Life Re-Invented

I turned 56 years old on March 8^th.  For the past 6 months I have been working on looking at what I want to do beyond homemaking with my life.  I am determined not to work a paid full time job, preferring to live on my husband’s income and I am determined to not cloister myself in these walls of my home either. Finding a balance is the hard part.  Why?  Because I tend to make big plans and then I lose interest or a motivation to keep going. 

One day I sat down and brainstormed what I like to do.  I like to be busy, but I don’t want to be busy for the sake of being busy.  I do tend to get more done in every area of my life when I am busy because I am more apt to write things down on a calendar and make a plan .  When I have a lot of time on my hands, I waste it because I feel like I have all the time in the world to get things done.

I made a decision last fall to leave the church I had been attending for 7 years due to the fact that that church had become a “Country Club” church only wanting to minister to its members and not wanting to reach out to people in need in our community.  The church membership (and many leaders) is made up of several individuals who would rather come to church on Sunday morning, have coffee with the same people they had coffee with over many decades and leave feeling good about themselves.  A pastor that tried to get them to direct themselves to community outreach was pushed out as key vocal members only wanted to take care of their own people. 

My husband and I had been heavily involved in that church working with the

pastor to make changes such as having a coffee café, directing the lunch program to feed hungry kids at our church during the summer, reaching out to newcomers and becoming a hospitality individual for the small contemporary service that had been attracting a different “set” of people than what some of the old timers would accept.  Hence, we left.

It is a warning sign that it is time to leave when a church does not want to reach out to the poor.   Since then we have found a church in a town 15 minutes away that is awesome.  It is a true church in every sense of the word.  I have vowed that I will never become so involved in a church again and would prefer to be a worshiper only.  The sermons at this church are awesome and I take what the Pastor has said home with me for the week.  I am being challenged and stretched. 

All the hours that I had spent in service to my old church (close to 10 hours a week) were now open.  I made a decision that those hours would be better spent in service to non-profits in my community.  I was already volunteering many hours.

So in January I designated three non-profits as ones that I wanted to donate my time to.  I had already been involved with these organizations but not at the level I am now.  These non profits are the local animal shelter of which I am a Board member, the Summer Lunch Program that I direct and a non-profit dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence. 

Being “happy” busy is good for me.  Being “over the top crazy busy” is not.  I am finding a balance in my life and I have re-invented myself as a Professional Volunteer and Homemaker.    I am committed to volunteerism and making a difference in my community.  I am committed to my home and family.  I have tailored made a “work” and a “home” life for me.  My volunteer work can be done for the most part on my own time and schedule.  I can fit it in just as I fit in my homemaking activities.  I am the master of my schedule. 

When I worked a full time job that I had loved, I had to do the work in an office setting away from my home and during office hours.  Now I can work things into my schedule where I want them.  Yes, I have board meetings to attend and for the most part they are scheduled according to everyone’s schedule. 

To stay healthy mentally and to keep depression at bay, I find that especially during the winter months being busy is the best thing for me.  I can work at home or take my work to the library.  This past winter has been the best winter I have had in over 5 years and it is due to finding the right balance for me. 

I can honestly say that I have found a life that works for me.  I am giving back to my community with my volunteer roles, I am able to have time with my family when I want and I can still be a home keeper. 

My new “career” is definitely tailor made to me, and gives me gratification.  I am very happy and I know it is because I am using my gifts and talents and not trying to fit myself into a mould that isn’t meant for me. 

Upcoming Posts:  My Volunteer Jobs defined.  Being busy and keeping the Budget in check.  Evaluating How I Spend my Time.  

Adventures with a Church Youth Group

Adventures isn't quite the correct wording for what I went through yesterday - perhaps it was more like a quest or journey of hysterical fun with a bunch of teenagers. 

I am helping with our church youth group and yesterday I went with the group "tubing" down a river.  We drove to Boone, Iowa which was about a 2 hour drive from our town and went to Seven Oaks.  It is a wonderful place to go for skiing and water adventures as I am now calling it.  There were 17 teens and 3 adults on the trip.  We were driven to the Des Moines river in a school bus and were handed huge air tubes along with life jackets and we were ready to take off on the river. 

We sat down in our inner tubes and started our journey down the river - 7 miles to be exact.  It took 3 hours for all of us to float down the river.  We had an absolutely great time and I learned many things along the way.  First of all, kids take their cell phones everywhere including tubing on a river.  They put them in water proof cases so that they can text each other down the river.  Second, it is peaceful, except for the distant giggles of girls swimming and tubing along the way.  Third, watching nature as you go along drifting down the river can be awe inspiring.  I'm talking about beautiful birds (no snakes thankfully).  A hawk and other birds were diving around us and then underneath a train trestle.  Then there were the beautiful species of plants, flowers and trees.  Fourth, drifting down a river makes you look at the flow of the river and consider how it cuts it's way through the earth along the path the water flows.  Fifth, there was the struggle against the current if you tried to swim a little across the river or trying to slow your speed down in order for someone to catch up with you.

When the river "ride" was done, we dried off and changed our clothes and left for home on our church's little bus.  Everyone was a little tired and happy and chatting along the way until ...... the bus overheated and broke down 40 minutes from home.

A member of our church is a mechanic so he left work to come and help us.  In the meantime we called 4 parents and they were happy to get in their cars and vans to come and pick up the kids.  In the meantime while we were waiting by the side of the highway we played "Survivor".  We joked that just in case we were stranded for days, we had to pick which person we were going to eat first.  Everyone was laughing and of course texting.  Kids were counting cars going by and getting semi-trucks to honk their air horns.  Within an hour the kids were picked up and were on their way and the mechanic had arrived.

We got the bus going and then it broke down for a 2nd time only 8 miles from home.  We gave it our all that's for sure. 

So there are wonderful memories of yesterday and tubing down a river, surviving a bus breakdown and the memories that go with both events. 

I slept 10 hours last night and I awoke knowing that I am so lucky and happy to be a part of a wonderful church and that I am healthy and have enough energy to help with a youth group.

Tonight I baked some banana bread.  I love this recipe.  I am baking it to take to church on Sunday as I supply coffeetime treats for our Hispanic service.  So I am ending with a recipe and also this advice.  If you are lonely, find a church where you can grow and serve, even if serving means tubing down a river with a bunch of teens. 

Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
1 egg
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan with butter or shortening, dust with flour.

Mix butter, bananas and egg together.  Add vanilla and blend with a hand mixer.  Sift flour, salt and baking soda together in a separate bowl. 

Blend flour mixture into wet ingredients a little at a time.  Stir in white sugar and beat on low.  Stir in brown sugar and nuts.  Pour batter in loaf pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Then check to see if the bread is done.  If not, lightly cover with foil and then bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, run a knife along the sides and remove the bread from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Going to Church Makes a Difference

It never ceases to amaze me what volunteering can do for a person's mood.  I'm so upbeat today after spending time with our church youth group and a youth committee planning the upcoming year.  Of course there was also our Adult Sunday School class and church service that had a great impact on me.  Then there was the 80 degree weather and a visit by our son and DIL, along with our grand dog for some conversation, laughter and somewhere in there a quick one on one basketball game.

I can't change some things in my life, but I can change how I react towards them.  I can also focus on what I have instead of what I don't.  I may not have a relationship with my sister, but I have wonderful relationships with my husband, sons and daughter in law.

What a blessed Sunday and great way to start the week.

Latest Grocery Deal and an Easy Volunteer Job

Yesterday the local Hy-Vee Grocery store had an instore sale of ziploc bags for 77 cents.  These ranged in size from the 30 quart sized bags to 24 gallon sized bags in the boxes.  Well I had 4 - 50 cent coupons, so even though I have a lot of these bags, I decided 27 cents per box was definitely worth it.  I bought 4 boxes.  I also had 1 coupon for $1.50 off two ziploc containers.  Hy-Vee had 8 oz. round containers, 6 containers per pkg., for 99 cents.  So I bought two for a final price of 22 cents for each pkg. 

I purchased 6 ziploc products for $1.52.  That was a great deal, but as they say "wait there is more." 

I picked up a few other sale items and when I checked out, I received 3 catalinas from my purchase of the ziploc products.  For purchasing the 4 ziploc bags, I received two - $2.00 catalinas towards my next shopping trip at Hy-Vee and I also received, for purchasing the ziploc containers, a $1.50 catalina towards my next shopping trip at Hy-Vee.  I spent $1.52 and received $5.50 in catalinas for my next shopping trip at Hy-Vee.   I giggled all the way out of the store. 

Now for an Easy Volunteer Job.  I was at a meeting at our church where someone announced that for our Hispanic Service on Sundays they needed cookies, coffee and koolaid for their fellowship time.  This is a small service of 10 to 15 people per Sunday.  I volunteered.  I went home and took a  large canister of coffee from my coffee supply and a container of lemonade mix. I purchased that lemonade mix in the fall for about 50 cents and although I knew that I wouldn't be using it, I set it aside in case I could donate it.

Now I am baking an extra 2 dozen cookies from what I normally bake each week.  I put them in the freezer and when I go to church on Sundays, I put them in the chapel where they hold the hispanic service. 

This was a real need and it was an easy volunteer job for me to do.  Many times churches have small things they need done that even the busiest of people can take on.  In this example, I don't have to bake cookies every week, but I could easily pick up some store bought cookies.  It's just one of those small volunteer responsibilities that I can do to make a difference at my church.  Also, the canister of coffee and koolaid will last a long time for that small service and since I use coupons and buy things on sale, I can get the best deals.

So if you want to volunteer, but don't have a lot of time, ask around your church or other volunteer organization and you may find out that there is some small job they need someone to do, that you could take on.