A New Adventure

Dear Friends,

I am starting a new adventure.

As my children are getting older, I am entering into a new season of life. ?With this season comes something that I have not experienced in a while. ?Daily quiet time.

With my three oldest in elementary and my youngest napping, I have some?time every day when the house is quiet.

For all of you moms who feel like this time will never come, hang in there. ?It will. ?And when it does, it may arrive?with?a mixed bag of emotions.

To help me deal with this mixed bag, I have decided to use this time to do something that brings me great joy. ?Write.

I believe that God gives us our stories to share. ?In sharing our stories, there is a connection that happens. ?It is helpful to hear that other people have experienced similar moments. ?Similar joys. Similar struggles.

Some of my goals in life, and with my writing, are listed in my subtitle.

To be Truly Loving.

I want people to walk away from their time with me feeling loved. ?I want people to know that I speak, and write, from a place of love.

When Jesus was asked, by one of the Pharisees, to state what the greatest commandment of the Law?is,?Jesus replied:

??Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.? This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ?Love your neighbor as yourself.? All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.? Matthew 22:37-40.

In my opinion, the greatest gift we can give another is this unconditional, grace-filled love as modeled by Christ.

Will I always accomplish this goal? ?No. ?But I will try.

To be Truly Trying.

I want to always be trying. ?Trying new things. Trying my best. ?Trying. Trying. Trying.

Sometimes I will try and fail. Sometimes I will try and succeed. ?But I will never know what I can achieve?if I never try.

I love the quote?by the author of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie. He says, “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ?We need to believe. ?We need to try.

To be Truly Creating.

When I am creating new things I am filled with joy. ?In addition to painting pictures with words, I also love to paint old furniture. We have been blessed with a house full of hand-me-downs. ?I love to take these beautiful well-loved objects and transform them. ?I love to see old things be made new again.

This week I made a sign and attached it to an old typewriter that sits on the shelf in our living room. While I did not actually transform the typewriter, just adding this sign seemed to give it new life.

To be Truly His.

Always His. ?I am a child of God.

God takes what is?broken and makes it new. ?He gives us new life. ?He transforms us. ?He sees beauty in brokenness. ?He is able to take?all of the parts of us that seem unworthy and unlovable and mold them into something beautiful. ?He is the potter. We are the clay.

His grace, mercy, and love are what sustain me day in and day out. ?To God be the glory. ?Always.

This is my new adventure.

Every day is filled with new opportunities. ?I pray to embrace each day, each moment. ?The good and the bad.

I want to be true. ?True to who God has made me to be. ?I want to embrace the gifts that He has given me. ?I don’t want to pretend?to be somebody else. ?I don’t want to spend my days working?to impress others. ?I just want to be truly me.

Truly loving. Truly creating. Truly trying. Truly His.

Truly Yours,

Jen