REMEBER OUR MILITARY

As we go about our day to our cookouts let us remember the men & woman of ALL branches of the armed forces. Remember that in one form or another they are laying down their lives for us; in efforts to keep all of us safe from the people that despise us and our freedoms! Whether it be their time away from family or the ultimate sacrifice of life.
Remember that it is the little things like a barbecue or friendly game of softball that we get to partake in that they may not. Remember that it is the little things like fresh cut grass that we get to smell as we enjoy the company of friends & family that they don't.
Remember that we get to hold our little ones & shower them with kisses & hugs that the men & woman of our military do not get to enjoy today. Remember that it is because of these men & woman that we get to enjoy the Healthy Freedoms of home that they miss out on.
Remember to say a prayer for all of them in that they may have a safe return and get a chance to enjoy all that they helped to protect!!
It is with GREAT pride that I post this today as some of you know my brother is one of those great soldiers that I write about.
Good night & God bless all of you.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

To all my mothers out there & that includes you men as well!! I hope you ALL had a blessed day & remembered to focus on what is truly important & let go of the petty things that eat at our spirit. I for one had a 2yr old (Gabby) reminder all day today of what was important. Amazing how God sends us little reminders in all sizes of packages. It seemed like whenever I would let a situation annoy me today Gabby would look at me in that moment & give me a kiss & a hug & tell me "I love you mommy". I am a lucky girl to have such a beautiful little blessing like my girl!

Happy mothers day to you all.

Please keep our service men & woman in your thoughts & prayers for a safe return to their families someday soon.

God Bless.

"CANT" part 2

Due to technical difficulties you may have been unable to access the link. So here it is from You Tube.
Sorry about that & again; Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

This is amazing inspiration when you put your mind to overcoming defeat.

"A man only fails when he has stopped trying"

"CAN'T" is not an option!!

So many times we get on our pity pots & the wooooo is me syndrome kicks in after something in our lives happens that we don't like or agree with. Truth of the matter is this; we are all just here for a temporary moment in time. Now we can either sit on the pity pot & whine about how life is not fair & how someone or something did not go/do as you wanted. Or you can get up of your rumpus & let it motivate you into doing what is truly in your heart to do. After all who wants to sit on the pot to long anyhow it is known to cause serious rings on your bottom!!
Those of you that know me know that it is with my deepest passion to make the most of life while I am here & that is why I do what I do. I have made a "choice" to let my circumstances motivate me not paralyze me! Can't is not an option for this lady.

amazingdance.wmv (5346KB)

After watching this video I thought to myself; "there is no accomplishment out of reach if we will do just that; reach for one!!"

Please remember the men & woman from all branches of the military as they do what they do for us so that we may live with the Healthy Freedoms we have all come to love. Keep them in your prayers for a safe return to their loved ones soon.

Enjoy & God Bless.

"ARE YOU TRUELY LIVING"

This was the question today in church. We all know that we are alive but are we truly living? Are we living life to our fullest potential? Are we 100% happy with where we are or do we secretly wish that we were some where else in life? I for one can tell you that I am just OK with where I'm at in life, but I'm more excited about where I'm going in life that drives me.
See right now at this point in time of my life there are all kinds of balls in the air that are all full of wonderful potential. And in just the blink of an eye they can all fall out of the sky & disappear without a trace. It is my job to grab them & make the most of them. Now granted some of them are out of my control as to what may come but then there is alot that I can take ownership of. Meaning that if I want something I need to go after it with everything I have. Those of you that know me & know me well enough; know that I always say God will help those who want to be helped he is not going to just show up at my door & go "look what I have for you". See I am one of those people that believe that God will help us get to where we want to be if & when we ask for his guidance & I'm not talking one of those half hearted attempts either. Believe me I know alittle something about half hearted attempts!! I have done them & been on the receiving end of them. You get no where fast people I'm here to tell you!!
Here is how I see it; with the help of alot of tools I allow myself to use. Who needs craftsman?! LOL Anyhow I see it like this. If we don't set our minds or purposely focus our thoughts & energy on being a person of purpose; then we will ultimately be tossed around & distracted by every situation in we encounter in life. Good and Bad! Think about this for a moment if you will. If you allow your circumstances to control you, then there will always be some reason to be discouraged or you can turn your thoughts around into thinking positive & undefeated thoughts. After all it is sooooo true that all negatives do have a positive.
Let me show you! I recently went through the break up of my family, the family that I did not think I was ever going to have. God answered my prayers & gave me a beautiful daughter. The same daughter that is my drive in life to keep going so that I can show her how to over come with grace & dignity. Some of you are probably going "alright Jen where are you going with this?". My point is this; God had me go through the break up of my family to show me that I have the strength to over come this & get on the other side of it stronger & better off then I was. I'm here to tell you all that the positive in this negative is that alot of really good things have come from this experience & alot of really good people are flying into my life. Sometimes quicker then I can keep up & for that I'm eternally grateful!
As we go about our days trying to live life on life's terms remember that it helps a GREAT deal to step outside of our boxes & help another person be their best! Trust me I've done it. Imagine if we all just did 1 or 2 things to help someone else each day what this world could & would become. WOW looks pretty promising from where I sit.
So I ask you all this. On a scale of 1-5 where are you at when it comes to living your life to its fullest potential? I know I have work to do. Do you?! Lets all try making some healthy choices to allow a life of Healthy Freedoms for one & all that come in contact with us.
As always please remember the men & woman of our military that put their lives on the line for us on a daily basis so that we may remain safe at home.
God Bless you all & keep you safe.

WOUNDS & REVELATIONS

There are all kinds of things I want to post but not a lot of time these days. I promise to those of you that look forward to this I will do my best to post at least every other week.

Now down to business. Who would of thought that lyrics from a metal song would be the inspiration for today's post. Well it is & the lyrics were as such; "wounds can reveal to us..." that is all that had to be said & a light bulb went off in my head. See we allow our self to become very angry in situations that do not go as we had hoped or planned. When instead what we should be doing is looking for the blessing that comes from such events. The song goes on to say "hate me if it makes you feel better..." And when I felt that towards the people that had done me wrong it never made me feel any better. In fact it made me that much madder at the situation because now I was allowing it to control & consume me. This is not how I want to live my life nor is it how I want to teach my daughter to live her life either.

I had went through alot of pretty sticky & quite honestly sucky things in life, but when I allowed myself to stop feeling the pain of the situation & starting looking for the positives that come from such an experience I was actually grateful for the opportunity. Its like sitting in an AA/Alanon combined meeting & people say I'm grateful for my alcoholic. Meaning they are grateful for the experience because now they have a positive, hopeful out look to pass on to someone else.
I am a firm believer that we all go through things in life to share with others. Am I the only one it bothers when people say to you "I understand..." when they have no clue what you are going through?! I am a show me don't tell me kind of girl, so you better really know what your talking about or your no better then the other liars in the world. I would rather someone tell me the truth even if its not what I want to hear versus being lied to no matter how big or small the lie is.

Like they say the only thing that is constant is change & whether the change is welcome or not, we must respond to it. Our main choice is not what will change but how we respond to the change. I promise if you make peace with the change that takes place you will grow, you will come out a bigger better person. One of Paul Harvey's (rest in peace) favorite authors wrote this: " hope you learn humility by being humiliated and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I wish for you tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life." written by Lee Pitts.

I was given the privilege to attend a 7 habits seminar & the main thing that stuck out is that we should live as though we have a camera taped to our shoulder & the world is always watching what we do & how we act. Is how your living life something you would be proud of letting the world see?

That my friends is what I got out of those 5 little words "wounds can reveal to us..." and it is my wish for you that you got something out of this blog to help you go on in trying times.

Please remember to keep our men & woman of the armed forces in your thoughts & prayers for a safe return to their loved ones.

Good night & God Bless. Or as Paul Harvey would of ended; and that is the rest of the story.

CELEBRATE BEING DIFFERENT...

A dear friend of mine asked me to part take in celebrating black history month with her & some of our closest friends. OK it was a whole church full of friends. I have to say this was a first for me, I've never been given that opportunity let alone asked to be a part of any black history celebration. I was asked to write & deliver a speech on "United we stand; Divided we fall"
On my way home tonight it dawned on me as it does so many times that I am one very lucky & blessed woman. I have so many people that love me & want to help me succeed & all I have to do was just be me.
So family I would like to share with you a little part of what I read today in my small part of the black history celebration.

First off a quote by the late great Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?"

I believe that the best is when we share our heritage with others whether they are like us or different. When I get back to South Bend every other weekend I attend a wonderful church called "Faith Temple" & they have always made me feel very welcome. This is where I was able to be a part of the celebration. The church not only tries to do good for the sake of the community but they invest alot of time & energy on the youth who attend. They show the youth there is more to life then the streets & that not all people judge them. This is what they do for others. As the great Rev. once asked.

In the bible Ecc. 4:10 states this; "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls & has no one to help him up." Notice it does not say anything about the color of ones skin, rather just being ones friend. The one thing that people compliment me on is the ability to be who I am & be it with a big heart. I don't look at people for what they have or don't have. Because we all have a story & one thing I have learned over the years is that things are not always what they appear; not necessarily in a bad way either.

Another quote by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream that my children will one day not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

My dear friend Pat that asked me to be a part of her celebration walks the talk! She does not get sucked into the every day gossip or chaos of the world; she stays focused on what it takes to live right. She does this with grace, dignity, leaning on God & her friends to get through bumps in life. Bumps that we all experience from time to time. This is a great display of character!

President Obama was quoted as saying; that we must push pass the racial division that has been simmering for centuries in this country. I agree!! There are some pretty wonderful people of all walks of life, nationality & of different races. God sees all of us as equal, he does not love one more because they are lighter or darker but because we are all his children & he loves all of us the same.
When we are pointing the finger & passing judgement on others we have to remember that there are 3 more pointing back at our self. So who are we really judging then?
So here is what I get out of all this. When we clasp hands & stand as one this is when barriers get broken, mountains get moved & 2 become 1. That my family is when harmonious solidarity happens!! It is when the chain of unity is broken that we then fall divided. Not a Healthy Freedom I'm willing to sacrifice are you?!
Please remember to keep our men & woman of the military in your prayers for a safe return to their loved ones.
God bless you & keep you safe.