Beginnings – Life with us ~ The Wandering Workentins

Beginnings, Choices, community, Family, Love

Checking In ~

January 17, 2023 Ali

Opened my devotional notebook and this is what I found:

Oh how awesome is our God to meet me right where I am! Today will be the first day that Ron and I go out and Scouting Home Visits in the community. Am I nervous, you bet BUT God says He will be with me.

As of today I have
~ 5 consecutive mornings getting up before my alarm
~ have only had 1 soda (diet or zero) for the past 4 days AND that was with two long days of traveling. Last Saturday we drove to South Carolina to help some friends out and then Sunday we drove back to Bear Branch, KY!!
~ 4 consecutive nights of no snacking after going to bed! Even though last night as I walked towards the bedroom I thought about grabbing the bag of popcorn but then told myself “Ali, you are not hungry, you don’t need any popcorn.!”
YES I am feeling good about myself and the CHOICES I have made over the past 5 days!!!

I then opened my little Experiencing God Daily Devotional.

and my heart took a little lurch.
As many of you know, my younger sister, Joanie has refused to speak to me for over 6 years, since my older sister, Kathy passed away. I will be honest most days, I just bury my feelings and wishes that she would speak to me, heck I don’t even know THE WHY she won’t speak to me.

I have sent emails, tried calling, Ron has called her, we’ve sent letters and cards ~ all to no avail. Sad Really.

But this morning, God spoke to me ~ even though Joanie won’t speak to me
I CAN
~ love her unconditionally
~ pray for her, for God’s protection, for Him to soften her heart
~ not retaliate or speak badly about her
~ and I can pray for her!

I want to scream out “it’s hard to love someone who won’t even speak to me” But God whispered, but you can pray for her.

So as I continue this day with CHOICES, SELF-CONTROL and NO EXCUSES I begin my day asking God for protection for us as we travel around Leslie County, speaking with community members, loving on them as Jesus would have us love on them I can pray for my sister.

*********
What about you? What are you focusing on today?

Beginnings, Blessings, Ecclesiastes 3:1~8

New Beginnings!

January 2, 2023 Ali

First off

Happy New Year 2023!!!

Like I am sure many of you, the last few days we have had lots of chats about the new year, new goals, do we make New Year’s Resolutions? ~ No, not really 😃 because I seem to always be setting new goals, new ideas and new plans into motion all throughout the year. We’ve discussed some things we would like to do this coming year ~ be more intentional with our time, do some short trips checking out this part of the country, go see our kids and their families ~ yes both the east coast and west coast, find and get involved in a local church and give 100% in everything we do.

We started out 2023 going to church. We attended Rockhouse Baptist Church. The question we asked ourselves in the truck on our way home was “do we want to go there again?” And our answers were the same: Yes. We have lots of questions and the way to get those questions answered is to return for another visit. Our observations include “maybe they don’t have a pastor or maybe their pastor was gone since it was a holiday.” They had a guest speaker, Bro. Adam Feltner. The music was a little different, no congregational singing, but it was mentioned that the couple leading the music was doing it so the regular worship team could have a day of rest. Brother Feltner brought a good message. The highlights

everyone has issues ~ God Forgives
even in the hard times ~ we need to seek God and give thanks
God is always near ~ even if I don’t feel He is
every day we are filled with choices ~ choose to be happy, choose to give thanks, choose to seek God
everyone is a sinner, even when we’ve accepted God into our hearts ~ remember He is always with me and it is important to humber ourselves daily before God
every day it is important to pray and seek God
ask myself daily ~ are my actions/words something God would be proud of

After church we spent the afternoon first watching the morning service from Love Springs Baptist Church (thankful we have the option to still be a part even from a distance). The sermon, by PR had many of the same encouraging words we had heard earlie – God won’t force us to do anything, we all have choices about what we do each day, asking myself “are my priorities in line with what I know the Lord wants me to do/be? Which led to a discussion with Ron about priorities and what’s important to us ~ we can and do make time for the things that are important to us. Whether it be eating healthy or eating cookies in the middle of the night, drinking water instead of soda pop, spending time with the Lord or going for drives (which can include time with the Lord), for me crocheting or coloring or spending time in the Word. Not that any of those things are wrong but as it says in Ecclesiastes there is a time for everything.

After chatting about the two sermons we heard earlier in the day we binged watch some Jack Reacher movies, true crime shows and I of course did some crocheting. We also made and ate 16 Bean soup w/ham, celery & onions. Thank you Merel for the delicious ham!!! We both snoozed for a bit and ate way too much junk food while binge watching TV the rest of the day. As we crawled into bed last night we both commented it was a good day!!! And we have much to be thankful for as we start the New Year.

******
How did you start the new year?
Do you make resolutions?
Do you call them something else?

Attitude, Balance, Beginnings, Behavior, Habits, The Lord, Time management

Each Day is a New Beginning

May 26, 2020 Ali

Once again it has been awhile since I have visited my blog. I have all the normal excuses: busy with kidlets, hibernating on days off, too tired, too busy and I go to bed each night saying tomorrow will be different and yet it is not. Life is what it is: some days are busy, some days I waste a bucket load of time on Facebook or playing games on my phone and other times I crochet, crochet and crochet some more and all while being a wife, mom and grammy and then losing sight of me…a woman who hungers for so much.

This morning I listened to a podcast on Facebook by Pastor Mike, https://www.facebook.com/preacher325/ and one of the things that struck me was “we need to do the things we ought to do not necessarily what we want.” I hear from our kidlets often “because I wanted too” and we tell that that’s not an okay thing all the time and then this morning I realized I do that very thing with the Lord…I choose not to spend time with Him because I’m busy or I want to crochet or I want to play a game on my phone. And then I questioned why is it okay for me to say “because I want to” but not okay for the kidlets. OUCH…

Am I saying to them “Practice what I preach and not what I do?” And why is it okay for me but not for them…what kind of example is that?

The scripture from this mornings podcast was found in Luke 9:23-27…
^23-27Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.” The Message

As I read it and then reread it I realize the issue comes down to control. CONTROL…one of the biggest issues I have had in my life. Feeling like I have no control or I’m out of control of whatever situation I am dealing with. The reality is I have a lot of control over what I do, over what I say, what my expectations are. But I need to release that control and

do what I ought to do, not just what I want to do!

So this morning I extend grace to myself for once again doing the things I don’t want to do and allow myself to begin a new. A new day…spending time in the Word, feeling God’s love surround me and trusting him in the decisions I need to be making.

I also think back to earlier this year when I did the 5 habits to start my day

Start each morning with 2 minutes with God
Drink 8 oz of water first thing
Get moving ~ for me this is being consistent on walking Joey each morning
Eat a healthy breakfast
Breathe deep for 2 minutes

and realize somewhere along the line I lost these morning habits and so once again I am stepping up to do these each morning. I know I felt emotionally, spiritually and physically better while I was doing them and it’s time to get back to taking care of me…taking care of me is my responsibility and no one else can do it for me. And since I like to be in control I might as well choose to be in control of what I do each morning and to be intentional in taking care of myself.

*****************
So this leads to my question of the day ~
Do you start a new habit and then have to start it again?

Beginnings, Blessings, Blooms, Church, community, Memories, Random Acts of Kindness, Travel

Z is for …

April 30, 2013 Ali

Z is for Zippity Do Day

Just saying that makes me want to just go skipping down a lane.

What do you think of when you hear that phrase?

Well we didn’t go skipping today ~ we went for a drive 🙂

First let me share the drive we went on last Thursday, 4/25/13

It was a beautiful sunny day and a great day for a drive. Ron said if it stays warm and sunny soon it will be time to put the soft top on the Jeep, we just figure out where to store the hard top.

And then on Sunday after Ron got off work we went for another drive

I love all the purple flowers we see along the roads. And Ron just missed hitting the turtle so we had to go back and get a couple of pictures of him. When we turned back around to go the way we wanted he had started to stick his head out a little but we didn’t stop to take another picture. Maybe if I see another one I could make it a pet 🙂

There are all kinds of roads ~ paved, two lane, gravel and even dirt roads. But we love the scenery! And we met the sweetest lady and her two kids (older teenagers) at the little grocery store Altamont ~ she gave us all types of places to visit and see in the area. Ron was excited to hear about a lake about 30 miles from our campsite where we can go swimming this summer.

The center row of this picture is an old school house at an intersection out in the country. It would have been fun to traipse around inside but it is all fenced off.

When we first came across these horses (top right photo) it appeared they were grazing in the middle of the road. But upon getting closer we found they were actually in a fenced field at a corner. We saw lots of beautiful horses. Each time we saw a Paint, we would talk about our sweet friends, Al & Selma Gienger. We miss their friendship and fellowship here on earth but we know one day we will be celebrating in heaven with them.

I read in one of the local free papers that a Farmers Market was going to be held on Tuesday’s from 4 to 6 p.m. and today would be the first one of the season. Guess it was time for another road trip – this one 33 miles away according to Maggie (our GPS)

These are pictures of every road we turned on as we drove from Liberty, KS (the actual town we live in) to Parsons, KS. Again, see all the different types of roads. We did have to make one stop and that was the gas station in the center of the picture. Gas was $3.39 a gallon.

These are sights we saw on the road leading into Parsons.

The center picture below is the Farmers Market. There were three vendors. We bought some green onions, radishes and a dozen brown eggs. And we got it all for $3!!!

We just loved seeing all the old homes. I would love to see the interior of some of them, especially the home pictured in the top left and the two along the left border – all the same home.

These are the roads from Parsons, KS to Angola, KS

This is entering into Angola. The top picture is the old school…it has lots of broken windows but we surmise it was beautiful in its prime. And the Methodist church next to the school. Sunday School is at 9 a.m. and the worship service begins at 10:45. Reminds us of what we think ole’ country churches looked like.

And what could be better to end the day then with a foot massage. I love when Ron massages my feet and puts lots of lotion on them ~ it is just difficult because I am so darn ticklish and so we have to stop every few minutes till I quit laughing. And don’t those toenails look pretty – yep, he also does my nails for me 🙂

Yep ~ I am one blessed lady!!!

Hope you have enjoyed following along on the A to Z Challenge for 2013.

Stay tuned for more updates about our life as we live/work/travel and share the blessings of the Lord living in our comfy 37′ Class A Motor home newly named The Wander Lodge.

Beginnings, Blogs, Change, Uncategorized

A Change in the Making

March 30, 2013March 30, 2013 Ali

Welcome to our new blog: The Wandering Workentins; Lovin the Lord, Travelin the USA, Sharing God’s Blessings.

With all the rumors, ramblings & restrictions that are happening on blogger.com and the desire to just have one blog I have made the leap to wordpress.com.

So far all I can say is that wordpress is very confusing to me. But like with any new adventure we take on we know it takes time to get to the comfortable place. So for now, I guess I will be doing three blogs 😕 ~ oh my what am I thinking?

I need to figure out how to add followers, blogs I follow on wordpress and if I can have a list of the blogs I follow on blogger…any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.