My Gift

I have sat in church many Sundays and heard my friends Ron and Chad talk about how we all have a special gift given to us by God. Some are singers and can connect people to Christ with their voices, some are teachers and can lead you through scripture, some are techies and can run the sound system.

I have often wondered what my gift is.

Today it was almost as if my God leaned down and whispered in my ear… This Abby is your gift, it’s always been your gift.

Daniel and I were discussing how we were going to be spending our evening ringing the Salvation Army bell. He was apologizing for signing us up to do this on a Sat evening. What he didn’t realize… I was excited to do it.

That’s when it hit me. My gift is a strong love of community service. It’s not something that I do because “I have to” or because it looks good. I do it because it’s in my heart. It’s my gift.

It’s always been who I am. I can remember being a teenager and spending my summers lifeguarding. I eventually became the pool manager at Smith Pool. One summer I decided that I was going to organize an end of the summer cookout for all of the children that came to the pool. I went to local businesses and got them to donate all of the things that I needed. Hotdogs, burgers, drinks, candy, etc. This is the first time I can remember organizing something like this. But it was not the last.

I may not have the voice of an angel, or know The Bible from cover to cover but I do have a longing to serve. So if you see me ringing a bell, organizing an event, or passing out food to the hungry know that I am honoring the precious gift that my Heavenly Father blessed me with.

This post is not meant to blow my own whistle or toot my horn. But more of a post of thanksgiving. I am thankful that God loves me so much that he created me with a special gift that feeds my soul and touches others along the way.

Leading the over worked

This week I was challenged as a leader. I am the current president of The Junior Auxiliary of Clarksville. If you are not familiar with this group, it is a women’s organization that focuses on serving those in need with a emphasis on children.
When this group was first started it was a group of homemakers who wanted to serve their community. Fast forward twenty years and now we are a group of women who juggle family, careers, and a hectic society. These ladies all give themselves to so many things and care so much about the community we serve. But that does not stop the fact that we are over worked and spread thin.
Commitment is one of our chapters greatest weaknesses. Meetings are often low in attendance and events sometimes get passed up by members due to the many other things going on in our day to day lives.
I often find myself frustrated with how to lead this group and how to raise the commitment level. This past week before our meeting i found myself sitting at my desk searching for some inspiration. I believe so much in the mission of this organization and it breaks my heart to see it failing. With all of the talents of these thirty six women, we could be doing so much.
I am hoping that my commitment speech did not come off too strong, but strong is my nature. I say what I feel. I try to do it with grace, compassion, kindness, and love.
Hopefully I caused some of these people to remember why we are doing what we do.
Have you ever been challenged as a leader? What did you do?

Top 5 reasons I love insanity

Most people know that I have been doing the Insanity Workouts for about 4 months now. I LOVE it and may be a tad obsessed with it. ( Which is why people know I am doing it. I talk about it A Lot) For all of my adult life and probably most of my teenage years I have had a hormonal disorder that causes weight gain and makes it very difficult to lose weight. I have always tried to be an active person, it’s even my profession. However, I would workout and workout and never get any results so I would eventually get frustrated and throw in the towel. I know that I was benefiting from the heart health effects of daily exercise….. But I wanted results in the means of the numbers going down on the scale.
I had a good friend who was doing insanity and was saying how tough it was but that she could really see changes in her body. So I decided to give it a try. The first day I thought I was going to die, the second day was even worse. But before I knew it , I was loving those crazy workouts. I stuck with it and did the entire 2 month program and never skipped a single workout. The past two months I have not been as strict. I even went over 2 weeks without a single workout. I got busy and let itntake the backseat, but I am back on track. I am starting the entire thing over again and plan to again do the 2 months without missing.
I am very proud to say that this program has worked for me. I have lost almost 40 pounds since I started. Now THAT will keep me motivated.

Here is my top 5 reasons I love insanity.

1. You can do it anywhere and at anytime. I always struggled with going to the gym or for a run outside. What was I going to do with Audra-Grace while I did that. With this I can do it while she plays in another room. I was even able to easily take the DVD’s on vacation and do them in our rented vacation house.
I am a night owl,  There are times that I dont start my workout  until after 10pm. Sometimes even after midnight. The flexibility works for me.
2. There was a print of schedule that told me what to do everyday. My Type A personality loved this. I couldn’t lay my head down at night without doing whatever that day said to do and marking that day off with a red x.
3. I never get bored , and the time goes by quickly.
4. Shaun T makes me laugh…. His crazy sayings always come at the perfect time. He is also very motivating.
5. You know immediately you are working hard, by the sweat pouring off your face. The intervals of 3 minute intense workout and 30 second rest really work.

Help my iPad be more functional

I got an iPad for Christmas and until today I never used it much. I have become so accustomed to my phone that the iPad took a backseat to the iPhone for surfing the web, reading the paper, facebook, twitter, etc. Today I am home sick from work and I decided I was going to make this iPad more useful. I actually want it to function more as a computer. I have a Mac that I get through work, however I don’t really like to use it for personal use. Daniel has a laptop, but he rarely is not using it… So its hard for me to get it away from him long enough to do anything.
Does anyone have any apps that they love for their iPad that help it to function more as a computer. Document writing ( I am a huge fan of Microsoft word), printing ( I have a wireless printer) etc.

House Update

Dont you just love how you always think “oh, I should have done that” after the fact. I had one of those moments last week while working in our new house. I should have been documenting each phase of the renovation, or maybe even kept a blog on it it. But the reality is, I didn’t even take a before picture. I think Daniel has a few on his phone. It just would have been neat to have been able to go back and look at all of the changes. This project has been our life for the past 2 months and I am GLAD to see it coming to an end. We finally got it painted and now all we lack is laying the tile floor in the kitchen, bath, and laundry room and having our cabinets installed. Then it will be time to clean up and move in. YAY!!

Blessed

We are in the middle of our new house renovation and as I was over there working today I could only think one thing….. How blessed Daniel, Audra-Grace, and I are. When we decided to purchase a home and totally renovate it before we moved in we knew we were taking on a huge project. When people ask me how much of it Daniel is doing himself I say that the list is shorter if I tell you what he is not doing. I have defiantly seen how incredibly talented my husband is over the past few weeks.(of course I already knew he was talented) Where I am feeling so blessed is that we have so many family members and friends willing to help. I can stop by the house at just about any time and find someone over there lending a helping hand. I know that this is taking away from their own families and things they have to do. We are very blessed to have so many people who work in some for of the construction business who can share their expertise when Daniel may not be skilled in the area.
As I write this the Sheetrock is going up, thanks to my uncle who came all the way from New Jersey to help with this. This week we hope to have all of the electrical work done, the drywall finished, and have the house cleaned up so that we can begin painting. Tomorrow they are coming to measure for cabinets and counter tops. It will take two weeks to get these in and we hope to have all of the painting done during those two weeks. Right now we are hoping to be in the house in mid February.
Thanks again to everyone who has helped us during this process. I am so grateful and it means so much to us.
Here are some pictures I took while at the house today.

Today I went back to work after two weeks off. It is always bittersweet to return after time away. I miss the sleeping in and having everything orderly while I am at hone during the day. I can actually keep the laundry done, house cleaned, and food on the dinner table. But I enjoy working as well and love the routine it gives me. It was so good to get back to all of my co-workers, whom I adore. Tomorrow the kids come back and I can’t wait to see all of their smiling faces.

This Christmas

Whew!!! Another Christmas has come and gone. It was super busy but a lot of fun. For the two weeks leading up to Christmas our calendar was booked with parties and events. We enjoy getting out and seeing everyone but it sure wears me out. Our family festivities started a week ago with the Binkley crew. We love them so much and always enjoy when they come in from Alabama. Aura-Grace had so much fun playing with her cousins. Christmas Eve was spend with the Parker part of the family. One again more fun. We then headed off to Christmas Eve Service at Grace Community Church. It was amazing to see a standing room only crowd. I am so blessed that Grace is our church home. Christmas morning was so special. Audra-Grace is at an age now where she semi-understands what’s going on and who Santa is. Another bonus was having my mom home this year. She works as a flight attendant and is usually working on Christmas day. I loved that she was able to be with us. Christmas afternoon was spent with Daniels mother and sister Tina and her girls. We don’t see them that often due to everyones busy schedules but we love it when we are able to get together. Now it’s all over. The decorations are put away and the tree is down. I spent today getting the house back in order (actually my house is never really in order).

I am most grateful for what Christmas is really all about, my savior Jesus Christ.

Now for the next thing on the list…. Operation Renovation.

I hope this holiday season found each of you full of love and peace.

Easy as 123

I got an iPad today for Christmas and I am amazed at how easy it is to update my blog from it. I am feeling so in touch with technology. I just joined the twitter world today as well. Maybe this will help me to update more regularly. I always have such good intentions….. But we see how that works.

Thanksgiving 2010

I am thankful for the many blessings in my life every day, but in honor of Thanksgiving I have decided to share my the ten things I am most thankful for this year.

1. My relationship with God

This year I have become very active in my church, Grace Community Church, and through that my relationship with Jesus has strengthened. I love growing with others in my walk with Christ. My Wednesday night bible study and Tuesday night community group have both been such a blessing to me.

2. My family

I cannot say enough about my family. Every single day I am thankful for my sweet little girl and amazing husband. I cannot imagine my life without them. I am also thankful for all of the extended family. We have seen it all and can get through just about anything. I love each of you.

3. My friends

Ahhhh…… my wonderful friends. Just don’t know what I would do without them. They get me through the best and worst of times. One of the best things about friends is that we all have our own craziness, so just when you think your have the most awful, horrific, scary,  humiliating thing going on they have usually had something similar. Just lets you know its really not so bad. I love my girls nights, my lunch dates, time spent with my friends and our families, and those little text that just get you through the day. I am very thankful for my friends… old and new.

4. My job

I am lucky enough to say I get to get up and go to a job I love each and every day. I have the best people to work with (adults and kids). My administration is the best and I am thankful everyday I get work for them. I have also made several great friendships with some of the people I work with – they make it so fun to be there. The entire team at Rossview is wonderful. I wish I could comment on each one of them. I can’t comment on my job and not talk about the kids. My students make my day…. seeing there smiling faces everyday is such a great feeling. And plus – what about PE  is not fun.

5. My brothers health

 I am so proud of my little brother. He is growing into one pretty amazing man. Love, Love, Love him.

6. My city

I LOVE Clarksville. If you are reading this you probably know me well enough to know that Daniel and I are both very proud Clarksvillians. Our city has some pretty great things going on. I am so thankful I get to raise my little girl here.

7. My soon to be new house

The purchase of a home is always a big decision and we finally made that decision. I am going to miss this condo and not having to take care of a yard. But, I am ready to have somewhere for Audra-Grace to play outside. And if that means mowing grass, then thats what we will do 🙂

8. Memories

Isn’t it great that we always have our memories. I am thankful for memories this year.

9. Freedom

I am so grateful to live in a country where I am free. I appreciate from the bottom of my heart all of those who fight for my freedom. I also appreciate the family members who allow their loved ones to fight for me. 

10. Facebook

I know this one seems a little weird. But seriously, I am thankful for facebook. Not in the I’m stalking you out kind of way. But in the way it brings people together. I love that I can reconnect with old friends, see pictures of loved ones, wish people a happy birthday, and be informed of things going on in others lives. 

Well, there is my list. 

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for.