Bob & Shannon's Children; Jeanie & Joe
Jeanie
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Photo Credit: Chelsea Kern
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Joe
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Getting Personal
Welcome! Where writing and ministry mesh together creating a website filled with faith, hope, and inspiration. I'll warn you, I'm a deep thinker. I watch, I learn, I absorb...everything.
One of my favorite books of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. Solomon (the author of the writings) was said to be the wisest, yes wisest, man that ever lived. And I have to agree. His wisdom is poured throughout all of the scripture written. And it tackles the age old question: "Is anything that meaningful in this life?" The best one sentence line I have come up with to answer that is this: "Yes." That's it folks! A simple 'yes' will do. Why? Because it can't be summed in one sentence. Solomon wrote an entire book covering this question. This life is only temporary. We know that we are born, we live, and we die. But...
I saw a saying about the "dash". Take these dates for example: 1933-1994. Those are the dates of my grandmother's life here on Earth. She was born in 1933. She died in 1994. But is that all? What's in the middle? What did she do while she roamed the land? I can sit here and type story after story of the strong woman she was. The types of stories that told you how she offered the only stability I had ever known growing up. I can tell you how she supplied me with a silent strength without ever speaking a word. I can tell you how she fought cancer for years until it finally won. It's that dash that matters. Our lives are not in vain- in fact- they are quite purposeful.
It took me 33 years to discover my purpose. However, I wasn't looking for it the first 28 of them. Well, not really. The first 17 was just trying to survive living in a home of domestic violence. Next, there were about 3 years of self destruction. That rebellious "I can live the way I want because I want" kind of attitude. Cocky, arrogant, and totally obnoxious. I look back now and shake my head. Pathetic. Then I turned 20 years old... well now, wasn't I in for a big surprise: God placed a gentleman along my path and my entire world changed. For the better. I then started the process of self discovery. Analyzing my morals and values. Asking myself who I was and who I wanted to be- and not that kid (no disrespect intended) stuff like "I want to be an astronaut when I grow up." It was the kind of a- crawl in a cave and evaluate every inch of your soul- kind of discovery. I thought I had it all figured out; life that is. Ha! In 2005 we had our first child. A daughter. I remember it was the only Friday 13th of the year when she entered this world. Little did I know what I was in store for because through the course of the next year was absolutely amazing. I was shown a whole new perspective. A type of wisdom that you can only obtain through your child. I would sit down and write at least monthly of all that she had helped me learn. It was a knowledge that I desperately needed and didn't even know it. God's pretty amazing, huh?! Through the course of time, I'll share some of those writings. A memoir of sorts so that one day, she'll know just how incredible she is. It's part of her 'dash' :) In 2009 we had our son. Boys...boys are different without a doubt. I wouldn't say they are easier but I wouldn't say girls are easier either. Each of them have different qualities that are captivating. My son has shown me a whole other spectrum of awesomeness. Orneriness included! I wouldn't change either of them-regardless of what was put in front of me.
So, there's my little introduction- it's not much, but it's me. I look forward to sharing so much of me with you, pouring out my heart and soul because I have a purpose-just like you-it's meaningful, it's beautiful, it's unique, it's special. Because we all have a purpose, we all have a story, and we all have wisdom to pass along to the next.
I'll leave you with this scripture to ponder written by the apostle Paul. It's found in:
I Corinthians 9:24-26 "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step." NLT
One of my favorite books of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. Solomon (the author of the writings) was said to be the wisest, yes wisest, man that ever lived. And I have to agree. His wisdom is poured throughout all of the scripture written. And it tackles the age old question: "Is anything that meaningful in this life?" The best one sentence line I have come up with to answer that is this: "Yes." That's it folks! A simple 'yes' will do. Why? Because it can't be summed in one sentence. Solomon wrote an entire book covering this question. This life is only temporary. We know that we are born, we live, and we die. But...
I saw a saying about the "dash". Take these dates for example: 1933-1994. Those are the dates of my grandmother's life here on Earth. She was born in 1933. She died in 1994. But is that all? What's in the middle? What did she do while she roamed the land? I can sit here and type story after story of the strong woman she was. The types of stories that told you how she offered the only stability I had ever known growing up. I can tell you how she supplied me with a silent strength without ever speaking a word. I can tell you how she fought cancer for years until it finally won. It's that dash that matters. Our lives are not in vain- in fact- they are quite purposeful.
It took me 33 years to discover my purpose. However, I wasn't looking for it the first 28 of them. Well, not really. The first 17 was just trying to survive living in a home of domestic violence. Next, there were about 3 years of self destruction. That rebellious "I can live the way I want because I want" kind of attitude. Cocky, arrogant, and totally obnoxious. I look back now and shake my head. Pathetic. Then I turned 20 years old... well now, wasn't I in for a big surprise: God placed a gentleman along my path and my entire world changed. For the better. I then started the process of self discovery. Analyzing my morals and values. Asking myself who I was and who I wanted to be- and not that kid (no disrespect intended) stuff like "I want to be an astronaut when I grow up." It was the kind of a- crawl in a cave and evaluate every inch of your soul- kind of discovery. I thought I had it all figured out; life that is. Ha! In 2005 we had our first child. A daughter. I remember it was the only Friday 13th of the year when she entered this world. Little did I know what I was in store for because through the course of the next year was absolutely amazing. I was shown a whole new perspective. A type of wisdom that you can only obtain through your child. I would sit down and write at least monthly of all that she had helped me learn. It was a knowledge that I desperately needed and didn't even know it. God's pretty amazing, huh?! Through the course of time, I'll share some of those writings. A memoir of sorts so that one day, she'll know just how incredible she is. It's part of her 'dash' :) In 2009 we had our son. Boys...boys are different without a doubt. I wouldn't say they are easier but I wouldn't say girls are easier either. Each of them have different qualities that are captivating. My son has shown me a whole other spectrum of awesomeness. Orneriness included! I wouldn't change either of them-regardless of what was put in front of me.
So, there's my little introduction- it's not much, but it's me. I look forward to sharing so much of me with you, pouring out my heart and soul because I have a purpose-just like you-it's meaningful, it's beautiful, it's unique, it's special. Because we all have a purpose, we all have a story, and we all have wisdom to pass along to the next.
I'll leave you with this scripture to ponder written by the apostle Paul. It's found in:
I Corinthians 9:24-26 "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step." NLT
