Follow In Their Footsteps

Cara Lynn and Cynthia taking a short break doing one of the things they do best...chat.

When I think of people who have had the most influence in my life these two wonderful ladies are right there near the top. Cara Lynn and Cynthia both discipled (mentored) me over the years starting my senior year of college when I joined the college group at a local church. Being that I stayed for graduate school and am now still living in the same town, they have had the opportunity to have a LONG impact. While I don't see Cynthia often these days, I am still so thankful for her teaching me to truly study the Word, to disciple other women and to lead bible studies. "Grandma Cara Lynn" is still one of my nearest and dearest friends and has listened to me, cried with me, prayed with me and enjoyed life with me for years. Not to mention that for the past five years she has been watching the Little Miss one day/week while I am at work. I love this woman. These ladies have had a major impact in the lives of hundreds (even thousands!) of women, including most of my closest friends. They are such examples for the importance of taking the time to invest in others and to share the love of Christ. I can only hope and pray that I will be able to follow in their footsteps.

Season of Change

It is officially September and while it is not quite Fall, the feeling that we are entering into a season of change is upon our family. I admit that I am struggling with anticipation of entering into new life stages, as minor as the changes truly are. God has been reminding me, "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1). A time to be born, a time to heal...a time for our daughter to start school....and a time for Yours Truly to change jobs.

Our girl's first day of preschool is this week and while she has still not comprehended it is just days away, Yours Truly already has butterflies thinking about it. I am not sure what is bothering me the most: the change in our daily routine, the idea that she will be in {gulp!} school or the thought that it means even less time at home together. Pretty sure it's a combo of all three. Good thing it is only a few half days/week and we know the Little Miss is going to adore her pre-K teacher!

On top of the school transition, Yours Truly will be making a {much needed} job change. You see, back in May after clear prompting by God {and supporting confirmation from my hubby after yet another work-related emotional breakdown of his wife}, I approached my boss and asked to be moved out of my technically-part-time-but-often-requiring-lots-of-additional-hours-and-stress management position into a part-time project manager role. God showed favor and opened the doors for that to happen, officially beginning mid-September. While I am actually excited about THIS change, it does mean reporting to a new boss who will doing what I have been doing for years, and ensuring a humble spirit in the process. Having confidence that God directed this change will make the transition easier and I am very thankful for the opportunity. On top of everything else though, it is feeling like yet another ripple in the current.

While I normally think of myself as being a change-seeker and one who likes challenges, right now I am struggling with embracing the unknown and not worrying about the future. In the spirit of starting school, my own homework assignment for the week is to reflect on Luke 12 and Jesus' reminder, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes....Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?..But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." (Luke 12:22-31).

Yes, we are entering into a season of change but there is nothing to worry about or fear. These concerns are minor in comparison to what many of you are facing. Our upcoming changes will simply be "routine" before we know it. Who knows, by the end of next week, Yours Truly may even be fully embracing the change. Just maybe.

My New Favorite Day

Photos from: Pictures of Hope

One of my closest early childhood friends recently started a blog called, My New Favorite Day. Reading it daily has been a good reminder as to why our family is forming a team and raising funds for the upcoming March of Dimes walk. In a nutshell, my friend has 18 month-old twins (a girl, E and boy, Q) who were born at 28 weeks 4 days gestation (that's just 2 days gestation before our own girl). Q spent a couple of months in the hospital, similar to our own Little Miss. E on the other hand ended up staying 4 months and has still been on oxygen ever since. About 3 weeks after she was home she stopped breathing. Completely. Praise the Lord she was resuscitated but she is still struggling with significant developmental, motor and sensory processing issues. She receives therapy 6 days/week and the physicians keep tossing around words like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Dystonia, and Special Needs. Her parents don't yet know the full extent of the damage and yet, have hope and determination to make every day, regardless of the trials, their New Favorite Day. This is why we are walking. To support families like my friend's. Families that have gone through, those that are currently going through, and those that will eventually go through a premature birth. Most importantly, to help prevent them from occurring in the first place and to encourage preventive research and best practice prenatal care. Thank you to all of you who have already donated or signed up to join our team in the March of Dimes walk, we greatly appreciate your support.

If you are still interested, you may sign up for the April 30th walk or help support our team and the March of Dimes by making a donation at this link or on the side bar of this blog.

Extended Arms

Just a quick update from the Wagner household...things have been busy the past few months and have just quadrupled in "busy-ness". Yours Truly traveled to Missouri last week for work and then got a hefty surprise upon my return. I was told that I would be overseeing another team at work (with 40 people and counting) on an interim basis. Needless to say, I've been feeling overwhelmed and am doing a lot of praying about how to get to a better family-work-life balance (wanting to be much more heavy on the "family" side of things!). I am thankful this is only temporary but it can't be over soon enough from my perspective (poor Mr. Wagner agrees since the added stress certainly doesn't help his wife's temperament!).

All of which leads me to what I've been mulling over lately...Isn't it awesome to know that no matter what our "life" situation, God is in control? I love that He is right there beside us with extended arms, just waiting for us to reach out and allow Him to carry our burdens.

Jesus, carry away!...and Calgon, take me away!
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Post-Update (5/4/10): A friend reminded me today that I shared a prayer request at our home fellowship group a few weeks ago about being too self-reliant and that I felt I needed to be better about giving things over to God. To think that many people wonder if God is truly faithful to answer our prayers (even when we should obviously think twice about what we are asking for)! Lesson learned.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 from the West Coast Wagners! We hope that you were able to welcome the new year with gusto. We are looking forward to 2010 and experiencing all that God has planned for our family.

In lieu of a traditional resolution, Yours Truly decided that I would try the suggestion to be mindful of a specific "word" or "theme" throughout the course of the year. Not able to decide on just one, I settled on two, seemingly very different, words: 1) joy and 2) discipline.

Joy because I've come to a place in my life where I can confidently say I have true joy. This joy is not based on the world's definition; it's not a never-ending happy feeling based on life's circumstances. The joy that I'm referring to is only given from Jesus and is the "ability to exceedingly rejoice" no matter what comes your way. I can honestly say that I have deep joy and peace, a contentedness in the Lord and all that He has given me. Throughout 2010, I want to be mindfully aware of the joy that God has given me, regardless of emotions, prosperity or trials.

Discipline has been the other word on my heart as of late. It's a characteristic that I need to give better attention. According to my dear friend Webster, discipline is "training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character". While I'm far from perfect in my mental faculties, the discipline to which I'm referring is more focused on my character. Throughout the year, I'd like to reflect on ways to be better disciplined:

• In the use and management of my time
• In my spiritual walk and study of the scriptures
• In physical activity and healthy eating habits
• In my approach to parenting

All that to say, in 2010, I will strive to be mindful of the joy that comes from the Lord and will do my best to encourage others to do the same. And, while I hope 2010 is not a year full of BEING disciplined, I personally hope to cultivate better spiritual discipline in my life.

Is there a word or theme that YOU want to focus on this coming year?

Watch Where You're Walking

You may have thought that this was bad however I "one upped" myself yesterday when the Little Miss and I were out walking on a trail near our home.

This time I had the lovely experience of stepping on a large (though thankfully harmless) snake. No, this was not a mere garter snake. While I have yet to actually figured out the type, this snake was several inches in circumference and was at least three feet long. If you think this is just another "I caught a fish THIS big" story, here's proof; I managed to step full force on Mr. Snake with both the heel of one foot and the toe of the other. Regardless, he survived, seemingly unaffected as he slithered off. Of COURSE I wasn't just "unaffected"!!! As soon as the realization set in that I was stepping on something squishy, large and alive, I leaped into the air like a high jumper in training. Mid-air I looked down and immediately followed with a loud scream when I saw what "it" was. Unfortunately this time there were no witnesses who can confirm the snake's significant mass and attest to my Olympic qualifying leaping abilities. The Little Miss was with me but she was safely snuggled away in her Chariot (Praise the Lord!).

Want to know the real irony in the story? I was actually looking up at black birds in the trees thinking, "please don't splat!", thus the reason I missed seeing the serpent to begin with.

Lesson Learned: Don't let your fears get the best of you. No matter the circumstances around you, always keep your eyes on the road ahead.

Splat!

I am happy to report that I successfully faced one of my worst (semi) fears today. No, I didn't lose a loved one and no one was hurt in the process. The dreaded situation that I was forced to encounter was becoming the personal "dropping" post for a bird. Crazy, total irrational fear? 100% agreed. Real? Completely. (In my defense, who ever said I was rational?).

Though I've dreaded the experience for as long as I can remember, I knew it was bound to happen some day (considering that we have hundreds of geese in the fields near our home all winter long). Today was the day. Our small family had just headed out for a leisurely stroll when suddenly I felt it, the sense of something hitting me from above.

How did I respond? Exactly as you'd imagine the ever-so-slightly-dramatic-one that I can be. A man walking across the street seemed to get a good laugh. I was personally proud of the fact that I didn't cry or scream (too loud). When I told Mr. Wagner that I thought I was handling it better than I'd expected, he replied, "Ummmm...yeah. Reeeeally, well."

I did learn a lesson out of this; There is always something to be thankful for regardless of the "mess" of a situation. Today, I was sure thankful it wasn't a whole flock of geese.