I'm a little teapot....but don't tip me over!

I have been struggling with living a life of balance and wondering how am I going to do it all? How can I be a better wife, mother, friend, teacher, etc...? "I know I need to do this, the kids have to go here, I have to exercise, the house needs a deep cleaning, dinner needs to be made..."we all have these thoughts in our head daily! I've realized that I can't do it all at least not by myself, it has to start with my relationship with God! In my personal Bible study, I have been reading about this and was reminded that in Luke 12:22, 23. "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing." (ESV) Yes, we do have to take care of our practical needs, but here is Jesus telling us not to obsess over them! The same goes for exercise...I said at the beginning of the summer that I was going to get my body into shape and exercise everyday! Ha ha! Well, I have exercised but not to the point I wanted to. But you know, that's ok! I have however, deepened my relationship with God, which is more important. Paul draws a comparison to this in 1 Timothy 4:8, "for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (ESV) This is not my excuse for exercise because I know that I still need to do it, but I am not going to let myself get down about it.

Why do we as Christians need a balanced life? I want to be able to give the proper time and attention to God's purpose in my life and in my family's life. I want my life to bear fruit! So I will do what it says in John 15:4 so that my life will glorify God.

Fireproof

Ok, Ok! I am probably the last person on Earth who had not seen this movie! Well--second to the last because E still has not seen it. I finally sat down one morning at 6:30 AM and watched it. WOW! I will say that I am very happy in my marriage and E and I have worked really hard for it to be the marriage that God intended us to have. Yet, we are not pros and still have our moments!! I got so much from this movie that it gave me an increasing desire to love my spouse and do for my spouse more than I imagined.

Wouldn't you know it! We had the "Love Dare" book on our bookshelf! I think my mom gave it to E for Christmas or something. It had papers in it so I assume he read it, not sure. But I just did! I love the part on Day 1 that compares the Love Dare to running a marathon; a race that is hard but worth running. As someone that wished they were a runner I love this analogy!

I am inspired to be a better wife, which will make me a better mother. I am ready.

Grandma's 75th

Last night, we celebrated my Grandmother's 75th birthday. The evening was filled with great memories shared by family and friends. I wrote the following and shared last night as a tribute to my Grandmother. I am also including the slideshow documenting her life. Enjoy!

My Turn

Grandma--the matriarch of the Segovia family; the glue that holds us together is celebrating 75 years with us. Her cherished family and friends. Wow! I am constantly amazed by her; she looks so young in her 75 years--not at all her age. Her beauty radiates from every inch of her being. You can feel her unconditional love the first time you meet her, the warmth, the kindness, the generosity just comes out naturally. She is a prime example of what it means to be a wife, mother, grandmother and friend.

She has raised 6 children who in turn raised 13 grandchildren who are now raising 22 great-grandchildren. With the added number of spouses you can imagine how crowded and loud our family gatherings are! Each family unit is so busy! We have church, sports, friendships, work and just everyday life; but when Grandma calls--we come running. Will we still come running? I pray in the future that the busyness of life will not overwhelm us to the point that we will not be intentional about getting together as a family.

Think about what Grandma has done for you. She has been our confidant, encourager, caregiver and the list goes on! Can we as her legacy give back to our children and parents what she has been to us? What have I learned? What have you learned?

I have learned from my mother how to have a servants heart. A trait no doubt she learned from Grandma. How can I keep the legacy going? Will I instill those values and traditions into my children? I will try. I will cherish the times I have with Grandma to gain all that I can. I will learn to cook like her, be a better listener like her, love unconditionally like her and most of all be a better mother and wife like her. Traits my mother learned, traits I hope I have and am continually learning, and those I pray my daughter will learn.

Memories--like the corners of my mind...

If you started thinking about Tom Hanks in the movie BIG then you are not the only one! I pictured the scene where he was wearing that crazy white tuxedo at the company party eating the small corn. LOL!

Today I have been scanning up a storm! We are preparing for my Grandmother's 75th Birthday bash on Saturday. It is going to be some party! 200 guests have been invited, and I get the pleasure of putting together a slide show celebrating her life. Looking at all these pictures and seeing my Grandmother at different stages of her life makes me marvel at the life she has had! No, it hasn't been perfect and there have been struggles, but in every picture she is smiling and there is always family around her.

What an amazing woman! Part of my new journey as a writer began with a narrative that I previously mentioned about the extended family. I will not post this piece today because I am reading it at the party so I don't want to ruin it. I am also tweaking the piece and adding some Spanish flair to it. :)

I pray that in my future--if I am so blessed to make it to 75 years old that I have pictures of myself to look back on. Not the ones just of me, but those that document those treasured times spent with family.

What's Up with This???

I've wiped out the old blog and have begun anew! SO many changes over the past few months and I will take time to eventually write them all down--but not today. :) Today is officiallly Day 2 of my summer vacation and I've already done so much--except clean my house. :(

Last week, I attended a Writing Workshop that my school signed up for. I was not looking forward to this week-long training. I just didn't know what to expect, but once there, the "greeness" of my attitude as a teacher shone through. Our instructor in the morning sessions was interesting...but he gave great instruction! We were there to learn how to develop a writing notebook and teach it to our classes. It was stressed that writing is such an integral part of learning. Yep--I knew that; but how am I, not a writer, going to teach writing to 5th graders? Scary.

Our first assignment was to decorate our writer's notebook. Not scary. My over-achieving self found some cute scrapbook paper at home and got to work. The next day, we took 20 minutes and wrote about forgiveness. Really? That's pretty deep for a workshop. I filled up 2 pages in no time! We then worked in groups and developed ideas that just came into our head. The two ideas I had were "Technology and Family Life" and "The Fall of the Extended Family." Deep. Where did those ideas come from? I chose to elaborate and wrote about the extended family, which turned into a short narrative.

I was excited!!! But, where did this excitement come from? I never got excited about writing and somehow the words began to flow. Initial feedback from our instructor was that "I was a writer." A what? Never. But deep inside I knew. I wrote last night in my notebook and can't wait to write more. Where will this take me--I am not sure. I do know that there is a desire that I never knew I had and I want to use this for the betterment of my students and to fulfill God's purpose in my life.