Looking Back on 2008

The highlight of the year ... welcoming our first grandchild into the world. Nathanael Israel Wuenschel joined our family on July 9th and our lives will never be the same!!

WHERE OR WHERE ....

Ok, here's the question that is consuming most of my time lately. To where does God want us to move? This is what we know for sure -- unless my business picks up soon, we will have to sell our house and move some place where it will be cheaper to live. The dilemma, of course, is that we don't want to be so far away from our kids that we never get to see them. The "kids", however, have not made the decision easy. With David and Mary in Arizona and Kim, Jacob and Nathanael in South Carolina, how do we find a place that is close to all of them? And there is the added issue of where God will lead Jacob and Kim to a new job and possible new place to live. There was NOTHING about any of this in the parenting books I read while raising our family :-(



Here is the other thing I know for sure. I am eating my way through this dilemma and that is not good .... not good at all. 2009 begins in a little more than 24 hours. I have a list of things that I want to accomplish in the new year and losing weight is close to the top. So, please pray with me that God will soon reveal to us the path He has planned and that He will give us the wisdom to see it.

The Days We Are Given

It has never been clearer to me more so than now that, like the song "We Live" says ... the days we are given are gifts from above." The past few weeks have been filled with sad news: Sedora's death, Paul's battle to live, good friends facing surgery, others facing major heartbreaks. Being so sick and feeling so poorly this last week, has helped me to realize that through it all, each day truly is a gift from God and that we are "to live and to love" and we are "to forgive and never give up." My prayer for today is that my family and friends know that they are God's most precious blessings in my life and that life is worth living because of Jesus and because of what each of them means to me.
I don't know what the future holds, or how many more days God will give me on this earth; but I do know that I "trust in the Lord with all of my heart." John and I face major decisions about our future -- selling our home, where to move, future employment, medical issues. I miss my kids so much and, more than anything, want to see them more frequently. I spend endless time reading and viewing Kim's blog so that I can watch Nathanael grow from being a little (I mean big) baby into a little boy; but watching and reading does not make a relationship. When David and Mary find the woman and man that God has set aside for them, I want to be there to get to know them. I look forward to the days when I can spend more time with the people that mean the most to me in the whole world. Until then, I'm going to "get out and do what I was meant to do" ... to live and to love.

I'm Hoping That Jesus Comes Tomorrow

I don't want to wake up on Wednesday and find that the President of the United States is not John McCain, so I'm praying really hard that Jesus will come tomorrow and take all of His children home with Him. This presidential election has given me more gray hair (which has been nicely hidden by my wonderful hairstylist, Megan), shorter nails (due to nail biting), weight gain (due to eating my way thru frustration) and an overwhelming sense of dread. I have continued to pray for the candidates and their families throughout the last few months. I have been praying for our country. I have been praying that all Americans, regardless of party affiliation, will turn their hearts towards God and base their votes solely on what they find in His Word.
For the first time ever, I'm scared about what the future holds for our country. My mind cannot comprehend what is in store for us if Obama becomes our next president. The future of our country is truly at stake and I worry about what kind of place this will be for my children and grandchildren. Will the sacrament of marriage survive? Will more babies be murdered thru abortion? Will judges decide who lives and who dies because of a government-run healthcare system? Will I be able to afford to keep my small business?
In talking about the election at lunch with friends on Sunday after church, I said that "I hope God gives us what we need and not what we deserve." Mitch, a good friend, replied "but what if what we need is the person who will make us understand that we got what we deserved." It could be that God will give us the person who will make it clear how far our country has travelled from Him. Is God looking down from His throne saying "What will it take to get your attention?" Probably ... but I sure hope that God's plan is for the rapture to happen tomorrow or that He has a bit more patience and allows McCain to try his hand at governing this country.

WITHDRAWAL

I've heard that the first step to recovery for an addict is to admit that he/she is one. So, I am admitting it. I am addicted to holding my grandson. The problem is that I am sure there is no recovering from this. We spent a much too short of a weekend in Spartanburg visiting Nathanael and his parents. Holding him is better than chocolate (Oh, my gosh, I can't believe I said that!). If I didn't have to work, I would buy a second home in SC and spend at least every other week there so that I could see (and hold) that precious little boy all of the time. Of course, Kim and Jacob might get tired of me and move to Idaho (or some other strange land). I am determined to be a big part of this little guy's life (and the life of all of my future grandchildren), so I have to figure out what the best way is to make sure that happens. Perhaps a motor home is in our future ... who knows! I still think there should be a law making it illegal for children to move so far away from their parents that it becomes a mental, emotional and financial hardship to the parents.

When I Grow Up ...

For quite some time now, I've been thinking about what I might want to do once the abstracting business is no longer lucrative (which may be sooner than I want it to be). One of the questions we always ask our kids is "What do you want to be when you grow up?". I have been asking myself that same question a lot during the last year, but it has only been recently that I've taken that question to God. Just this morning, I think He answered it.



Here's my plan .... I am going to make an appointment with a college guidance counselor (either AACC or the U of MD) and look into finally finishing what I started 39 years ago -- getting my bachelor's degree. I have an associate's degree, but that is where I stopped (a decision that I have regretted for a long, long time). Each time I thought about going back, there was always something or someone else that needed attention or money. I think it is finally my turn and I want to see what my options are. I'm thinking that I would like to start taking classes towards a degree in hospitality. As I look at my strengths and weaknesses, I know that I love making people feel welcome and special; I enjoy entertaining; I love being around people. I am terrible with math; I don't think logically and science has never been a subject I enjoyed. Just blogging about this is inspiring me. I'm thinking of all of the possibilities ... a concierge, a travel agent, opening up my own catering business, managing a CRACKER BARREL :-)



I want to remember this quote from Rick Warren in his book "A Purpose Driven Life" ...

Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime,

but small opportunities surround us everyday.

Even thru such simple acts as telling the truth,

being kind and encouraging others, we bring a

smile to God's face.

No matter what the future holds, I want to serve my God and to bring a smile to His face.

Procastinating

UGH! I typed my first ever blog, previewed it, tried to make a grammatical correction and it DISAPPEARED. This is certainly not a good sign. Now, what was I saying ....

Oh, yeah, I said that I am writing this because I don't want to clean my house. I am home alone (except for the dog and cats) since John and Lorn left this morning to take Joshua to his new home in NY. I like being alone sometimes but I don't think I'd like it for more than a day. I am sitting here thinking of all of the things that need to get done. I am such a procrastinator. Give me a short deadline and I can accomplish almost anything. Give me an entire day and I can waste it away and never accomplish what I set out to do. I have been up for several hours (first at 3:30, again at 7:15 and for good at 9:10). I need to get dressed and get to work cleaning this castle! By now I should have been dressed, exercised at the gym for an hour, and at least started on this cleaning activity. But, nope, haven't done any of that. I have managed to wash the dishes from last night, let the dog out twice, answered the phone (a telemarketer call for Mary who has been in AZ for almost two years), baked 6 choc chip cookies and ate 5 of them -- so much for my Weight Watchers program.

I am addicted to Kim's blog (check it out ... www.wuenschel.blogspot.com) I can't get enough of looking at Nathanael's pictures and hearing about how much he is growing/changing. I think I need a webcam and one for the Wuenschel computer so I can SEE the most precious baby in the world (and his parents, too). I thought having my children move so far away (Dave & Mary in Mesa, AZ and Kim in Spartanburg, SC) was the worst thing in the world. Now, it is even "more worst" with my first grandbaby so far away. I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT! I am certain that it was never God's plan to have grandchildren live so far away from their grandparents!!

Alright, now that I have given myself over to self-pity, it is time to take back control and set out to do what I intended when I got up this morning (each time I got up) ... CLEAN. So, I'm off to get dressed, find the vaccuum cleaner, the dust rags, a bucket and mop and get to work. Between Olympic breaks and checking for a new Wuenschel blog, maybe I will have the house cleaned by midnight.