about 45 minutes on his time left and he was more than willing to help us on his dime. So off we go to the abstract office where we were able to get a copy of the warranty deed that was done in 1909 and later another acre in 1983. He then suggested we try the tax appraisal office for assistance with other documents. As we thought, no disrespect intended, they were useless.

We continued our day by driving out to the cemetery to meet Mr. and Mrs. Cooke. They have a rough sketch of the new part of the cemetery. I do mean rough, basically a piece of paper with with crude squares and names written by hand. I can only imagine what the old part will look like as we have not seen it as yet. None the less it was already 3 pm and we had not even started on cleaning off markers and re-taking some of the pictures.

As we started down the rows, Kim was cleaning off the markers that were covered with dirt and grass. It only made good sense for this to be her job since she is only 4′ 10″ and was much closer to the ground! 🙂 Butch was in charge of going down the list telling us who was next and I was taking pictures. Sometimes we were standing hip to hip hats off shoulders reared back trying to block the sun. The term we were using was “I need a 2 butt block!” On we went row after row sometimes together and sometimes off on our own hummers reading markers and taking note of so many children and the numerous soldiers including one from the Civil War or better known in the South as the War of Northern Aggression.

Kim was down the row from us cutting back some overgrown lantanas and gladiolas that were blocking the name on the marker. All of sudden Kim starts screaming ” Help me, Help me, my foot is in the grave” I am doubled over laughing trying to run down there. She told me to quit laughing and help her. My reply was….as soon as I take your picture! She had literally fallen in a hole at the head of the grave. One leg was was in the ground up to her knee! It almost scared her into residency! Of course she was thinking snakes and I was thinking she missed a prime opportunity for a practical joke. The only other incident was I was viciously attacked by 1 of 3 things; a flying marauder with no buzz, a minuscule one fang snake or a very nasty spider with an attitude. No real lasting effects except for a small hole and about a 4 x 5″ red spot that is warm to the touch and really itches.
We later drove down the road a spell to where the original school building still sits. Of course over the years upgrades (no pun intended), have been done and it was used for a while as a community center. It is now in disrepair and is over grown with weeds. We decided to go ahead on the dirt road journey driving through Moran and on into Cisco; driving over the recently completed bridge that had been washed away not too long ago. We stopped down where the old Cisco pool use to be along with the old zoo and vacation cabins. I found it to be rather creepy. Butch was very disappointed in the shape of it. A funny note on Butch, her sight has never been her strongest sense and as she was taking pictures of the dilapidated old pool, she pointed to something dead on the ground. I ask her what she was pointing at. She said some kind of big bird that was dead. As we were driving away I stopped next to the offending object, rolling down my window to see. I turned to her and said “for the record, birds to not have long rat like tails. That is a dead opossum.” I may not remember what I went in to the room for, but I will not let her forget that.

Friday we started our morning talking with a gentleman from a company that has software which allows you to log the cemetery data complete with pictures, links and so forth. It is not cheap, but after talking with Miles we are willing to pay the cost.

The rest of the day was for us to just to shop and do whatever we wanted to do. There isn’t anything better than good quality sister time. My day was great.

Even though this project is far from complete it is well on it’s way and we will continue to push forward toward the goal.

It’s interesting how the daily Devotional “Starting your Day Right” by Joyce Meyer and Wild at Heart seem to fit so nicely together with what I’m experiencing (and have yet to experience) on my Sabbatical journey. I mean…why wouldn’t they tie together…they both exclusively leverage scripture to give credibility to the messages and lessons they offer. Todd Carlson recommended the book “Wild at Heart by John Eldredge” to me a few years ago and ‘not being a reader’, I never have read the book…’big mistake’. FD has always encouraged reading since I became employed in 2014. And, with each book study…I’ve always come away enlightened. It’s time to make this a habit. Depending on ‘who’ you ask, it takes anywhere from 21 to 66 days to form a habit. So far so good…12 days of reading each and every day…a Scott Tufto first! What’s really cool is that I actually am starting to crave my reading time each day…hmm…I would have never thought it.

Back to “Wild at Heart”…With the service aspect of my project heavily on my mind I had an epiphany yesterday while reading this book. You’d have to read it to understand, but John Eldredge talks about young men becoming ‘wounded’ at some point in their youth (usually from their fathers). Before you freak out by this, sometimes (most times I think), the wound is unintentional and mostly because of a hand-me-down learned behavior from previous generations of men.  Eldrege continues to explain that boys need to be ‘initiated’ into manhood and how many men today are living without having had this opportunity and therefore are wounded. And yes, a death, especially of a father figure, can cause a wound and cause all kinds of problems later in life. As Eldredge points out: masculinity is an essence that is passed from a father to a son. However, “the true essence of strength is passed to us from God through our union with him.” (BTW…ladies, this is a great read for women as well).  So, the initiation CAN happen through an experience with your father, however, if you are ready and you haven’t had your INITIATION yet, the LORD is ready and waiting to provide you with yours (explained well with ties to scripture in the book).

The light bulb illuminates! – Perhaps Eldredge is EXACTLY what some of our campers need which may also fit in with the CGC working on offering a Christian based program to help grieving families (I need to learn more about this).  Since the service aspect of my project is somewhat without specifics, the nature of it continues to evolve.  Since my last blog, I have connected with Leah McClean from KSTP (http://kstp.com/news/leah-mclean/4182251/) to spread the word on CGC (Children’s Grief Connection).  Also, I have a confirmed appointment with Bill Sherck from MN Bound/Due North Outdoors (http://www.ronscharaproductions.com/bill-sherck/).  So, with some good leads on the networking side in place, I felt a need to connect with Coral P. from CGC and share some of my revelations.  I asked Coral if there was any merit to expanding the CGC camp offerings to also include an outdoor/adventure type activity.  Boom…Coral has many connections with other organizations where she says hiking, camping, rafting, etc…types of activities have huge impacts and troubled youth.  So, what does this all mean?  Bill Sherck is an Eagle Scout, Survivalist and incredible story teller.  There might just be a great fit here between Bill, MN Bound and CGC.  Coral and I are planning on reconnecting and continuing our communication with the hope we can connect with someone who is the RIGHT fit to tell the CGC story and get more grieving families to our camps.

Regarding my Sabbatical…tomorrow I leave for a 3 day fishing trip with my Dad.  I’ve never been on a trip like this before with him and I’m really hopeful we can reconnect and create memories.  Other than my normal daily activities, this past week I have been consumed with spring activities such as tilling the garden, mowing the lawn, cleaning the garage, fertilizing, rebuilding 6 carburetors on the boat, and also taking Ben golfing on his days off from school.  Yesterday, my daughter Regan also joined Ben and me for golf and lunch.  Regan managed to get stung by a bee at the golf course but thank God she is not allergic.  Had it stung me, we may have had problems…Until next time!

God Bless!

Scott

Well, it’s official…we survived Disney World and we had an absolute blast. Today was our last day here and our last day at the park. We made it a point today to hit every ride and character visit we missed the first time through. Surprisingly, we actually missed a lot the first time through.

Today, we hit the bigger rides. We were trying to warm Kynlee up for the bigger rides by starting smaller but to my surprise she actually likes the big roller coasters the best. We finished off the day with the daily parade and one last ride on Big Thunder Mountain. We are all packed up and ready to make our way back to Abilene bright and early tomorrow morning. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again.

It’s so strange because I keep thinking I’ve got work on Monday and I can’t wait to see everybody. I have to keep reminding myself that I have 25 more days before that is a reality again. Next week is going to be some nice one on one time with Kelsey and I start my book “Marriage on the Rock”. It will be nice to slow things down for a little while.

My sabbatical has been over for a week now and I keep saying I have one last post to do. The good thing about doing the last post after I’ve come back is that I get to see how my time off has affected my “normal” life. I think back to when I first started and how worried I was that I would do it wrong. I think in one conversation with my Mom I said I was worried “I wouldn’t relax right.” Which as a serious Type A (really is there another kind?) seemed not only possible, but probable.
Looking back now, I didn’t do everything I thought I would do and I did some things that certainly weren’t on my list. My kitchen cabinets weren’t touched once (I’m stripping and refinishing them (for 2 years now)), bathroom remodel not completed, and many more projects are still in various stages of completion. But I did read The Blessed Life, went to a bible study here in Lawn with my mom, helped Diane at the food pantry, and had an awesome Mother/Daughter weekend in San Antonio.
I think having so much free time on your hands shows you who you really are when left to your own devices. I still kept a schedule, although not packed and with room to flow as needed. Having OTWH scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday gave me something to look forward to and still have nap time between the Tuesday shift. I still forgot to do my bible study homework a few times and might have been late a time or two to the pantry but I never got wound up or forget to be grateful.
I think that’s what has carried over into my normal life this week. How grateful I am to be able to do, work, play, spend, and give as I do. This Thursday I kept a promise I had made and stopped by Market Street on my way home to pick up this weeks donated items. I like the idea of staying in touch with my community this way. I had been praying that I would find some ministry that would need help this April and that I could continue to help them as I could through the rest of the year.
God calls us to be givers. “God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7. The word cheerful actually comes from the Greek word ‘hilaros’. It’s where we get the word hilarious from. I like thinking about being hilarious in my giving. Cheerful implies I smiled as a I gave, hilarious says I was laughing as I did so. Thinking back through the month spent with other volunteers, family, and friends I can definitely say that I laughed as I gave my time back to God.
I know a lot of ya’ll still have your sabbatical on the horizon. A word of advice? Don’t worry about what you will do, if it will be good enough, or if you will get it all done. Just sit back and laugh at what God is going to bring to you and what you will do for him.

Today was our “rest day” if you can call it that. We started the day sleeping in. Lord knows all 3 of us needed it. Once we got up, we headed down to the pool where we stayed until lunch time.

After lunch, we headed over to Disney Springs where Kynlee had an appointment at the Bippity Boppity Boitique. This is a place where she basically gets a princess makeover. She got her hair done like a princess and got makeup and her nails done. Once again she was in heaven and very adorable! One thing Disney is very good at is making you feel special. Everywhere we went after her makeover the employees would call her princess. Even the bus would announce to everyone that there was a princess on board. They definitely get the little things right!

Then, we headed to dinner and called it a night early, because we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow when we hit Magic Kingdom again.

Today started slow. We were definitely feeling the aftershocks from our adventures yesterday. Around 10 we finally made it to Animal Kingdom where we started it off with the only way you possibly could…with “It’s Tough to be a Bug”. This scared the crap out of Kynlee.

Throughout the day we made our way from ride to ride and capped it off with the Lion King show. At about 3 we called it quits and headed back to the resort for a quick nap before dinner.

For dinner, we headed back to Magic Kingdom and hopped on a boat to The Wilderness Lodge where we had dinner at The Whispering Canyon Cafe. This had to be one of the quirkiest places I have ever eaten at. There were a few oddities at this place. For instance, when we asked for ketchup they asked us if we wanted noisy ketchup. What we found out is when you want ketchup you have to yell “WE WANT THE KETCHUP!”. When that happens, whoever has the ketchup last gets up and brings you every bottle the restaurant has. This continues throughout the restaurant as tables want ketchup.

After dinner, we finished the night off by watching the fireworks from the boat. Tomorrow is a much needed rest day where we will spend the day by the pool.

I really thought “I can unplug, not think about work, no problem”…uh..problem. Took me a few days to not wake up and feel a like i was not suppose to be getting ready for work. Getting to work with our teams and the positive, forward motion we have experienced these last few weeks with reorganization and focus of serving our clients and each other is exciting. It made me want to do something with the energy that I had focused on work and continue the feeling of “pouring into people”…serving others. Little did I know my youngest sister needed someone, basically to talk to, sit and crochae a few dozen toboggans and share her fears, listen to her open up her heart to in a way she can’t with anyone else, like a sister. We have a few years between us and while my entire family is close, we haven’t talked like that in years.

I need to connect with her more. That was my first thought when I drove away from her house. Then I started praying for her and the Holy Spirit took it from there  “Who else do I need to connect with more”? The next morning I called my brother and we had dinner that evening. He was quiet at first and then asked me what’s up. I explained I was feeling a need to reconnect and not because of a family medical emergency or some other kind of need. He smiled and then we started sharing…laughing and reminding ourselves how to just be present in the moment. As I drove away smiling, I prayed and again felt the question…”who else do you need to connect with”.

I was staying with my parents during this time and that in itself was a blessing. My dad has had alzheimers for several years with slow progression. Here lately it seems he has struggled more. He faces away in conversations or start talking about some unrelated topic, only to return to the previous conversation later in the day. We walked down in the pasture to look at the new calves and talked about how 6 generations of our family had walked the same pasture and fields. It was a good walk and was over way to soon. Darkness kinda let us know we might need to head back. My visit with mom was good too and much needed. As I left there, I prayed and talked to God the rest of the way home. I again heard the question, “who else do you need go connect with”?

I thought the answer was easy, I thought it was God, so I started praying about that and I what I felt was, while more time with God is always needed, it was me. I need to connect with direction and decide where, and how, to balance where I spend my energy, my time – real quality time. My family has grown up and they are starting families of their own. So where do I plug in now? My granny was called home a few months ago and I decided my service project would be to help some of the older ladies at church who had voiced needs of some task they could no longer do. My preacher is working with me and I am very excited about what is to come starting this weekend. I’ve been reading a book by Max Lucado “Out Live Your Life”. .”..you were made to make a difference…” in at chapter 3 – Let God Unshell You”. Funny how God works in our life to bring us to where He is working in our lives. On a side note I am getting to spend some time with this little guy. Lane Isaiah Jones. Yaya time…priceless

Lane Isaiah Jones

Week 1 – Arrival of baby Duke!

Well friends, what a crazy first couple of days I have had! It all started when I got a text from Christina (my wife) during my presentation that Jeff and I were doing during the Shareholders’ meeting that she was being admitted into the hospital and that she would be induced in to labor early the next morning! I must say, it is very hard to describe the flood of emotions that came over me when I realized my son would be born within 24 hours. I couldn’t believe the time had finally come for Christina and I to become parents.

Sure enough, that next day April 26, 2017 at 1:14 pm, Duke Alexander Seale was born weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and stretching to 20 inches long. I know without a shadow of a doubt that there is a God and to anyone who doesn’t think there is a God, they have never experienced having a child! I’ve never felt the presence of God more than I did when I saw Duke born. It was such an overwhelming feeling and it will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. All I could think about was how much I love this little dude and how I would do anything to make sure my son had the best life possible. In the back of my mind I felt God say to me, “The love you have for your son is only a fraction of the love I have for you and yout son.” To think we have a Creator that loves us more than we can even think possible is mind-blowing. Needless to say, I am so in love with Duke and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for my family and our son.

Over the next couple of days, we had plenty of visitors and family stop by to see us at the hospital. We are so thankful and blessed to have an incredible support group that loves us and is there for us. Last Friday, we were released from the hospital and reality set in. We no longer could press a button and a nurse come in and let us know what to do with Duke. It is now up to us to figure out how to raise our son! I will say, that our first night at home was pretty rough. Our little bundle of joy cried from 9:30 at night until 5:00 in the morning almost constantly. Welcome to parenting! We have been pretty lucky overall though, because the next couple of nights, we were able to get around 4-6 hours of sleep. He’s doing so good and I’ve loved every minute that I’ve been able to spend with him. What an awesome blessing it is to work for a company that allows me to spend a whole month with my newborn son without having to go to work.

I know this time is going to go by fast but, I want to make sure and slow down and really embrace these next few weeks to soak it all in. For my Sabbatical, I will be focusing on spending time with my family and watching our son grow. I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting the minimum hours of sleep but my service project of caring for my son will be an ongoing service project! I will also be reading, “The Parables of Jesus: A Guide to Understanding and Applying the Stories Jesus Told” by R.T. Kendall. I’m really excited to see what the Lord will show me through this devotional. I will also be reading, “Making Vision Stick” by Andy Stanley.

I am excited to experience my Sabbatical during this incredible life-changing time in my life. I can’t wait to share with you all my experiences with little Duke! Here are some photos for you all to enjoy of him and my family until my next post!

-Drew

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

-Jeremiah 29:11

So…I can officially check off 15+ hours at a Disney theme park in one day off my bucket list. I also want to paint a picture for everybody. From hour 1 to hour 15 Kynlee was fully engaged. There was no “getting tired” and “falling asleep” in the stroller. No, this girl was wired from the word go. Just to make this even more clear, she ran sprints for a solid 45 minutes around hour 14 while we waited for fireworks.

The day started with breakfast at Cinderella’s castle where Kynlee got to meet 4 of her favorite princesses. She was in heaven! After breakfast, the planner in me started mapping out our entire day. Of course, I needed to lay off a bit and try winging it for a while.

We hit up our first FastPass and then the rain hit. Perfect opportunity to try out those ponchos we brought! Kept on moving through the park hitting all the rides that had smaller lines knowing whatever we don’t hit today we can hit on Friday. Finished the night off with one of the best firework shows I’ve ever seen.

Animal Kingdom tomorrow!

Hint #1: Roses are red, violets are blue my key is hidden where it’s dark and gloom

I turned left off of 183 onto CR 192 in Stephens CO. into a community that is but a distant memory. A gravel road lined with trees and a few scattered houses. Cows graze lazily in the pastures. Most days I would fly down the road, but not today. I am taking my time to look at the beauty around me. The scenery reminds me of my childhood. The grass still has some green to it as the summer sun has not yet turned it brown. I am on my way to Harpersville Cemetery. The land for this cemetery was was deeded to Stephens Co. by my great grand father John H. Harper in 1909. My grand parents are buried here as is mothers only sibling, a sister who died some 19 years before I was born. She was just shy of her 22nd birthday. Mother is also buried here. It has been almost 3 years and yet it seems like yesterday that we were watching Criminal Minds or CSI.

I’ve brought my lunch today and I have spread a quilt so that I can have lunch with mother. It is rare that I go anywhere by myself. Usually my sister Kim is with me or both sisters. Today, I am by myself.
My goal this week is to take a picture of each grave marker to be used on a website for this cemetery. With much help from my sisters we will build this site so that those that are researching ancestry have a place to browse. Some of the markers are just moss covered rock placed hastily as no money was available or time afforded for a proper marker. Many of the engravings have vanished with time and the lack of attention by a man shredding with a tractor. Before the land was deeded, people were buried here from wagons coming through in search of a better life.
I was able to get a picture of each marker. I will have to go back with some tools to cut back a tree and briers that have taken over one and to scrape dirt and weeds off of others.  I wonder what dreams some of them had. Many children are buried here. Was it an epidemic that swept through stealing their lives or was a snake bite the underlying cause? I will never know. I just know that they should not be forgotten or misplaced. If you have a good imagination like me then you can sit and listen as the birds sing and imagine those children playing, and the moms and dads going about their daily chores.

I only had a couple of incidents, a spider ran under my hand as I was attempting to brush a way dirt and grass. It’s body was surely as big as my big toe. I absolutely detest spiders. I was only stung by 3 fire ants after I riled up their mound. Did you know sunscreen will kill fire ants? And even though I had been watching very carefully for snakes since rattlers and copperheads tend to frequent the area, I did not notice until I was within 3 feet or less of not one but two snakes. Non poisonous variety, maybe prairie racers or coach whips. I am not sure as I did not ask for their identities. They were a minimum of 5 ft long each and were doing what I can only assume should have been done in the privacy of their home and not in the cemetery in broad day light. They scared the bejeezus right out of me. Luckily I was close to being done. I had spent 4 1/2 hours walking rows taking pictures, writing names, getting sun burned and visiting with mother.

What if I told you a trip to Disney World with a 4 year old could be stress free? Would you believe me? Would you think I’m out of my mind?

Today started at 4am. With our bags packed, our Magic Bands in hand and possibly the most excited 4 year old I’ve ever seen, we were off to the airport.  Before today even came, I had skepticism written all over my face. I mean will Disney really pick up our luggage for us and deliver it to our room? Will these Magic Bands that hold your room key, dinner reservations, FastPasses, park tickets and meal plan actually work? As we boarded the plane I immediately had thoughts running through my head like “What if our luggage didn’t make it? Since Disney was getting our luggage will they even tell us?”

Once we landed, all my fears and worries disappeared. We walked straight off the plane, straight onto Disney’s Magical Express where we were shuttled to our resort. When we got there, it was time to put these Magic Bands to the test. We walked over to the closest restaurant ordered some food and just placed our bands up to a sensor where everything worked perfectly. After eating, I got a text that our room was ready. This was test number two! We walked to our Little Mermaid room and once again the Magic Bands didn’t fail us. Got straight into the room and about an hour later our luggage showed up. Just looked clockwork!

After a short nap (to keep Kynlee happy and of course Sabbatical rules), we attempted to head down to the pool. Unfortunately, God decided we needed some rain so we scratched those plans and decided to head to Disney Springs to shop around before dinner.

Once we got to Disney Springs, we quickly realized that the best purchase we had made on this entire trip was the stroller rental for the week (also delivered to the room). We walked around for a couple hours before heading to dinner where we finished the night having some fantastic Cuban food. Again, only waving those magical bands that has our dining plan on it.

Disney has simplified this experience so much that the only thing you have to worry about is having fun. Tomorrow we adventure off to Magic Kingdom.

As you may have noticed there is nothing on my desk. I have hidden a key somewhere in there office. Let’s see who can find it first!

I began my Sabbatical jumping right in to my service projects. Wednesday I volunteered at On the Way Home Ministries. Kacey was there and she showed me the ropes. I helped restock the shopping area & help reorganize the storage area and got to visit with a few of the people that came in. I’m not sure if I brightened their day by our short visit, but I know they did mine. It was a somewhat slow day so in our down time we also worked on setting up computers for the classes they will be having for continuing education.

I also spent a few hours visiting with my mom while I was in town and feel very blessed to have the extra time in my schedule to do that. As I have read in a few other people’s blog it felt strange not to be going to work & took some significant effort to get my mind off the things I needed to get done at the office. I am about 1/3 of the way through one of my books I chose to read and am getting reinforcement to take time out of our busy life for the simple things. Thanks Kris!

Thursday & Friday I volunteered with Camp Able. On these days I not only helped with their tack room project of tearing down the old building to make room for the new one – but I got a ton of exercise too! (My back showed a little protest on Saturday from hauling the busted up concrete; but all well worth it!) The camp participants were so much fun to be around as their faces lit up just being outside with the horses. The trail rides gave us time to talk & get to know each other as well as giving me a good workout. This place has a wonderful impact on the children and I’m convinced all the horses there love them too; how they interact with each other is great!

We are fresh off our visit to Florida to visit relatives (and mix in a little fun for the boys). We spent a few days with Miki’s aunt in Nokomis, FL and my God parents at the Villages. Wow…great visit on many fronts. Miki’s aunt is a long time employee at a local golf club and has formed many deep relationships with the members there. However, with the death of her long time partner (Wally) a few years back, she remains alone. She has struggled with the uncertainty of an unstable employment situation and worries about what she will do if she is let go. For now, she has her heart set on staying in Florida but has thought about returning home to Minnesota at some point. Of course, we have opened our doors to her should she ever want to come home. The timing was right for us to visit and we are so blessed to have been able to be there for her last week.

With my God parents (and Aunt and Uncle), the visit was also VERY beneficial I think for both them and me. My aunt continues to receive cancer treatment and travels to Gainesville frequently for treatments. Considering what she is going through, she looks great and I made sure she knew it. My uncle continues to stay busy with golf, softball and pickleball which I think by design allows him to spend time away from my aunt. A little sad, but it has been that way since I can remember. What I didn’t know is how close my uncle and mom are to each other. They are the only 2 siblings from my grandma and grandpa who are both deceased. According to my uncle, he and my mom talk once a week by phone.

Anyway, we had great quality time with all and I feel so good to have spend time with all of them. For some reason the hugs felt much tighter this time around. All good.

A couple of days at Disney with my boys included visits to the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Both the boys were crazy about all of the Star Wars stuff and we were fortunate to spend a couple hundred bucks on a bunch of plastic light sabers, spray bottle fans and chicken nuggets. All good…with a lot of great memories to be had. Ben’s highlight of the trip was riding on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster. My highlight was exploring with Ben around the Port Orleans Riverside resort where we stayed.

We finished yesterday at Disney Springs and arrived back in Minneapolis just before midnight last night. Reflection time today will more than likely be a nap!

Next steps: Continued focus on my service project with new developments in my next blog.  Upcoming visits with my Mom and possibly a LONG awaited fishing trip with my Dad.

God Bless!

I must admit it’s VERY weird not being at work.  But, I’m starting to really grab hold of this and am starting to really understand the WHY behind the sabbatical.  Primarily, each day my mind is consumed with thoughts of work such as, pre-call prep for appointments, marketing, lead generation, prospecting, putting out fires, etc…you all know the drill.  These thoughts subside somewhat at night with family when we gather to eat but then creep back in prior to shutting it down for the night.  Now that I’m letting go of that, all kinds of new thoughts are coming in.  Primarily guided by the devotional and my reflection time.  I’m really starting to see there is so much more I can become if I just commit to it.  What a great opportunity I have and I’m going to make the most of it.

The first couple of days it has been difficult to not think about clients, so I immersed myself in reading and activities.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a day by day account of what I’ve been doing but since it’s only been 3 days…

Day 1:  I spent the entire day with my son Ben.  He is 5 years old and is in preschool part time.  Ordinarily on Monday he has school but not this time.  As Ben put it “Mom, today is Me and Dad time!”.  So, after my morning exercise and coffee, Ben and I went to the range to hit some golf balls and do some chipping and putting.  All that work made us hungry so…off to McDonalds.  From there, we went to Dick’s to shop for new batting gloves and a bat for Ben as he is starting baseball soon.  He’s only five, but will be in minor C which is the next step up from T-ball.  He hits the ball better if it is pitched to him than if it is on a tee (actually he’s VERY good at it).  However, he needs to work on his catching, throwing and fielding (He has time…he’s only 5).  Anyway, the day was awesome, and I can’t really recall having a whole day one on one with just Ben.  Pretty special.

Day 2:  The service component of my Sabbatical is something I’ve been thinking about and praying about probably since last year when we started preparing for the Sabbatical.  Yes, I’m very passionate about funeral service…and also very protective of it.  With Children’s Grief Connection in Minnesota, I’ve learned over the years how amazing funeral directors really are.  Of course coming from manufacturing and engineering, I was an outsider like most and was skeptical about the profession.  To make a long story short (very difficult for me to do) I have never met anyone as passionate and caring about people as are funeral directors.  And, when our industry receives publicity, it is generally negative…wrong body at a viewing, cremated the body and shouldn’t have, she didn’t look right, flowers were terrible, etc…the list goes on and on.  So, I’ll be working hard to educate and inform some of our local media outlets in the Minneapolis area on CGC and lift up our funeral director volunteers.  My ultimate goal is for someone to pick up the story, but If I can meet with as many as I can and educate them on our great organization, perhaps it will lead to something in the future.  Ultimately, story or not…I’m going to spread the good word.

So, this morning, I stopped in to talk with Bill Sherck from Due North Outdoors.  No commitment yet, but Bill is asking questions and considering how we could spin an outdoor element into doing a show about our CGC camp.  Also, I have reached out to a couple others at Kare 11 and WCCO in Minneapolis through networking connections.  We’ll see how that goes.  When I secure an appointment, I’m hoping to connect with Coral and have her joint me.

Today:  Thanks to my devotional, I walked out my door and had conversations with neighbors that I rarely ever talk to.  We live in a neighborhood of empty nesters and my perception is that we really don’t have much in common.  Nothing could be further from the truth…our lawns all look horrible from the winter, this spring has been way too cold, taxes are too high…yep, plenty in common.  Also, in the past I’ve somewhat been resentful of the fact that if we stay in this neighborhood long enough, my neighbors are going to need our help with more things…what?  I don’t have time to help myself…let alone…wait, stop…what am I thinking?  This is a great opportunity to help people!  The good Lord has put this right in my lap and I’ve been blind.  Blind no more…this is going to be an awesome next several weeks.  I’m hopeful to reach out and start planting seeds that I’m here to help and just hope and pray that my neighbors will welcome an extra hand.  More to come on this topic…

What’s next?  Off to Florida tomorrow.  Seeing Miki’s Aunt and going to see my God Parents (Aunt and Uncle).  My Aunt Donna has been battling cancer for the past year and it’s been a struggle.  I haven’t seen her or my uncle for over 5 years…I’m super excited to see them.  They send me a birthday card every year and haven’t missed one in 47 years.  I’m very grateful.  We’ll be in the Nakomis area for 3 days, then at the Villages north of Orlando and then off to Disney with Ben and Will for a couple of days.  Ben was at Disney when he was a baby, but doesn’t remember.  With Will 9 and Ben 5 years, they are at pretty good ages.

God Bless!

Scott

This week I took more time to relax, enjoy the gorgeous weather, and get ready for Easter.
Monday I tried out a new life group and had a blast hanging out with everyone. It is the first group that, instead of following after Pastor David’s sermon, started our own discusssion. It was interesting to see why everyone believed what they do about Christianity.
Tuesday I worked at OTWH again. It was busier than it had been last week. But with 4 people, we were able to have two walk people through and two restock the shelves. We had received 6 boxes from Market Street and Emma and I were able to get the boxes emptied and get the shelves restocked from the storeroom. At the end of the day, we had a lady stop by and ask for help for a guy in Abilene. He was young about 19 or 20 and when he had graduated high school and turned 18, his parents had left him behind when they moved and he has been struggling ever since. She said that he is struggling socially and survives off a can or two of vegetables a day. Everything he does is within walking distance from where is he staying, which makes doing everyday things (like going to the laundromat and getting groceries) difficult. Diane and I went through the pantry and pulled everything he would need for the week. In total I believe it was a little over 3 boxes worth of items we sent; including toilet paper, detergent, cereal, noodles, mac and cheese, all sorts of canned everything, and on and on. The lady also told us about a sale that would be happening the next day at HEB where everything was $1. She told us that HEB frequently did these sales to get rid of any overstock and it would be great way for us to stock up on some much needed items.
Which brings us to Wednesday. I got up early and headed out to HEB. I arrived at 8am and joined the queue. By the time it opened at 9 there was over 30 people in line with their baskets ready to go. Once the manager said ‘Go’ all 30 shot into the sale area and pandemonium began. Think Black Friday, but instead of TVs and video games it was giant folgers containers and shampoo for $1. Most were filling up their carts with with as much as they could hold. At check out time, everything was cash and all barcodes had to be marked through (to keep people from returning the items for more cash). I wound up getting three boxes full of our most needed items for $100, easily 5x less than what it would have been normally. I was able to get a before picture and one with the end of the queue, but no pictures of the chaos.

Wednesday was also the Passover meal at Beltway. I have been to the Passover before and I always enjoy going. For those that have never been I’ll give a brief description. The celebration is done at Beltway Church and everything is already laid out on the table. It’s a Jewish tradition to celebrate when they were liberated from slavery from the Egyptians. At Beltway, we also tie it to when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his desciples. We have a Jewish rabbi perform the Passover for us and much of it is in Hebrew. They do serve a supper and everything is explained as we go through the ceremony.
Thursday I finished handing out brochures about our STC cleanup Sunday April 23rd to those houses that were missed on Wednesday night. I finished the day off by working at OTWH that evening and packed and headed to Lake Brownwood to be with my family for Easter. We had a total of 24 at the lake even though we were missing 7.
I’ve spent the rest of the week and Easter at the lake. It’s been great to be able to relax and spend time with family. Hope everyone had a great Easter and is enjoying the rain and sunshine!

Read more…

It’s safe to say that God knew things were about to get messy, and my energy was supposed to be focused elsewhere.

Maybe Dog Update ♥

Maybe has now been to see the vet 7 times! The majority of my sabbatical has been spent caring for my pup and struggling through each night and day. She was on meds for her heart murmur that changed her completely. Bryan has been a wreck and we talked about taking her off of them so she would be the Maybe we know. After a visit to the vet, we found that her heart is not enlarged and were able to take her off one of the meds. Hours later she was acting so miserable and seemed as though her back legs were not working and hurt, so we had to take her to the emergency vet. This was the best appt we have ever had! Tests were run and we found that she was super dehydrated and still had some gastro weakness from her early problem. She was placed on a new diet, taken off of the med that was dehydrating her from her heart problem, and given antibiotics. Maybe was finally herself and things were on the mend. Fast forward to Monday afternoon, and she had a seizure in front of me (so scary). She had skull x-rays and testing done under anesthesia, and the problem is the way her liver is working. New meds, new diet (this is the 3rd change), no apparent side effects, and a happy puppy. Thank you for hanging in with me on so much talk of Maybe, but she has had so much of my energy lately, and always has my heart.

Helpers of Animals

My last post let you know about my upcoming volunteer work with the animal shelter, but things never worked out. The volunteer coordinator took an impromptu week off and the secretary had no clue if she was ever coming back to work. This had me panicked, but the Taylor Humane Society wanted help with the dogs they house. Playing with dogs is exhausting and way harder than it seems! I was concerned about how hard clean-up would be for my knees and back, but playing with the dogs is so much harder (and more fun)! The most rewarding thing has been spending time with the scared dogs, because when we get outside and they know they are okay, they only want to sit with me and press their tiny faces against mine. I’ve always respected people who work with animal rescues, but my volunteer work has taken that to a whole new level. The Taylor Humane Society always needs donations and people to adopt from them.

Rollerskating with 4th and 5th Graders

My team was recently contacted by an elementary teacher asking if a few of the players would come skate with her students. The students who read enough Bluebonnet books this year were rewarded with a trip to the Family Life Center for some rollerskating. They had a rollerskating party because the students of Texas voted the book Roller Girl as the best! Most of our team had to work, but a teammate took off and came with me to teach the kids about roller derby. They already knew so much about the sport because of the book – the author actually plays for Rose City out of Portland, Oregon (home to the #1 team in the world). We showed them fundamental stops and strategy, and had snacks with them while we learned about some other books.

Tomorrow, I am blessed to get back to the office! I am ready, I missed my friends and work.   I am so grateful to Kris and our Company for the gift of Sabbatical.  It has been nice to take a step back, relax and reset.  These 30 days of Sabbatical our Company has provided me has encouraged and strengthened my relationship with God, family and others.  The blessing to help care for my new grand baby and daughter, soon after her giving birth, is something we will always cherish. Also, spending time with my grandchildren, how I will miss Bible stories at bedtime with them.  My son called me and said that he was very thankful for the Sabbatical  time we had together.  He said that it has made a big difference in our relationship and also in his life and future.  For the better!  Yes, he said that : )

Thank you to everyone who has been covering for me at work. I know you have done a great job! I know this because we are A Great Place to Work with Awesome, Talented People!  I got my gym bag ready and clothes laid out for tomorrow, feels like the 1st day of school!

Well I am behind a post so I need to catch up. I have to say I do not remember the last time I was off for this long. I have been in school and the working world since I was 16 and the only time off I have taken was when I had my two girls. As most of you know having a newborn is NOT a vacation : ) It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with my family and friends. I was able to build deeper relationships with several friends and even make a few new ones.

I know for sure God lead me to this company at the right time in my life which in turn brought me to today. I have discovered how to have peace in my life and most of that discovery came with my devotional time over the last month. Trusting God is a challenge for all of us and even though it is high on the list of importance it is also one of the hardest things to really do. My goal going forward is to TRUST God, I mean really trust Him in every decision I make and every obstacle that comes my way. I know this is the key to that peace we all hope for and that brings us closer in our relationships with God.

I am beyond thankful for the time and I feel it was very well spent. I am more thankful that I have a job to come back to that I love and people that are supportive. My team had my back and went above and beyond to take care of my customers while I was away. That allowed me to rest and relax and not worry too much about what was happening at work. I want to say thank you to those in Passare that covered me while I was on Sabbatical. I cannot wait to return the favor.

Too Blessed to be Stressed!

Julie

I started my sabbatical on Saturday and have already been blessed. I started the day off by going with my Mom to Beltway’s garage sale and then going to look through a few vintage shops around Abilene with her.  I was also able to go hang out with some friends and go see the new beauty and the beast that night.

Sunday I went to church at Beltway and they gave out free money! Kind of. I am suppose to give the money to someone this week and report back this Sunday. I’ve been keeping the money with me and am praying for a God opportunity to give it away. My family and the Jones met up and had lunch together and then everyone headed to Fred and Lydia Sandlin’s house to help them pack. They are moving to be closer to their son and are leaving the area that they have lived for several decades. The church family of Lawn Baptist Church gave them a send off that night and we prayed over their family and everyone wished them the best as they began their next adventure.

With all the blessings going on around me, it seems that God always has to outdo himself. It has been raining on and off all weekend. I LOVE it when it rains. I couldn’t help but take a walk in the rain last night and think about what this month has in store for me.

Today, has been so relaxing. I have enjoyed the rain. It gives me such sense of renewal. I sat outside on the porch taking it all in. I had the opportunity to take a few trips.  I like to drive. I think it is very calming to take a drive and enjoy the beauty around us. Truly, this time of year is pretty, different colors of green flourishing. Makes me happy! I enjoyed visiting with friends and catching up with all that is going on in their lives.

I am really going to miss my Crossfit class.  I have enjoyed working out with the team at Black & Gold Fitness, in Andrews. Funny, how quickly a group of people can connect when they have a common goal and support one another! I am excited for Spin on Wednesday at DIG Wellness Center!!

We had a Spaghetti Dinner for the youth. It has been fun getting to know them and sharing this time with them. I know these are such difficult times for young people. You just want to do more. I asked my son how he does not get discouraged with some of the issues they face. Abel, just smiled and said “Mom my calling is to tell them about Jesus, He takes it from there.”

I am just about finished with the book “The Most Excellent Way to Lead” by Perry Noble. It has been a great read.  I know that living and leading by love has power to build relationships, promote understanding and ushers in wisdom.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps not record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Truth, though we do not always walk in it.  In my study of James, he speaks to walking it out, being doers of the word not just hearers. The following verse really spoke to me.

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” James 3:17  

Would you agree that we could all do a little better at showing love for one another in all areas of our life? I believe that leading by love is the most excellent way to lead. This is a must read, get the book!

I will leave you with this picture I have hanging on the wall at the office.  It reminds me of our many blessings : )

My time has come to an end and I return back to work today.  Im so blessed to work for a company that cares for its employees so much that we are able to take 30 days off. I have appreciated it so much! It came at the perfect time for me. Being a new mom, it was much need. I loved being able to spend more time with my kids and visiting with my mom and of course sleeping! I am looking forward to getting back to work and getting back on a routine!

Cherie

Before I started my Sabbatical, I had all these plans to get things done around the house. I was going to do deep cleaning, things ive have been putting off.  Well a few days into my time off , I felt that’s just not what Im suppose to be doing. So I decided to take each day at a time and do what i felt lead to do.  Being a single working mom, I dont get much “down time”.  Im always busy doing something or taking someone somewhere. So I felt God was leading me to be still and just rest during my time off.  So that’s what I did, rest. I felt a little guilty at first like I really should be doing something, but after a few days, it felt great to just relax, because this sabbatical will come to an end and back to work and my everyday Mom duties and with 4 kids ( 1 being 5 months) that’s a lot!

Cherie

Wow, hard to believe it’s over! The last week and a half has been an interesting mix of family relationship time, and Mac just taking care of life things. Hard to explain. The time has been spent in Abilene, mostly with my family here in town. Just like my family that lives far away, I realize that for the past several years I have not made a strong intentional effort to be a part of their lives. Sure, I’ve gone to baseball games and ballet recitals, but have not truly invested in their lives like I wish I had. The last week and a half has been an awesome time, I think, to be able to do that and quickly see some cool results. I spent some time with my brother, who is going through the awkward 13-year-old stage (no explanation needed). The best quality time I could find to spend with him was simply talking to him about the video game he was playing, and being there to hear his rambling on whatever else he wanted to speak about… Definitely learning patience! I also took my little sisters on a date, took them to dinner and a movie and had a great time. Even though they’re a very young, I want them to always know how a man should treat them; to make sure they expect to be treated like princesses. We even so Beauty and the Beast! Some would argue me taking my sisters to this movie was just a cover so I didn’t feel like less of a man for seeing it… Those people would not be completely wrong. But it was also great spending that sweet time with my sisters.

Like any father-son relationship, my dad and I spent a lot of our lives arguing and being hardheaded towards one another. Throughout the week, making myself available to him and for him, I can honestly say we had two or three of the deepest, best conversations that we’ve ever had. Very very grateful for those times with him in moving into more of a friendship style relationship than 100% father-son relationship. It’s a lot of fun and great to know you’ve always got someone on your side 100%.

I wrapped up both of my books in the last couple weeks, and truly learned a lot from the teachings. Wild at Heart, for example, really painted a picture of always seeking the extraordinary and adventure in a man’s life. To simply go about the day without any specific purpose is to waste many potential opportunities. A man must have passions apart of and with in his professional career so that he may be fulfilled as a man. Also, men don’t have to apologize for how we are: rambunctious, loud, looking for a mountain to climb, or anything else.  I feel like the truths in this book really encouraged me to always seek adventure and trust God in the little daily experiences. The other book I read was Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. This book is “the book about things all Christians believe.” Lewis takes a very non-biased approach to explaining both the broad and specific details of Christian faith based on the Bible within all different denominations. This was a great reminder to me of who we are as Christians, and the simple reasons we believe what we believe. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone who is on the fence about buying into Christianity.

I truly am grateful for this time to relax and reflect on God’s truths in my life. I am currently in a very challenging situation, but this last month has began to paint a picture of God’s mercies in my life, his plan for me is securely set in joy and mercy. Although I don’t know what tomorrow brings, I rest assured that I am in God’s hands and in His sight… nothing I could do would ever move me out of that position! I’m looking forward to moving back into daily life with these truths in mind and applying them to my surroundings every day.

If you’re wondering, the title truly does not have any real deep significance. Sorry to disappoint. What it DOES mean is that week three was a week of finishing work around my parents’ new house to get it closer to ready to move in. The floors were finished being sanded, then I helped put on the sever layers of sealant.

Tell me those floors don’t look awesome!? Now this is a small sampling – we finished close to 1100 square feet of 1940’s original wood flooring. And no, I’m not for hire or interested in redoing ANY of y’all’s floors on the weekends. Thanks though!

Joking aside, I loved being able to serve my family in this way and keep my step-dad from spending dozens of late late nights working on the house. This hopefully sped the move-in process for them up by several weeks; I’m sure I’ll be back down there then to get stuff all moved in and situated!

This brought me to something that I have begun to realize the last several months. Often, we look outside of our immediate circle first and/or only for people to serve. This is honorable, right, and commendable. However, upon asking God who He wanted in my circle of influence to show Christ’s love to and be His hands and feet to, all the people put on my mind were in my family. Although these are not always “the least of these,” we believers have a tremendous amount of influence over people close to us because we see them so often. Just a thought and something I want to continue to invest in long after Sabbatical time.

Also, more along the true handiwork lines, I finished a kitchen table that I have been building 2014… don’t ask, it’s a long story. The cool part of the story is how beautiful and amazing it turned out DESPITE my serious lack of woodworking ability! Thanks again to the guidance of my step-dad on this one.

As do many of the other occurrences over my time of Sabbatical, this table has a lot of personal meaning. The wood that was used is Long Leaf Pine, most of it sprouted in the late 1700s. Once harvested in the 1800s, it was used to build a cotton-storage warehouse in Bryan, TX. My great-grandfather managed that warehouse for many years, then my grandfather, Papa, managed it until a new, steel-framed building replaced it. A few months after this same grandfather passed away, they decided to tear down the old warehouse to make room for future construction. My step-dad asked if he could purchase some of the old wood; this is the same wood used to build the table seen here. It’s old and has a lot of character, but reminds me of him every time I look at it. God is good to put things in our lives to remind us of what is important and those we love in everyday life.

Other notable things this week were coming back to Abilene and finishing the week here. I’ve finished my first book, Wild at Heart, and am most of the way through Mere Christianity. God has shown me a lot of grace to seek and know His peace, even in very challenging circumstances. By learning to rely on God at the deepest “daily bread” level, my life has been and is being transformed to look more and more like Jesus.

So my mom came out to visit while my kids were on spring break ,March 10th through March 19th.  She came briefly when Mollie was born back in Oct. That was the first time in 10 years that me and my kids have seen my Mother. Since the kids were still in school back in Oct, they really didnt get to spend any time with her. So she was able to come back during Spring Break. My kids and I really enjoyed having her here and getting to know her again. Since Jake is 10, this is his first time meeting her.  This was definitely one of the things i wanted to do on my Sabbatical, reconcile with my mother and have her back in my life on a more regular basis. Her visit was good and i think we are heading in the right direction. Im looking forwarded to many more visits and phone calls in the future.

Also during spring break on March 17th my Ethan turned 18! wow! can’t believe I now have 2 adult children! eek! lol

Cherie