As Greg is telling us the full story, Ryan is staring in disbelief as am I.  We decided then and there that we were going.  We didn’t know HOW we would come up with the money. But we knew that if it was God’s will, He would provide and show us the way.

The next day, Greg saw the truck again–I now thought that God was having fun and just continuing to show Greg the answer. God DOES have a sense of humor, you know.

We now needed to work hard on raising the money for this trip and we had about 3 months to do it.  I am so proud of my son. He worked hard to raise the money by working for others for a donation to the trip.  He is a hard worker and found out that raking leaves is not all that it’s cracked up to be.  But, he did it to help someone and he did it for the trip.

I held a garage sale this early fall with the help of a friend.  It was my ONLY profitable garage sale and we know it was only because of God.

We were also blessed with others donating once they heard the story and our plan because they believe in their heart the life lessons that will be learned on a trip like this that cannot be taught in any classroom.  They believe in God.

As the deadline for our money came to a close, we were a little short of our goal. It was a Friday night and the phone rang.  Out of the blue, a person that we knew called because she had talked with someone else who had shared Ryan’s story.  She talked to a few people she knew and they had decided that they wanted to donate to the trip and would we meet her in the morning?  She had a check!  Ryan could work in the spring when the weather was better, but they wanted to give us the check now.  The check that came at the midnight hour for us was exactly what we needed!!!  God is GREAT!

As I was driving today, tears came to my eyes as I thought about all that has happened in the past 3-4 months and what God has allowed to come our way.  It is amazing that we are going on this trip to El Salvador in 3 weeks. THREE WEEKS!  It really hit me because today we received most of our official information about the trip including luggage tags.   That ALWAYS makes a trip official, right?

Stay tuned in as I will share more along the way and while we are on our trip.

Take Action 4 what you want and pray to see if it is God’s will. If it is, then He will take care of you.  He always does.

~Melanie

I shared in the summer when my son came home from Big Stuf camp that he had a desire to go on a mission trip. I had the same desire, but never vocalized it until he shared his desire.  As a family, we had decided that yes, Ryan and I should go on our church’s mission trip that happens in the winter.  But as the announcement was made with the details, we realized that day sitting in church, that financially we couldn’t do it. It was double the price I had thought it would be (not sure where I got that price in my head, but I did).   We were both heart broken, but decided that as a family, we would save and go on the one that would be in 2013. THAT was doable!

Very early fall, we were asked about going and I had given our story.  We were asked to have our family pray about it for 4 days and then give our final answer. WOW is all I can say to those 4 days.

My heart and mind were consumed with praying about what God’s will was for us regarding the mission trip. God knows all, so what was HIS will?  I found myself praying incessantly.  I was consumed with hearing God’s answer for us.  I had also prayed to God to have my husband also hear what we were to do as I knew this was a complete family decision. We all had to be on board.

Greg works outside on a “rock crusher” in a recycling yard.  He cannot hear anything BUT that machine during the day.  They are set up near an interstate, but cannot see it due to the tree line except for one small opening that gives him a millisecond to possibly see a semi go by.

On the 1^st full day of praying, Greg came home from lunch and for some reason, Ryan was there with us.  He shared what happened that morning (I knew because he had texted me as soon as it happened).  As he was on the crusher, he had been praying and asking God what He wanted us to do and what His will was for us and the mission trip. He asked if God could just really tell him and hit him over the head with the answer so that there would be no doubt.  (At this point, I told him that asking to be hit over the head was not a good idea since he works around heavy machinery!).

Greg turned around at 1036am to face the interstate and in that one small opening, he saw a Semi drive by. It was one of those tankers that carry liquid, possibly fuel. This one was the brightest chrome he had ever seen on a truck. On that chrome, in what looked like 6 foot bold, black letters, were the words: Jesus Is The Answer      WOW    Greg said he immediately thought: ok, God. I hear you and that is your answer. They need to go on the mission trip. Right?

Stay tuned for the REST of the story

TakeAction4 what you want

~Melanie

Do you love your job?  I love mine!!  I get to help others improve their lives in several ways.  That alone is gratifying–helping people.  That is probably why I became a RN in my younger years.  I loved helping new mothers learn how to take care of their newborns and have them feel empowered to go home with them, sometimes even after only a 24 hour stay.

But now my job has changed.  I have been blessed to be able to work from home full-time for the past 7 years.   I set my schedule and work it around the family schedule.  I am now able to pick up my children if they are ever ill at school. They don’t have to wait in the nurse’s office or wait for a grandparent to bring them home. I get to do that and that is how it should be.

But I also love the extra perks of my job.  Twice a year my company takes me away for a leaders retreat for 4 days.  We have great training scheduled for us, we learn first-hand any updates or new ideas that are going to be publicized to the rest of the company.  They answer our questions and we get the time to engage in speaking with other leaders that we normally wouldn’t be able to meet up with. We share ideas and brain storm.  The resorts we go to are 5-star and beautiful!!!   Food is abundant and fabulous.  It is relaxing to be able to have fun evening with other Executive leaders and see everyone ‘let their hair down’.

I am not sure if other corporations do the same for their leadership team, but I tell you what–they SHOULD. It is a great way to re-charge, re-commit and realize again and again why you love what you do.

My Company TakesAction4Freedom for everyone–yours should too!!!

~Melanie

Image via Wikipedia

October always reminds me about the seasons and all the changes that come with it.  Fall is a beautiful time of year, one of my favorite, but it never seems to last long enough.

I love the warm days and the cool nights. The hardest part is being able to know how to dress!  We start out with pants, short sleeve shirt and then sometimes a jacket. By 1pm we need shorts and a t-shirt, then at 7pm we are back to long pants and a jacket.  As much as that can drive people crazy (especially moms with little ones), I would not give up these months for anything.

I love bonfires, cool air and perfect temperatures. With that bring roasted hot dogs, chili and smores. Smores are not the healthiest snack for you but WOW are they delicious!

What do you think of when October comes around on your calendar?  We are coming close to ending our football season. There will be a short break and then the Holidays start (that is an entirely different blog).  Football has been so much fun—watching the boys come together as a team this year and really work hard.  They are having a great season which reflects in their hard work.  It’s been our social life for the past 6 weeks so it will be interesting when it ends.

New friendships, new activities, always changing~ the cycle of life!   My best advice would be to tell you to take a deep breath, stop, smell the air and enjoy this time.  I had the blessing of visiting my best friend for a week in September that puts life in perspective. I will share that with you later so be sure to come back!  Just know, she is learning to enjoy every single minute of her life with family and not to sweat the small stuff.

Take Action for your changing seasons

~Melanie

Image via Wikipedia

Summer has officially ended for our family. Why do I say that?  Because Labor Day has come and gone; this is the ‘ending of summer landmark’ for us.

Our Labor Day tradition started years ago, so many that I cannot remember when we started it.  Growing up on a private lake we were able to ski, swim, layout in the sun all summer long. I remember many times when we would not swim choosing instead to stay inside with the air conditioning.   When you move away, you realize how much you took that lake for granted and would do what you could to get back to it.

Labor Day has become the official unofficial time when our family converges on to my parents’ house at the lake.  IF they are home (usually they are but we need to check!), everyone starts heading home.  Some will arrive on Friday, some on Saturday and even more on Sunday.  Whenever we can make it, we arrive.  Of course, the arrival goal is Friday because if others are there before you, several fabulous conversations will have taken place without you there and that cannot happen!  These are fun, loud, long conversations that no one wants to be left out of.  You would understand what I am talking about if you are there for just one.

This year, most of us arrived on Saturday. What a beautiful day –sunny and hot—just what was ordered! All 7 cousins were together this time and they all had a blast being together swimming, tubing and just hanging out.  Most of the adults/parents were there as well.  Our adult numbers change as life goes on and we know they are in Heaven looking down and laughing with us!

The theme of the weekend is to spend the time together chatting, eating, playing cards, eating, swimming, relaxing, eating and playing cards.  Great food that we all bring and now we have even gotten to the point where we order some of it to keep things easy!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their holiday weekend and I can only pray that everyone also has a great family like we do so that you can have your own family traditions!

If not, start one for your own family right now. You will be so glad you did as your family grows.

TakeAction4 your traditions!

~Melanie

We sure seemed busy and the time definitely went fast. Our kids get out early so summer starts for us towards the end of May.

This year we took our vacation early to beat everyone else to Florida. J  We had the ability to take two of our nephews with us which worked great having someone else for our kids to play with instead of each other.  We love Florida! Mainly we love having the sun, pools, beaches, palm trees and relaxation. Who doesn’t like to be in ‘vacation mode’?

For the first time ever, we took an airboat ride south of Kissimee.  It was a small thrill riding on top of the water with air and water blowing in our faces while learning about nature in the area. Most of what we saw, we had never seen before and I think it was a great way to show us that there is more to Florida then Amusement Parks. Too bad I cannot title the pictures on my camera as I take them since I forget the names of what we saw by the time I upload them.

Now don’t get me wrong– I LOVE Disney and all they offer. It’s a magical place where nothing bad ever happens on property.   Even my son enjoys all there is to offer.  Epcot was our choice this time and even though some started out thinking a full day would be too long (not me, I knew I wouldn’t have enough time!), they learned that a 2^nd day would have made it even better!!  Ending our day there with our own mixture of Jelly Belly’s (black licorice and Dr. Pepper for me) and fireworks was the icing on the cake.

After that our summer was filled with Youth group camp, football camp and weekends away visiting family.

I am very thankful that I do work from home and not a RN schedule so that we are free to pick up and leave for 3 days when and if we want.

I do look forward to school starting for everyone only because I like a schedule I can count on!!

What did you do with your summer? I’d love for you to reply here and let me know!

~Melanie

TakeAction4Freedom.com

Several years ago, about 4 or so, she was in swimming lessons for a while at the YMCA.  The problem wasn’t that she didn’t learn; it was that she didn’t have enough time to learn.  It doesn’t make sense, does it?  It would if you were there with me.  She cried and carried on so much during the lessons that she would have to keep getting out to blow her nose. I would sit in the pool area with her, but she would continue to cry and carry on. It was heart wrenching.  I got to the point that I would say to the parents next to me (because you KNEW they were thinking “what is that woman going to do with her kid!”) that she cries at all the new things, I am really not a bad mother, but she just has to learn how to swim!  They would smile nicely and agree with me.  As my daughter continued to cry; The.entire.time.  So we stopped because I couldn’t take it anymore.

Until last week.  All these years in between, she has loved being in the pool, lake, ocean.  Loves to swim and play. She goes underwater and everything.  I just wanted her to know the swimming strokes and get better so we would be more confident.

Monday was her first lesson and apparently there are no notes given to the instructors; just the names and ages of the children.  Over to the ‘other side’ of the pool she went for her lesson.  They told her to freestyle.  She doesn’t know what freestyle is. I tell them she is a beginner and needs to learn.  They show her once. She freestyles perfectly all the way down and all the way back.

She is asked to do the back stroke. She doesn’t know what that is. The nice instructor shows her.  She back strokes all the way down and back.

Then, they talk about the breaststroke.  Yes, you got it!  They show her the leg movements then the arm movements.  She does it!

They are amazed. As am I!    She did fabulous and ended up with a private lesson for 50 minutes.  On the way out my daughter informed me that she learned a lot more here than years ago. I reminded her she learned more now because she didn’t cry and have to get out to blow her nose!  She laughed.  I asked how she just did all those strokes right away and well, was she too scared to tell them no?  YES, she said.  Too funny.

Timing is everything!!

It was the time for her to TakeAction4 her swimming

~Melanie

Over the past few months have I thought more about this and what it means.  When I grew up, I became a RN.  Not sure what led me into that profession but that is what I am.  I loved what I did and was not bad at it either.  Since then, I have run a home business that has allowed me to be home full-time for my family. I completely replaced my income and more. Never could I work as a RN and earn what I earn from home.

But, some days, do you wonder if there is more to life? Are you doing all that you can or should be doing for your life or are you just moving day-to-day?  Don’t get me wrong—we are all very busy and the days go fast, don’t they?  I’ve wondered over the past few months if I should be doing more in addition to what I am already doing.

I’ve prayed for quite a while to ask God if I am doing all I am to be doing and to make sure I am on the right path.  Problem is, I have a hard time being quiet to hear the answer! But then last week I received a call from my son at 1AM!  He was at youth camp and that is the time he had to call me.  He told me that he thought he was going to be something different when he grew up than what he originally thought.  I asked how he knew that and he told me that every time he would put up to God what he wanted to be, a different answer would come back. He’d put up another career and that same different career would be answered back to him.    Here is my son, asking and HEARING his answer.  I was speechless. (I know that is hard for some of you to believe).

Ironic thing is, what he wants to do in this next year is exactly what I had thought about doing for myself but never mentioned a word to anyone!  Now we will work on it together and I cannot wait to see the changes and fulfillment we will have.

Don’t be afraid to ask if there is anything else you could do for your life.  It most likely will not be what you can do for your own life, but what can you do for OTHERS and their life.  That is where the true fulfillment will come from–focusing on others and not yourself.

Take Action for your life—-live it fully

~Melanie

Read that quote again. Now read it again and read slower pausing after ‘gold’.  That quote is so true that most don’t believe it.  It reminds me of another quote “the one with the most toys wins”.

I believe that when you are young you believe the opposite of that quote.  In your early 20’s you get out of college to start working in the real world and start moving towards your goals.  Those goals may include renting an apartment for a while, purchasing a new vehicle because now you have a job with a consistent salary, traveling and eventually buying a house. Then, you have to furnish that house, decorate it and now you have upkeep and landscaping that no one really ever told you about!

Welcome to the grown up world and everything that comes with it. Aren’t you glad you’re here?

It’s as you grow older, wiser and follow God, you realize how true that quote has now become to you.  You cannot take any possessions or gold with you so why accumulate so much stuff?  It is about living your life, enjoying your life, and having a love for others.

Be satisfied and thankful for what you have and what God has given you.  It’s not about not wanting more for yourself; you do need to continue striving for your life’s goal and making a difference for others.  It just doesn’t have to be in what material items you purchase, but what good you do with your income and life.

Take Action for Freedom in your life (and freedom from the material world)

~Melanie