Lesson Learned: So much to be thankful for

Recently, I have became a contributed member of society again and got a part time job outside of home.  Keeping kids for others came and went but I still wanted the extra money.  One problem, now there seems to be not enough hours in the day to do what I need to do: cook, clean, work, school, homework, laundry, pay bills, appointments, errands, grocery shopping, play with Kenna, feed and take care of her, bathe her, bathe myself... It is already becoming overwhelming at times.

Well today, I didnt have to be at work until 2:30 so I was going to get up early and start de-cluttering (on going process at my house) and starting another Caritas pile.  Anyways, then after work was school, wal-mart, picking up my kid, coming home, maybe continue cleaning or doing homework... BUSY BUSY day and all I kept "secretly" griping about in my head was "We have TOO MUCH junk, too many clothes, too many toys, yadda yadda yaaaa" and "I hope I can "spring clean" for real this weekend." 

Before my feet hit the ground this morning, I checked my facebook and noticed one of my friends mentioned that one her friends lost their home in a fire last night.  I couldn't help but feel guilty and thankful at the same time. My thoughts went from complaing to "What if all of our "junk" was gone, what if we had no clothes, food, furniture, towels, toys, or toiletries?", "What if it was all gone?" It felt like I had ran into a brick wall.

I couldn't read that and not want to help.  I asked my friend about the sizes of the family and ages.  She said it was a family of 6, mom, dad, 4 or 6 year old boy; 3 year old girl, two year old girl and a 5 month old girl and told me their sizes as well. PERFECT.... I jumped outta bed and started packing up baby stuff: bottles, diaper bags, diapers, clothes, stroller, baby food, baby bath wash and lotion, etc. We also rounded up a few adult outfits as well as pots and pans and that is just the beginning!  We made our way out there, didn't meet the family but met the woman's step-dad, he said its a miracle they made it out in time.  The whole family was home at the time of the fire.  The dad apparently got up to use the bathroom in middle of the night, heard a popping noise from one of the kids rooms, went and check and it set the toy box on fire, he quickly gathered the family and got out. 

As both of the following sayings go and I truly believe, "God works in mysterious ways" and "One man's trash is another man's treasure". I am so glad my family could help another in need and I cannot wait to tear apart my storage building to see what else we can donate to them and hopefully help rebuild their future home.

My eyes and heart are also a little more open today and hopefully stay that way.  I may not have the nicest house or car, or a lot of money but I do have so much to be thankful for, and I have been BLESSED beyond measures with a loving family, food on the table, a roof over my head, good friends, an education in the works, freedom and much much more! My prayers from now on will definitely show more appreciation to God for all He has blessed me with in my life.

In closing I want to ask you keep this young family of 6 in your prayers, they have a long tough road ahead of them as they rebuild their home.

P.S.
Please don't think I am being arrogant or think I gained anything from this situation today except a very appreciated life lesson.  Although I was "killing two birds with one stone", I am happy I was able to de-clutter a bit but MORE happy we hopefully helped a little by giving this family our things.  I would much rather give my things away than profit by selling them any day of the week :)

Our growing girl!

It seems like every time I turn around we are having to buy or ask for hand-me-down clothes and/or shoes for Miss Kenna.  She sure is growing like a weed these days! As of now she WAS in need of a pair of LACE up tennis shoes NOT velcro because she takes them off before we leave the house.  You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find lace up toddler shoes at a decent price!  I searched Wal-Mart, Target, Family Dollar, Payless, leaving each store empty-handed of her shoes.  Today, I started my search again, FINALLY I found some at Rack Room shoes for the price of $34.99!!! Are you kidding me? I understand they were a name brand but come on, they are for TODDLERS, they will outgrow them in a month or two, maybe they will last for three months before they switch shoe sizes.  Anyways, I did think they were adorable so I was going to get them since I had no luck finding any, anywhere else! But, first I wanted to check out the clearance rack to see what I could find.... Low and behold... a pair of pink and silver off brand lace up shoes in Kenna's next size! It was only one of two pair that the store had and they had them marked at $8.  Needless to say the $34.99 ones went back on the shelf and off to the check-out I went... The cashier rang me up and she said "Oh, these are only $4!"..... Score!! I knew it took me a long time to find a pair for SOME reason! Of course since they were only $4 and not $34, I continued my shopping on her at a few other stores! Until next time folks, have a great week!

Trying Something New

Hi! I am getting tired of Facebook so I decided to try something new.  I have never blogged before so give a few days/weeks to set up shop and we will be ready to roll! Thank you for your patience! <3 Jess