SYMC - Wives of Youth Pastor's Group

What a blessing this past weekend was..... I had the honor of working along side a new friend named Dana Schmoyer (which actually does rhyme with Jana - in case you care) to lead the Youth Pastor's Wives connect group.  Connect groups are small groups that are focused on connecting people that are in similar situations at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Louisville, KY

During our time together we laughed, we cried, and we shared heart felt stories with one another.... we prayed together and shared hope together.  Although I was one of the leaders of the group - I walked away so encouraged.  I feel as though God is adding "loving on pastor's wives" to my list of passions.  I was blessed to be in such a distinct group of women.

Here are a few things that I learned this weekend about Youth Pastor's Wives....
1.  We often feel alone and desire to have solid friendships - but often feel as though we don't have a place to vent and share our hurts.  We want to honor our husband and not speak against our church so we need an outside friend that can listen.
2.  The church has been both a place of great hurt and great healing....  If you ever find a perfect church don't join it because you will mess it up!  We know that churches aren't perfect but it is challenging when it is a place of such hurt and negativity.
3.  We love our husbands and when others say negative things - we don't always handle ourselves well!  Let's just say that our cat claws sometimes surface.
4.  We love ministry - we may not be able to be there every week for every youth event because we are home with the kids or working our full time jobs, but we are invested even when we aren't there.
5.  We have made great sacrifices for ministry.... nights when our "evening alone" is interupted by a student in crisis.  Days when eight hours at the office turns into 12.  Mornings when it is all you can do to get out of bed because you just spend the entire weekend loving and investing in the lives of teenagers.

Here are some things that may help (as shared during our time together)
1.  Have a date night - even if it is just at your house laying bed eating popcorn and watching a movie.  It is a must!  Your priorities must be God then your spouse, then family.... and then ministry!
2.  Know your limitations - you don't have to be someone you are not - find your gifts and use them and delegate the rest - it allows others to experience a blessing!
3.  Protect your heart.... as much as you want to know all the details from your husband - set boundaries - maybe ask him not to tell you the names of those involved in the drama, or just tell you what you absolutely must know - as detail people this can be a challenge but it can help keep the peace and keep our cat claws at bay!
4.  Set up some boundaries as far as phone and computer are concerned - turn off the phone during dinner.... just one more thing doesn't need to happen during dinner.  Family time is fully present time.
5.  Pray for your husband - specifically!  He needs to know that you love him support him, respect him and most importantly pray for him - ask him how you can pray for him today!

Hope this encourages you!  The weekend was a blast and I can't wait until next year!

A note from the Substitute

Over the past two weeks I have been able to get a few days of subbing at local high schools and middle schools.  In those days of subbing I have had two drastically different experiences.  And through those experiences I have come up with few suggestions.

To the staff
1.  If you see me or another substitute - please say hello!  I am a guest at your school, I am there to serve and help out and fulfill a need, it would be great to feel welcomed!
2.  Stop by my room....and if you do - please introduce yourself.  It is nice to know the other teachers you are working with even if it is just temporarily.  It is also nice to know the names of the aids that will be working with you that day.
3.  Smile - if you are having a bad day - try not to take it out on me or the kids.
4.  Lesson plans - thank you for them!  They are helpful to not look like a moron in front of the kids.  I am happy to teach and not just babysit if you leave me a plan.

To the students
1.  Just because I am not your regular teacher, do not mean I don't know how to teach or discipline for that matter.
2.  Smile and say hello!  It's that easy.
3.  Just an FYI - I am not moron - I know that you shouldn't be using pictures of beer as clip art!

Oh the joys of teaching.  I do love it and I will go back, but hopefully when I do I will find my way around a little bit better, I will know a few more people and I will feel less like a stranger.

It also seems like this has some great parallels for the church..... when we see a new face in church - we should be applying all of the above..... I hope no one ever walks out of our church feeling like I felt the day I walked out of school.

My 12 For 2012

So as one of my dear friends pointed out the other day I haven't been blogging much lately.... true story!  I truly believe that in life we go through different seasons just as the earth does.  For me I am in my crazy season - the season where I feel like I am doing a lot of things but none of them am I doing well!  Then on top of that learning how to manage my time and my responsibilities while also keeping my priorities.  So as I think about what I want this year to look like for me - I have come up with 12 Goal for 2012.  I am trying my best to achieve these goals but if I do not I will try again the next day.  I hope to spend more time talking about these goals in the next couple weeks but for now here they are.... (in no particular order)

1.  Priorities - God, Family, Ministry, and then everything else....  I need to focus on "keeping the main thing, the main thing"  too often I get overwhelmed and I think that is often because I don't keep my priorities straight.  My relationship with God MUST come first, then my relationship with my husband, then my daughter..... and then ministry and all the other things that come into my life.

2.  De-cluttering - it is my goal in the next month to have gone through all our things - get rid of what we aren't using, organize and find a home from what we are using.  My mom uses the rule of ten - she gets rid of ten things from each place she is organizing.

3.  Read - I have so many books on my shelf that I have wanted to read, so often I find myself laying in bed at night not being able to fall asleep and instead of picking up a book - I pick up my phone and play solitaire or words with friends - I want to read instead.    I would like to read one book a month - some of you readers may be laughing but for me - 12 books is better than the zero that I finished last year!  Also I want to read more to Ella - I am really good at singing and playing with her and reading my bible outloud to her but I haven't done a good job reading books to her.... let's start with a realistic goal - 3-5 books a week.

4.  Save - I want to do a better job saving!  I find that so hard to do when we seem to be just making our payments.  I want to be sure that each time I get paid for my tastefully simple parties - I put 10% of that in our savings account - it's a start!

5.  A Budget - a loose one!  I know for us - a strict detailed budget will probably just frustrate us and cause us to give up all together - but I would like to take a day - sit down together and come up with a general budget.   Then maybe next year at this time we can be a little more specific.

6.  Blogging - I have to thank my friend Christianna for her encouragment in this department.  She recently launched a blog which you can check out here.  She had a calendar set up so she can blog ahead of time and schedule those.  She blogs for one hour a day on the days she is home.  I would like to blog regularly..... so stay tuned - I am going to come up with a format and hopefully it will be an encouragement and a blessing to you.

7.  Exercising - I have been in remission since getting pregnant with our little one and will "Lord willing" stay in remission while I continue to nurse her.  I want to try to regain a level of fitness while I can - so my goal is to workout at least once a week - and walk 2-3 other times during the week.

8.  Tastefully Simple - This fall I began to sell Tastefully Simple.... my husband and I love the products.  They are simple, affordable and so versatile.  It is my goal for my business that I would host 3-4 parties a month and have a $100 in online sales each month.  If you would like to check out my site go to www.tastefullysimple.com/web/jsnyder6 

9.  Ministry - After taking some time off of focusing on Taraja Minisries so I could put my total focus on being a mom, I am making my return to speaking and counseling.  I do feel as thought this is what God wants from me, so I need to be obedient.  I struggle with how to promote myself, while not coming across as it being about me - because it is not - it is about finding joy and hope in the journey of life through Jesus Christ.  I want to be sure I am taking time weekly to update my website and to make connections with Churches, camps, and organizations.

10.  Offer Grace to myself - that may sound like a weird goal - but it is something that I struggle with on a daily basis - I look around and see things that need done that I didn't get too because something else came up, my baby was crying, or life just happened.  Though I want a clean and organized house - I know that is not always possible with my schedule and I need to give myself some grace in that department.

11. - Finish reading through the Bible - I will get this done this year - it has taken me several years to read through the Bible - I am now in the Gospels and I will finish it this year!  I can do this!  Let's just say I am not a fast reader!

12.  Note writing - I want to write at least one note a week to someone that needs encouragment, a thankyou to someone who has cared for us, or just a note to say that I miss seeing you.  My mother in law is so good at this - I want to again start with a small goal of one a week and then we will see how we do.

I am going to review these goals monthly to see how I am doing.  What are you goals for 2012?

12 for 2012

I didn't realize until just yesterday that I hadn't blogged since Christmas - the time just flew by - I actually do have a few things on my blog idea list, but I also wanted to take a little break from the computer.  Lately at church we have been talking about giving things up so we can better serve, whether it would be time wise, money wise or stuff wise.

I am feeling like I spend a lot of time on the computer and wanted to have family time over Christmas break with no distractions.  Before I knew it January was here and to be honest with our trip to St. Louis I didn't really have a lot of time to reflect on my goals (aka Resolutions) for the new year.  In fact - I still have come up with my list..... however - I do know that I want 12 goals for 2012.  Over the new two weeks I will be blogging about those 12 goals in hopes to encourage you and to be accountable.

Several years ago I did 31 Resolutions and as I look back I kept at least 15 - so let's see how I do this year - if I have 12 and keep 6 I will be thrilled!!  How are you doing with your goals for the New Year?

Advent Adventure #24 & 25

Today's adventure will be easy to follow - all you have to do is STOP reading, turn off your computer, and leave it off until Monday morning - enjoy a bit of a Computer fast as you celebrate Christmas with family and friends.  And since I will also be doing that - I am going to let you in on tomorrow's adventure - read the Christmas story found in Luke 2.  Enjoy some time together as you celebrate the Christ child's birth by attending a worship service together!

Merry Christmas!!!

Advent Adventure Day 22 & 23

Well I made my best effort to blog from my phone yesterday on my way to my parent's house - however, sometimes my best efforts don't lead to a successful ending...so needless to say - today's advent is a "twofer" as my husband would call it.

Today's adventure is to sit back and enjoy a little holiday cheer right here on your computer - over the month of December Joel has a tradition of posting a new holiday video each day.  There are so many different ones to choose from, so today head over to his blog http://www.joelsnyder.net/ and enjoy a little holiday cheer as you are surfing the web, wrapping presents, or just killing some time as you relax and enjoy the evening!

Have a great Friday!

Advent Adventure Day #21

Can you believe there is only five days until Christmas!  Wow - how the time flies!  Thankfully I think I am finished with my Christmas and birthday shopping (my hubby is a New Year's Baby).  As I laid in bed last night I was thinking about there only being five days and thought today I would have a theme of 5!

For our advent adventure today I am encouraging you to take a moment or two and come up with a list of five things that you are thankful for about each family member.

I am thankful for Joel....
1.  I am thankful he is a Godly man
2.  I am thankful he is like Mary (I am like Martha) - he chooses relationships over tasks.
3.  I am thankful he is compassion and forgiving
4.  I am thankful he is an awesome daddy!!!
5.  I am thankful he is a man of integrity

I am thankful for Ella....
1.  I am thankful that she is fearfully and wonderfully made by God
2.  I am thankful she is a happy and content baby
3.  I am thankful for the times that I can just sit and watch her smile and chatter
4.  I am thankful she sleeps through the night
5.  I am thankful she is so loved and prayed for by so many others

and yes I am also thankful for our furry friend - Tucker
1.  I am thankful he is good with Ella
2.  I am thankful that he listens (most of the time)
3.  I am thankful he is a good traveller
4.  I am thankful he is likes the dog food that I get on sale with my coupons
5.  I am thankful he likes to cuddle (aka he thinks he is a lap dog!)