Doing

Jam Packed. That's how I feel right now thinking about our next month or two. Plans. Family. House. Jobs. Children. School. Dance. Friends. Church. MOPS. Many other things that are on our plates, which we are thankful for each and every one and they are all important in our eyes, though truly overwhelming to think about all that needs doing. Oh and believe me when I say that I know so many others playing the balancing game and they too are in my prayers. Praying that their foundation that they are balancing everything upon is made from stone, the stone being God of course. With Him as my foundation I am going through and doing everything that needs doing with Him lifting me up and putting the motivation in my wings.

For those of you who are seeing me on a regular basis and are wondering how I am doing, know that I am doing. Just doing. Times like right now when I let in all of the thoughts of the tasks or commitments that need "doing", I feel the waves of anxiety. Though I find myself praying, categorizing, and working through each thought to calm my nerves, asking God to guide me and fill me with His peace and grace. Doing this seems to really be working and keep me doing.

 Though I find myself really being forgetful and needing many more reminders as to dates, times and most little things that need tended to. Writing down every little detail really seems to help though I feel important connections slipping. This is how I have been categorizing everything so that I can try and not let the important things slip. God first, devotion and prayer time to start my day. Focusing on my husband and kiddo needs next, making sure I'm being the Momma/Wife that they are needing during this very emotion filled time. Family is next on my list, being there for the ones who are supporting us and are needing support themselves(for just because we are needing extra support does NOT mean that everyone else is needing any less or that our situation is any more important). My two businesses are next, with moving and such I am needing to work way more than before to help build both of my businesses and making sure they survive the move too, for we need that income. Friends are next up and are super important to me, though spending actual time with them has lessened this does not mean that my time in prayer has changed at all for them. Friends go right along with Church for me, even though I have more commitments with our Church most of my friends are there. And I am finding that I am loving being there in the church even more, so calming for me. Then comes all of the "extras" like dance, MOPS, school and everything else that falls into the extra category. Each one of these things are feeling a bit of strain though having God walking beside me to carry most of the load is really helping put my mind at ease.

Reconizing what is absolutely important right now is something that is keeping me doing and I pray that everything will work out smoothly. My kiddos are really beginning to feel the strain of the sadness that they will feel when they move. For example my Abagail's birthday was this past Thursday and it was such a nice day though we found Bella crying more than once. This has never happened in our family with the siblings of the birthday child and it wasn't until the next day at Abagail's party that we made the connection to the meltdown and tears. Bella had realized that she will not have her extended family and friends there for her actual birthday and at her party that we are celebrating early she will not have her Dad. This was an emotional connection that I was not prepared to handle from our 7 year old Bella. I tried a couple different methods to help snap her out of her emotions so that she could enjoy each day though none of them worked. She was just sad and jealous of what Abagail was getting to enjoy, an experience she will not get this year. And yes believe me I know that I can make her day just as special and try and distract when the time comes, though now with her being older I have come to realize I can not control her emotions that she will clearly feel. No amount of special things planned on those days will help her not feel the sadness and if you know my Bella then you know what I mean. These emotions that active duty military children feel when they have to move from place to place and go without Daddy for months break my heart for their sacrifices most generally go unnoticed and forgotten. So please take the next few moments and pray for all of the children that have to go through these roller coaster filled emotional struggles with being a Military Child. This month is Military Child Appreciation Month and gets almost zero recognition to their sacrifices for our country so please say those prayers.

Travis is now home with us for the next couple of weeks until around May 7th-ish when he will make the trek to Texas. We are really blessed to have him with us for the next couple of weeks, though his schedule with things to do with the house is pretty full, it is really nice having him home. These past 4 years were clearly the most stressful times he has ever went through, though it has also provided him with a chance to see one of his callings, connecting with people. I pray that as he prepares to head back to the line that he can keep the compassion for people that he was blessed with out here. In just one week I've really seen my husband turning back into the wonderful husband and father that he was before recruiting, like the stress filled man that he had become is melting right before our eyes. Truly Blessed, please keep him in your prayers as he gets ready to blend back into the fast paced military life that he once was so good at. May he transition well to the line and finds that passion for crew drills that he once had, ha ha! :)

We've finally decided what we wanted to do with house, which was such a hard decision since we absolutely LOVE our home and have put alot of time and work into it. If we find someone who would reliably and lovingly rent our home then we will rent. Though we have begun the steps to listing our home for sale, it is a beautiful, character-full, great location, 4 bedroom, 2 full bathrooms, 2 living areas, huge counter tops, open kitchen/dining area, skylights in Master Bedroom AND Living Room, spacious closets, gorgeous built ins, Pantry/Laundry Area, 6 sided office, 2 basements, untouched Original woodwork upstairs, hard wood floors under carpet, fenced back yard, lovely asphalt driveway, large deck, corner lot and gorgeous landscaping :) Can you tell I just LOVE my home!!! So I pray that we can find the right people to purchase our home and that everything will work out smoothly, there is nothing like our home on the market right now and I am praying that we get a good price so that we can move forward with our life knowing that this beautiful home is in good hands. There is a bunch of "doing" to the house basically finishing the little projects that we wanted to do this our home like painting and such. I jokingly told my husband that after it is all done that I bet I will never want to leave, lol!!!!

Celebrating Home is such a wonderful Christian company and I am truly enjoying working with them. As most of you know it is a direct sale company that specializes in Home Decor, Candles, Food Mixes, Pottery and much more. I am praying that my business can continue to grow when we move and that I can find some friends up here to work with also, so if you are interested in working with me please contact me and we will get together and chat! The support system up here is something I pray that I can grow down in Texas, it is such a joy to gather with other Celebrating Home ladies, get tips and lots of fun training! I'm also praying that my Hat business will flourish there also, that is the business where my true passion can come out and it is more of a stress reliever getting to design for others than it is a stress maker! Loving the direction that my own career is going and I will continue to pray that it will be blessed by God. If you haven't checked out my girl's own flower clip page then head over and check it out(Fireflies flower designs). This was such a neat way for them to earn money and "work" as they call it, I think it is so cool that my little girls have the designing bug too. They had been bugging me to make them a lemonade stand to sell outside our house though I explained that people just don't stop at those anymore. Last year they had sold basic flowers at my craft fairs and made enough money to go to the movies twice. We ordered the supplies for this year's "batches" and they were a hit too! So we decided they'd have their own "lemonade stand" in the form a their own page on facebook and it surely is a hit. Very proud of my little girls!

There surely has been alot of "doing" going on around here and we are surviving and so far everything has been going fairly smoothly. I pray that these next few weeks with Travis home can go smoothly for I know that once he leaves it will be a certain reality hitting us in the face. Emotions will be going high with the kids and I will be holding strong for them. My goal in this next month is to soak up enough strength, deal with all of my emotions that have been bottled up and be the Momma that they will need. Remembering that through all of this "doing" that I need to still enjoy every moment I get with everyone who surrounds me. Prayers going out to the McGrath, Miller, Sutton, Rogers, Somerville, Lingo and all of the other military families who are facing alot of these struggles. Know that each of these families are in my prayers along with everyone who shows their love and support for us even though your struggles may be different know that you are being prayed for.

Blessings,
Nicole