In All Things

"BE PRESENT.... Her favorite moments were those when she let go of all expectations and worries and just simply celebrated the very moment she was living. In those precious moments she was truly present and listening to Grace."

Be Present.  I find myself checking out a lot here lately.  I retreat to go read a book, I bury myself into my laptop to work, I rush around cleaning up the house and doing laundry.  In other words… I’m not always present even though my physical body might be visible.  But, that’s not where I need to be.  I need to be present in all forms…in the now…. with my family… with my husband…with my friends…living life and having fellowship and connection with one another.

Raising kids is hard and I’m not going to lie, the older they get, the harder it gets.  I used to think “oh I can’t wait till they are older because it will be so much easier.” WRONG!  It’s so much more complicated than giving them a juice box, goldfish and a Veggie Tales movie to watch for 30 minutes or a bandaid to cover up the boo-boo.  I am shaping them into adulthood, teaching them to grow up and make life decisions.  Fashioning these little lives to know how to face the challenges of life and do so with the perspective that God calls us to.  That’s pretty gigantic when you really think about it. 
Be present.  When I am “here” my problem with being in the present is that I want perfection.  This leads me to being stressed out a lot when things don’t go as I planned.  Meaning…. “I’ve already asked you to clean that mess up in your room.  Why is it still laying there?” Even though I’m raising these kids to be adults, they are definitely not yet adults.  I need to remember they are not going to react in an adult manner or think in one either. 

Be Present.  Let go of expectations.  This doesn't mean my kids don’t have to listen or do as I ask, or that I should let laundry pile to the ceiling and dishes scatter over the counter, or that I should just work when I want to.  I still am required to parent my children, be a wife, structure my home, and run my business…it just means that I need to simmer down.  My problem is, when I want something done, I want it now.  Not 30 minutes later… not this afternoon…not tomorrow… Now.  Most of the time, it’s not something that is really required NOW, I just think it is.   Learn the balance in things and don’t get so uptight if it isn't happening now.

Let go.  Be present.  Live in the moment.  Teachable moments.  Moments to reach out and love the ones you are with.  God gives me grace day in and day out.  Lord, let me show grace to my family and love them like my Father loves me.

Did that really just happen?

If you know me at all, you know that I love to read.  I would even go as far to say I’m kinda a book addict.  No.  I AM a book addict.  For whatever reason, I finally discovered that reading is an enjoyable hobby and I wish I had found this passion when I was in school.  ugh.  I’ve read a lot of books this past year by many different authors, but I have a few favorites that just really knocked my socks off.  Maybe not so well known in the realm you would think as “famous authors”… but to my fellow book nerds, yeah… they are super famous.  Most of their books remain at the top of Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts, so they are pretty fantastic to me. 
When I find a really good book series I get attached to it… the characters, the story, the emotions…. almost as if it’s part of my family.  So, when a really good story comes along, I often like to create something to remember it by.  Since my job is graphics design I always have ideas floating around in my head.  There have been several books series that I have sentimental endearment to, therefore leading me to create artwork inspired by the books.  This one book series I did that exact thing.  It’s the Significance series by Shelly Crane.  I posted my creation on Pinterest on my I {heart} books! board and didn’t think much anything else about it UNITL….
The author re-pinned my pin onto her boards, *ding… email notification*…. started following me on Pinterest *ding… email notification*, posted it on her Facebook page *bleep… notification alert*, sent me a private message requesting to use it *bleep…notification alert*…, sent me an email and then she sent me an early copy of her latest book *ding… email notification*.  Wow!  Here’s my journey…

All that to say…I was pretty happy freaking ecstatic about this whole thing.  It’s a BIG HUGE deal to me!  AND, to top it all off, this book is being made into a movie major motion picture to be released sometime next year! I have no idea how she plans to use this graphic… my mind can only dream and she said she had some things she wanted to make with it… but regardless, she totally made my day with all of our interactions. 
That’s my story & I’m sticking to it.  Yes, that really happened. 

Sandwiches

I’m so over sandwich meat and loaf bread.  I was never a big PB&J girl growing up and still to this day could care less for it.  So I learned to be satisfied with turkey, ham and bologna.  And I ate a lot of it growing up. 

These days, I fix 3 sandwiches (at least), 5 days a week for my kids lunches.  Sometimes I just want to buy a freaking lunchable.  Why do I tell you this?  Well, our budget is on a diet.  Yes, my husband & I are currently taking the class Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey.  Three weeks in and I’m still feeling really good about the outcome and what's to come, except I’m over eating sandwiches.  See, the thing is, when you take this class, you have to learn to save money and saving money requires eating at home more.  Sandwiches. 

I know one day when I’ve taught my money how to eat a balanced meal, I’ll be able to go out to eat whenever & wherever I want.  But for now, don’t ask me to go out to eat after church on Sunday.  Because more than likely I’m gonna go home to eat a stupid sandwich. 

Gratefulness

It's been so long since I've posted on here that I forgot my password.  Man.

I need to talk today and I feel like sometimes what I need to talk about, other people might need to hear as well. So I'm back at my blog today.  I stumbled on this website... honestly, I think divine intervention sent me here...http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/03/how-to-help-raise-grateful-kids/... but don't click there just yet.

We've been in a funk in our family the past few months.  Busy lives...hurried here & there and full schedules demanding more time than we probably have...have all lead to some cranky Hanelines.  Probably more so me than the others, but it's reflecting into our kids & that's not something I like to see.  I listened last night as my husband tried to have a devotion with my kids.  I was working on something at the kitchen table and they were in the living room sitting on the couches.  What he had to say was really good...talked to them about what we think we deserve in this life.  He asked the kids what they really wanted right now that they thought would make them happier in life... two answered a new bike, one answered an air soft gun  & some other material things were mentioned as well.  Fair enough, they are kids after all.  But, all during this conversation he was having to stop to say things like "quit messing with your sister", "turn around & sit up, listen to me", "stop playing with the blinds", yada, yada, yada.  Point being, they were not really listening.  I think he spent just as much time redirecting the kids as he did trying to teach them about being thankful for what we have.  I guess I was expecting them to sit there in awe of all the wonderful things my hubs was trying to teach them and rattle off some divine answers about all they should be grateful for.  Ok, I know... it's a long shot.  Whatever.

My kids are good kids, but they fuss & fight ALL the time. I guess it's normal for brothers & sisters to do this... I don't know, I'm an only child...but it really bothers me how they treat each other.  But really, I'm not much better.  My short temper from being stressed all the time doesn't mean that my reactions to their behavior are any better than their reactions to each other.   I don't handle things the best way all the time.  I'm constantly thinking that I've failed in how I should handle certain situations with my kids.  I'm being very honest here.  I need a lot of help & improvement.... the kind that only comes from the grace of God.

You think that the people you love the most are the ones you should treat the best.  However, it's often the other way around.  I guess it's because we know that we will always be loved by our family & most of the time they forgive us easily.  Still, it's not how we should live our lives.  If our family continues down this path, then I'm afraid I am leading them on one of destruction. But that's where the love of God comes in.  I don't deserve anything that I have... grand or small.  It's not really mine anyway, but the Lord choose to bless us because we are His.  I want my kids to be thankful for more than material things.  I want them to see the bigger picture in life.  But most of all I want my family to love God & desire to serve Him.  At this point in their lives, it's our responsibilities as parents to show them how.  I'm the resource God is using to show them how to love their brother & sister, love their neighbor, their friends, their family.  I want them to be grateful for all the many blessings that they have right in front of them that they don't even realize.  I want to be a reflection of God's love & mercy.

This link is a super-duper, great tool for doing just that.  So NOW you can finally click the link to read all the goodies for yourself.  And I think I'm going to pick up a copy of this book that all this stemmed from as well.

Blogs, Work, Life & Twilight

I have a good excuse... well, not really. Work. If you can call that an excuse. I guess between Facebook & Twitter... I feel like I post plenty of stuff that keeps me up-to-date with the world and everyone can see pictures of my kids and what's going on in our lives. That's kind of scary to think about... but I digress. Anyways, my whole point of having a blog is to keep track of stuff. Like life. Little things, big things, funny things, silly things, interesting things... you get the point. I've not been so good at that lately. {sad face} It's been quite a whirlwind the past year. I started my own business... Kendra's Creations and I must say that it has gone really well. I design stuff. I've always loved to be crafty and this is totally my outlet to do so AND get paid for it. Cha-ching... even better. So, I call it my job now, because I work & get paid for it. But it's fun. So it's a good job. One that I can sit in my PJ's until lunch & work. I can listen to music or have peace & quite, wash clothes, talk on the phone, attempt to keep the house clean... ahem.... and still be at home with my kids when they get home from school. I must say, it's been a challenge to keep up with some of these things while working from home. I would much rather being designing a logo or making a pretty notebook than loading the dishwasher. Sometimes it's very evident from the plethora of dishes that accumulate on the countertop, but it's all still worth it. Dishes will always be there... just as much as the mountain of laundry that grows in my baskets each week. I am truly grateful that God has blessed me with this opportunity this past year and I pray that it continues to grow & thrive.

On to the kids now... let's see... we are halfway through the school year. What?!! Seriously I can't believe it's gone by so fast. I mean, Chandler is going to be driving like next year at the rate that we are going. Kindergarten orientation is coming up in a couple months for Kensley & Carter will be in his last year of elementary school next year. Geez.

Chandler had his first band "concert" last night at the middle school. He is doing great playing the trumpet. He's even made first chair. He loves it & I'm so glad. I hope he's going to be a great musician. Carter loved playing football and I think he's geared up & ready for the next sports season, although we will all admit, it's been nice having a little break. Kensley is still loving dance. She's learning how to do a cartwheel and she think's that's just the greatest thing.

I have to brag on my hubs for a moment too. He saved a life last month. Yep. This makes the #3rd life he's come to the rescue for. I believe that God puts him in the right place at the right time. I'm thankful for that. While working late at the Y one night, he was making rounds checking on things & socializing when a man playing a wallyball game had a heart attack. Corby stepped up & took control of the situation. He & some others were administering CPR & Corby had to use the AED machine on this gentleman and shocked him twice. The doctors said had he not used this device, he would not be alive today. Wow!

I have recently become somewhat obsessed with Twilight. I never really had any interest at all to watch the movies and NEVER would have even thought twice about reading those ridiculously long books. I mean, I don't read and those books are like 500 plus pages each. However, my niece Kaitlyn got me started. She just couldn't believe that I had never seen the movies, so we had a movie weekend when we were in Statesville a few months back and watched the first 3 movies. That's all it took. I knew then where all the hype was coming from because I was hooked. The movies were SOOOO good!

After watching all 4 movies (and going to the theater 3 times to see Breaking Dawn: Part 1... just don't even say anything about that) I would have to say I became a "Twihard". There was no way that I could wait a whole year to know what happens in Part 2 of Breaking Dawn, so I decided I might be interested in reading the books. I mean, everyone that has read them talked about how good they were. So, I borrowed the books from a friend and I read the first book... all 494 pages... in 24 hours. Really, it was quite unbelievable. I couldn't put them down. I finished all 4 books in about 2 & half weeks. It happened to be over Christmas break, so I didn't have to worry about waking up for early mornings. I stayed up til 1 & 2 am most nights reading... not being willing to be satisfied with "just one more chapter". I've never read any books as good as these. The love story is just so incredible and I guess that's what draws me to the movies & the books. Sooooo.....

That about sums it up for an update. I always attempt to make more posts, but fail miserably at it. Follow me on facebook to keep up with my new creations! (link listed above)

A look back at the year 2011

Well, yes... I have been a little... um, a lot... behind on blogging lately. I want to but the time is just not there. I've been so busy with my job that blogland has taken a back burner. I am so thankful for my job though. It's been such a blessing. So to sum up a whole year in 7ish minutes, I'm just going to let you watch this video. And I'll hopefully have a little more time to devote to blogging in the near future!

A Tribute to Remember

Today Cleveland County honored the life of a fallen soldier who served our country. I do not know this man but my family stood to honor him as the processional made its way through our city.

I hadn’t really thought about it much… other than “that’s sad that happened”… and “he was from Shelby”.  My friend texted me last night & asked if I was going to processional.  My first thought was “no, I didn’t even know him”.  But then I started thinking… we have a family member serving right now and a good friend who was deployed just about a month ago.  This processional today wasn’t just for one man, it was for all soldiers…past and present….ones who have served, ones that are there now, those that will serve in the future.  So many have sacrificed for our country… willingly… and today this soldier did not come home to hug his family, but he came home in a different way. 

As I watched the hundreds of cars drive by, looking into the eyes of those I could see… tears, smiles, cameras… I wondered what they must have been thinking.  They drove for 7 miles with people alongside the roads the entire drive.   Tears filled my eyes. 

Business closed for a few hours or excused their employees to come out in support… parents pulled kids out of school early to go…two entire schools brought their kids out in front of the school…. little kids (including mine) who probably don’t even understand what was going on.  For a few short hours, people stopped…. they stood alongside a road, most of them holding a flag, in silence, hands covering their hearts.  People showed that they cared and I am honored that my family was able to experience that.  Not only for Sgt. Chris Newman… but for all the fallen soldiers and those who are serving now. 

What was witnessed today will be forever etched in my mind. I’ve never experienced this before and I hope I never will have to experience it again.  Today I am thankful… for the freedom to live in a country that sometimes comes at a price…and for the freedom of eternal life that comes because of my Savior.