While We Wait

Hi everyone,

I have been so busy, going in so many directions for so long, I haven’t updated my site on a regular basis. I think a good many of us are finding ourselves coming to that realization these days. It’s funny how we may have a list of things we want to do that is a mile long, but when life comes to a screeching halt, it takes us a bit to process it all and move forward in the new direction that is laid out before us. 

Waiting is never easy, is it? From the time we are kids this starts, but in our world where we have gotten so accustomed to life happening so instantaneously, having to wait can be challenging. This morning I reflected on a point in my life that feels like it was a lifetime ago.

In 1988 I moved to Germany. At that time we had no cell phones, and we could only call home once a week for about 30 minutes, because it was so expensive. Gas was rationed, because it was so expensive. We could only watch movies we bought, because the signal for the only American television station did not reach out village. We didn’t have PCs back then, so we wrote letters…we waited for letters…we waited for care packages that could often take weeks to arrive. I learned to sew then. I read a lot then. I made friends, and to this day we share an incredible bond. We were practicing social distancing before we even knew that would one day be a “thing”. So in this new time I find that drawing on my old experiences helps. Back then it would take me a few days to get my bearings during a deployment, and I find that the same is true today. I am a creative who loves alone time, so I know that I will have a routine down soon.

I am blessed that I can work from home. I am blessed that I have incredible family and friends. We practice social distancing to protect each other, and most importantly my precious miracle grand baby. While we wait I am writing, and working to finish developing my new website. While we wait I am working on some life goals that have been on my “to do list” for the last 10 years. While we wait I am doing everything I can to improve and protect my own health, because I know there is a lot of work that God still wants me to do while I am on this side of heaven.

So while we wait, what are you doing with your time?

I would love to hear from you!! 

Sending you a hug ~ Jen

Rest & Rejuvenate

Hi everyone!

Having felt under the weather for the past several days, I'm taking life at a little slower pace.  What's funny though is that sick or not, sometimes the words just hit me and I have to write.  And this can happen at any time of the day or night; so write I have done. 

As I sit here on this beautiful evening and listen to the squirrels call to each other and the water run in the creek after yesterday's rain I am reminded how as a writer I tend to see the little things. I notice the sound of the neighbor's geese in the distance; I can treasure the beauty of the woods while the cars pass by so hurriedly on the highway. The moment when the squirrels stop conversing among themselves and the crickets take over is like the strings in the symphony. It's kind of like life really, though sometimes life may swirl around us, it's up to us to stop and enjoy the view.

There are times when we are forced to slow down and then there are times when we must carve out time in our busy schedule to stop and take it all in. If there is one thing I have learned in my 50 years on this earth, life does go by in the blink of an eye.  When I have had to slow down, through no fault of my own, I always try see how I can use the experience.  Sometimes this isn't easy; sometimes it isn't fun; but ALWAYS it can make us stronger and often times wiser.

So while I rest, I write, and plan the next phases for my Curiosity Cottage - waiting with great anticipation the arrival of the lightening bugs, the wild jasmine, honey suckle & magnolias. I also pray I don't come across a coyote or bear, but hey, anything is possible in my little corner of the world. And as Helen Keller once said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." I'll take the adventure any day!

Until tomorrow...

When "Why" becomes "What"

Hi everyone,

It is funny how this week off from work has really brought me back in time…or maybe when we have to walk through storms in our lives, it is through clinging to the rays of sunshine that we once knew that help us endure until the storm passes.

Having spent time around a campfire this weekend, it took me back 30+ years to Thanksgiving spent in the woods with family and friends.  It was an age of innocence.  This Thanksgiving I was also reminded of my first Thanksgiving away from home in Germany.  It is not a holiday celebrated there and doing so on a snowy day far away from my family was a memory I will always cherish.  I guess reminiscing about this time of innocence and my love for Germany just left me with feeling that I wanted and needed to put up a real Christmas tree this year.  Not just any real tree, but my first Christmas tree in Germany was a live tree in a pot.  This year to me it symbolizes bringing life back into my home.  Family and friends have been absent from my home for the past 2 ½ years and being given this gift back – well it means more than any gift that Santa could bring me on Christmas morning.

When it comes to gifts, there is no greater gift than to do things for someone else, though I have now learned the hard way that there are those in this world that thrive on exploiting kindness.  Though I will never be able to answer “why” a person would be this way that I will leave up to the professionals what I do know now is this, during those early adult years God spoke into my heart and told me that I was supposed to be doing something important.  For years though I have not been able to put a finger on what that exactly was that He wanted me to do.  So as November comes to a close, what I am most thankful for is that I now have moved past the “why” that I mentioned in a previous post and am embracing the “what” with the enthusiasm that I had in my young adult life. 

They say that the only way you can help someone go through abuse and recover is if you have been there yourself.  Unfortunately, like so many women in our state I have.  However, I can take my experiences and now use my gift of writing to tell my story.  Abuse knows no age, color or economic status, it does not care about a person’s educational background and it can come in different forms.  However, the common denominator though is 9 times out of 10 always the same – there are red flags which we as women do not see through our rose colored glasses of love.  

If I can use my story to help save the life of just ONE woman, then I have used my talents in a manner that God has intended for me.  I silently prayed and told the Lord that if He would lead me out of the storm, so that I no longer had to just “endure” life, but would finally be able to live it, then I would shout from the mountain tops what He had done for me.  I would use my life to give a voice to the silent and hope to those who feel hopeless.

Though I have been working on 3 books for several years, I think it is of the utmost important to now put all of my energy into this project.  The words are just coming to fast to ignore.  I have been asked does taking on a project like this scare me and my answer is NO because God has this!!  All He ever asks is for us to listen and follow Him when He asks.  So I shall…      

Stars & Stickers

Hi everyone!

I must admit, I am such a "Stars & Stickers" kind of girl.  This is why I enjoy going to my Weight Watcher's Meetings, versus only participating in the program online.  When Mary, our leader, gives me a star or "Bravo" sticker, you would have thought I had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is the simple things in life that make me smile.  Though I have to tell you, when I saw yesterday that Nothy Lane from Aft Agley had nominated me for a "Liebster Blogging Award" you would have thought it was an Oscar.

So the researcher in me then proceeded to do several things.  First I went to Nothy's blog to find out more and second I went to Google to find out more about the award.  Okay, so there is not a committee that decides to bestow this upon me, but the idea is really incredible.   It is designed to increase the number of followers that an up-and-coming blogger have on their site.  Since Nothy is from Canada & I am from Louisiana AND this nomination did not come from an immediate friend or family member, I am thrilled.  What a GREAT way to meet new people in the blogging community and broaden this online experience.

As any writer will admit, even if it is to themselves on a cold winter night, we all like to know that people like to read what we have written...that we are on the right track...that we just may be on to something with this writing stuff.  So I will keep you posted and let you know if Curiosity Cottage becomes a winner.