On The Move

The day I had waited for had finally arived! After 4 long years of hoping, praying, & frustration; it was our time to leave the 5bedroom house we'd shared with my inlaws. We paid the downpayment, 1st year's taxes, & staid in 2bedrooms & a bathroom. We fought, argued, & even shared a few laughs. But now it's over. I don't have to answer to anyone but God, my hubby, & my kiddos. I don't have to explain what I'm doing or why. I can have things the way I want them.

One of the many things that made living with my MIL next to impossible for me was the fact that I could not make her understand that I needed things to be set in 1 place & left there. I don't mind sharing but I want to find what I need when I need it. My frustration was almost unbarable at times, but God never gives us more than we can handle. He had many lessons for me & he put me in the house with someone who could teach me whether I liked it or not. I hope I was able to teach her something that would benefit her too.

I never realized that in my anticipation of our upcoming move. I had purchased many a dish, saved every box we ever got in the mail, & crammed my computer full of recipes, tips, & resources to use whenever that day came. Truth is, I'm glad I did.

We've been in our 2bedroom apartment for 1 week & a half now. & I'm sooo happy. I cook, clean, & do what I need to do much better than I did before. I had time to learn, grow, & adapt.

God knows why he does what he does. I may have lost all the money I had, but I gained priceless experience that has made me a better person, wife, daughter, mommy, & even though I didn't understand it then, I look back & see what God wanted of me. I've learned so much from all the bad experiences. I don't ever want to be in a situation like that again. But I can certainly be grateful for what I have now. I praid, ranted, raved, cried, then I put it in God's hands. I'm not going to say that I didn't take it back, cause I'd be lying through my teeth. I did that several times. But ultimately I gave it back to Him when I was done.

I am blessed to have my sweet yet simple apartment, with my sweet yet simple furnature, & my many baking dishes. lol But over all God has blessed the PinedaFamily5 with a place that meets our needs, & wants, but is perfectly sized for us. My God knows me, He knows my thoughts & Prayers, & He has blessed us in so many ways.

I think that sometimes we have to be broken down & rebuilt from the ground up. That is exactly what this experience was for me. I was broken & rebuilt, some old parts, some new parts, & a few gaps for filling in later. it wasn't easy, it wasn't pretty, & it wasn't my way; it was however God's hand that lead me to where I am & it will be God's hand that guides me to where I need to go. So as I've said before,
"experience is the best teacher, even if it means making mistakes."
& as long as I have God on my side, _ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

Bad days are for learning, good days are for enjoying, & no day is a waste because they all come together to make us who we are.

That's my latest testemony, & I hope that it helps you in some way. If you are in a situation you aren't happy with, try as much as possible to take in all there is to learn from it, & always keep your faith. We may not be ready for what God has in store for us yet, but  when He's ready, & only when He's ready We will see what that is.

I wish you happiness, joy, & strength in the Lord.

Make it a great day!

A Message from God - while cleaning out a deep-freezer

Today was the _stinkiest day I've had in a loooong, time.
Why?
Because I spent the better part of my afternoon cleaning out a deep-freezer.
A few weeks ago, my son came in from the garage where I had sent him to retrieve a bucket of cookie dough. "Mom the fridge stinks!" he said holding his noes.
Upon investigation of this "stink" I found that my inlaws had disconnected my freezer. (gee thanks.) so the food, (3 trashbags full, as we would find out later) had all spoiled.Needless to say, nither one of us was looking forward to cleaning that out.
Lesson #1. Procrastination only makes things worse.
My brother inlaw (who has been nothing but kind through all this) reconnected the unit. But, that only refroze the now bad food. (yuck!)
Lesson #2. Lazy people work harder.
When we finally decided to tackle the problem, the smell was as expected, not pleseant but still barable. Problem was, we couldn't take anything out since it had all frozen solid. (Eeeeewww!)
So we had to leave it to defrost overnight. After running out of excuses, my husband & I looked at each other & went out to the garage, opened the freezer to find the smell had increased significantly. We held our breath & got to work.
Lesson #3. it's me & hubby against the world. Or, noone will care for your things the way you do.
We spent 2hours defrosting, tossing out food, & sopping up water from the bottom of the unit. (ug!) but in reaching down to the bottom to pull up slimy packets, I bruised my rib cage, & pulled a muscle in my arm. I had to throw out 3 trashbags of food that otherwise could have been eaten.
Lesson#4. Who I was meant to be.
Sometimes God will put us in a place we _hate for our own good. This is 1 of those times. I've lived in a hous we share with my inlaws for 3 years. It's finally coming to an end. Although I have learned lots during this time. I saw all this food go to waste, (we paid $2600 at the time) I thought about all the fights & arguments, All in a moment of reaching for another defrosted packet; & then I thought about how I used to be. Outspoken, strong, sassy, &... then ... it hit me. That's how God wanted me to be. Stand up for me&mine, be loving but strict, & most of all not a push over like I had been for the past few years.
So, here's my challange to you & me. Be you, if you don't like something make it known, stand for what you believe in, & know that God is on your side. Live, Love, & Light the way for your children so that they will gro to do the same.
Don't let yourself be belittled like I did. Stand tall & strong.
Make it a grate day!