Fifty Two Weeks of Joy

This week was the week of Christmas, my favorite time of the year! However, this year it seemed much busier than usual. Oscar and I have been so very blessed and trailed this year. Eli, our son, has spent much of this year in and out of doctor's offices and hospitals. Through it all though our friends, families, and especially our parents have been so supportive, we can't thank them enough.   Oscar's parents have been life savers this year. Norma takes care of Eli during the day so I can continue to work, this is/was a necessity because of the in creditably good insurance I have through my job. Norma's willingness to care for Eli was a HUGE blessing, because for most of the year Eli was in isolation. Honestly, I don't know what we would've done without Norma. Thankfully, Oscar and I were blessed recently and because of that blessing we were able to thank Oscar Sr. and Norma for the help they've been to us this year. We were able to...

This week was all about my niece Eva. Earlier this month I co-hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Ivone, she is expecting her second child a baby girl. My mother-in-law and I were thrilled to be able to host an "all things pink" shower, and trust me, everything that could be pink, was!   It was such a blessing to be able to shower Ivone and baby Eva. Ivone seemed to really love everything about the shower, so it was a success. It took several weeks of planning and some work to get all the decorations and food taken care of, but Norma (my mother-in-law) and I make a good team; and really enjoyed spoiling mommy and baby.   None of you know how truly blessed I am to have married into such a wonderful family. I've never felt like an outsider, their home is my home. Oscar's parents love me as if I am their own daughter, and Ivone has always treated me like I really am her little sister. One of my favorite memories with Ivone happened during my...

After this post I shouldn't fall behind anymore for a while, at least that's the plan.   I did the same blessing two weeks in a row. Just so you know it's not as serious as week 9. I hope you enjoy!   Our area was hit hard with some bad weather recently. The roads were sheets of ice. Thankfully though I have friends who know how to drive on ice and a husband who can drive on ice, because of them I didn't have to miss any work. Since I didn't have a car and couldn't get home for lunch, so I figured I could order lunch for myself and a few others.     So, my blessing was providing food for my co-workers. None of us could get out of the office on Friday so we ordered some pizza, my treat. Then earlier this week weather was still freezing and roads were still icy, so I brought broccoli cheese soup. It was such a hit someone even asked for the recipe!   I'm blessed to work with the group of people I work with; t...

I know I'm late in updating this but I promise it's worth the wait.   For those of you who didn't know, my son was hospitalized Thanksgiving Day. Eli is 22 months old and is the greatest blessing in our lives. Last December Eli got RSV and a strange rash all over his body, after taking him to the doctor we were rushed to the emergency room and eventually admitted. While in the hospital we discovered Eli's body wasn't producing neutrophils, these are cells in the white blood cells that help your body fight infections. For most of Eli's first year of life we have been in and out of hospitals, and doctor's offices. Eli's had more blood work done in his 22 months of life than Oscar and I have had done in our 25 years of life.   The day before Thanksgiving Eli woke up with a raspy voice and a cough; because of Eli's medical history we tend to call our doctor anytime he is sick. We had plans to fly out to visit my family so we wanted to...

This week my blog is all about something that is very near and dear to my heart. For those of you who don't know I have a younger cousin and younger brother who both have autism. My cousin Aaron lives in Odessa, Texas, and has recently graduated High School. For most graduates this is a very exciting time, they start college, move away from home, and get an apartment. However, for Aaron things are much different. Aaron can't go to college, or live on his own, because of the autism Aaron needs to stay home with his family. He needs to have someone watch over him and help him with day to day living. Without school there isn’t anywhere Aaron can go during the day, because of this my aunt retired and stays home with Aaron.   For many years my aunt and uncle have prayed God would provide some type of resource, a place where young adults like Aaron could go to continue learning new things. God always finds a way to meet our needs.   This week my blessing is simple I ...

When I began this journey I prayed God would send me people who needed to be blessed. I never thought I would be the one He chose to bless.   This past weekend my husband's brother celebrated turning 21. He's a big fan of Formula 1; I guess it's like the European version of NASCAR? Honestly, I don't know much about the sport or if it's anything like NASCAR. They seem similar though, men driving cars in circles, for several hours. Anyway, Formula 1 has agreed to have a race in Austin, TX for ten years, I think? The guys went last year for his birthday because it was the first year to have the race in the U.S. and Oscar agreed to go again this year because he didn't want to miss his little brother's 21 st birthday.   So this weekend it was just me and my Eli. Not to brag but my son usually is pretty easy to take care of, he doesn't cry very often, and he enjoys sleeping, my kind of kid. Well Eli is close to turning 2 and this weekend ...

This week I was given the opportunity to help a dear friend of mine. Christy and I both started working for the city in 2010. We've known each other for about four years now. Over the years our friendship has grown but in June of 2011, our friendship blossomed. You see, through a series of events and an uncertainty of the accuracy of home pregnancy tests; Christy was the first to learn we were pregnant with Eli. We were also among the first to learn she was pregnant with her daughter. Christy is a saint; she has stood by me through the death of my mother, the birth of my son and all the chaos in between. She has been a shoulder to cry on, an encourager, and most importantly a true friend.   Christy is going through a difficult time in her life right now. I would love to give you the details, but then I'd have to kill you. So I'll spare your lives and let you assume. Earlier this week Christy and her husband, who happen to be happily married, had an event they nee...

Yesterday was a little stressful. I was behind on a deadline for work, but with the help of some co-workers what needed to get done, got done and everything worked out. I knew it would, but my morning was still stressful. First thing that morning I had a meeting to attend about health insurance, always a fun topic. So, I got to my actual office late. Then we've updated our Office software so simple tasks are now in new locations and what use to take a few seconds was now taking several minutes. Needless to say, the morning wasn't going as smoothly as I would have liked!   I took a late lunch and was going to get a quick bite to eat. I decided I would go get some fast food and bring it back to the office. I was in a funky mood and didn't feel like taking a long break. So I figured now would be a good time to bless someone else.     A few weeks ago my sister Nicole posted a story on Facebook. Have y'all heard those stories about people at fast food establishments,...

***Disclaimer – Please remember I'm doing this to help grieve my mother and to restore something lost. This past week was a growing pain for me and I'm being very honest in this post. I've struggled with whether or not I should even post this entry. I've decided I need to stay committed and I need to share my journey because I agreed I would share. My prayer is simple I hope this story will impact your life today, because it forever changed mine. Week 4: Blessing #2 Earlier this week I posted a story about my son Eli blessing a little girl at the grocery store. I knew I couldn’t really count his blessing as my own, although, I hoped I could.   Today is now Friday and we are getting close to the end of the week. I've been praying all week asking God to send me someone to bless. Send me someone, anyone to help. You know the old saying, "be careful what you ask for?" My very first blessing I told you a story about a guy who qualified for this ...

This week my son was a part of the story. For those of you who don't know anything about me. I have a son who is 20 months old; we tell people he's mom's last gift to us and the best blessing God ever gave us. You see on mom's death bed she begged my husband to give her a grandbaby. He politely told her we aren't ready for any kids yet. Mom just smiled and said, "Yes you are". I turned to Oscar and said, "Babe I think she is bargaining with Jesus". Turns out I was right, a month after my mother's death we found out we were pregnant. Once we found out we were having a boy, and after much deliberation, we decided to name him Eli. Eli means to be with God, and since he was our eternal gift from my mother we wanted him to always know where he belonged. Eli has had an adventurous first year of life. Yet God continues to protect him and heal him. The other night we were grocery shopping. While we were in line to check out Eli wanted ...

On October 17, 2007 my husband asked me to be his girlfriend. We have a beautiful love story. Oscar and I met in the 6 th grade, “dated” in 7 th grade, broke up and for the rest of what seemed like forever I begged him for a second chance. Well I finally got it the summer of 2007. I had just been dumped by the guy I was dating in college. After my break up I found Oscar on Facebook, sometimes I wonder, what would my generation do with out Facebook. We reunited as friends and talked about the possibility of having a long distance relationship. I was going to college in Texas and he was going to college in Arkansas . Not only was distance a problem, before we could date I wanted him to get permission from my parents. Growing up my parents had this rule they would need to meet the guy before I could date the guy. They thought that if the guy had enough respect for me to meet them, they believed it would mean he was a decent guy. Even though I was living on my own I...

Week 2: I am beyond excited to write this post. Mainly, because I was overjoyed with the response I received.  For this week I decided to encourage the women I work with at the city. So, I chose to send them each an encouraging note. Every note looked the same but each note was personalized.   I had no idea how much those simple words would mean to each of them. I took the time to tell them just how special they are to me, and how much I value them. These are women I work with everyday, but for the first time I realized I don't tell them how important they are often enough. I realized I take them for granted. This realization struck me at my core. I began to think about so many missed opportunities to encourage these women and other women. I began to think about our society, we have forgotten about sisterhood. Instead of empowering and encouraging we have become haters. We shouldn't hate Jane because she’s prettier, ...

Before, I tell my blessing from this week I need to give some background information, for those of you who don’t know me. I work in local government and as part of my job I’m the manager of an elderly and handicap taxi program. The program is simple we provide vouchers to elderly and handicap residents to help pay for transportation. They use these vouchers to help them afford transportation to the grocery store, the post office, but mostly they use them for doctor’s appointments. Earlier this week a gentleman, you will know him as; Mr. Smith came into my office to fill out an application. He called earlier that morning to find out what he would need to bring with him, so he could qualify the same day. Like most programs, our residents have to meet an income guideline. With him living on Social Security, I knew he would automatically qualify for our program. None the less, he brought in his bank statement to prove his income. As I read the statement my heart sank his account had v...

Cindy Carlene Phillips was a remarkable woman. She was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, and teacher; but most importantly, she was a Christian and not one of those “Jesus fans”, but an actual Christ follower. She accepted all people no matter the race, gender, sexuality, or nationality. Once, she reached out to you, your life was forever changed for the better. Her 52 years of life were a testimony of our God and his goodness. To me this remarkable woman was more than just some person. She was my hero, my inspiration; she made me want to be a better person. She encouraged me to strive to exceed excellence in every area of my life. She was my mom.   Mom had an extraordinary gift she was able to reach people who didn’t want to be reached. She had this remarkable glow that always made you smile. She loved people because her Jesus loves people. Even on her death bed she spoke of God’s goodness, mercy, and love. Because of my mom’s faith, I was apart of a miracle when ...