Reflections After 4 yrs at WABC

I've been really busy the last month working on some projects around the house and realized I had not shared any photos from our 4th yr anniversary at WABC! In actuality I have not been sharing a lot about ministry lately, not because we are not busy but because my life is more then just ministry and in fact as big a part as it is in my life this last year family and friends have played an even bigger part. For a while I forgot that and became consumed with all things ministry until one too many disappointments with ministry almost made me bitter.

I have ministry wives all the time ask me how you balance life and the demands of ministry. How do you deal with the hurts, and how do you cope with failure. I've come to learn that its near to impossible to balance anything in life let alone ministry! As a matter of fact ministry is probably the hardest ball to juggle. In part because you are dealing with "humans" and it takes a lot of "patience" to deal with humans. What I'm learning is that first and foremost you need to concentrate on the purpose God has for your life and nothing else. Don't get caught up in the hype that is ministry. And if you are blessed to have been "called" to a church, and a people......then concentrate your efforts on those people, the community in which you live and try to form a partnership with the local ministries in your area. These are the people that will have your back when its needed. Everything else is icing on the cake. Don't be discouraged if your ministry doesn't get to be a Mega ministry or whether or not your noticed by the bigwigs....God knows you and he cares and in the end that is all that really matters.

This last year our focus has been family, friends and loving on our church family. Is it always a bed of roses? Heck no. What family is? What it has become is a place in which we feel comfortable, a place where we love on and are loved on and if I ever doubted that before I don't doubt it after the beautiful anniversary celebration we recently had. I won't go into a lot of details I will just say it was a blessed day and we left feeling loved and part of something bigger then ourselves. I will share a few pics with you....and to everyone who has prayed for us, stood by us through thick and thin and supported us over the last four yrs...I just want to say how much you are appreciated and loved. I especially want to send a shout out to my BSN sista's Alida, Tara, Cheryl and Alma who have been like an anchor in a sea of craziness, to my two die hard prayer partners Michelle and Angie, and to my friend in the ministry David who all have stood by me, prayed over me and Marc (and our children) over WABC and just turned out to be the very best "friends" around. I love all of you very much and I want to publicly thank God for placing you all in my path! Sorry this post is a bit long but I wanted to do this before the year ended and we got even busier with all of the Holiday happenings. As promised here are pics from the celebration:

Marc is attending VUU and is enrolled in their Masters program. He bonded right away with one of his classmates Juan Turnes. So much so that he asked Juan to speak that morning at his anniversary.

Marc loves music, especially the New Light BC choir (every time they have fellowshiped with us Marc has threatened to steal the choir...lol). So a combination of the choir and Pastor Darryl made for a great celebration that afternoon!

Heck, I couldn't stay in my seat! LOL

Not to be out done our girls surprised us by singing as well! You can see the video here.

Marc and I were both humbled that night by the love that was shown towards us.

Not to mention the gifts! 

Our Hospitality team did an excellent job! Although we have been in the ministry for nearly 18 years, the last four years as actual Pastor and Pastors wife although challenging at times have been some of the most rewarding. Yes, ministry is hard work, yes it does take a toll on you, and yes there are days we all want to quit and throw in the towel. But in the end if you truly believe that God has called you into the ministry then you have to go and do...and L-O-V-E. Because without LOVE you have nothing at all. 

My organized pantry

The Mess!!!

I can't believe I am showing you all this but it is what it is (or was because it no longer looks that way). My kitchen pantry had become a disaster zone! So much so that we didn't even use it anymore! And it became so overwhelming that I would just close the door and avoid it (as if it was the plaque). This went on for nearly two years! You all know I recently started watching YouTube videos from Organized Like Jen, and that it inspired me to tackle several projects (which included posting my first ever YouTube video) ....what you don't know is that Jen has been holding a contest on her channel and I have decided to enter. And the project I tackled was my very messy pantry (other parts of the kitchen have also been attacked....but the pantry was the worse). Long story short...here is my before and after! 

The very top of the cabinet!

Marc thinks he is helping but sometimes he brings home entirely too much stuff and his solution was just to stuff it in the pantry! The problem with that is that we couldn't tell what, was what and some things expired without me even knowing it!

This is the very bottom of the pantry (the floor area). The problem is you couldn't see the floor!

The Process

I emptied everything from the cabinets! I must have thrown away four or five bags of stuff! Then I cleaned out the pantry (swept, wiped down....and fought a few critters if you know what I mean).

I then proceeded to paint the entire inside of the pantry in my favorite color (next to blue). The box at the top is electrical and has to stay there so I had to work around it!

Organizing!

Now I didn't have much of a budget (those of you who know me...know this was not a challenge for me, because I love to bargain shop)! The containers at the top all came from the Dollar Tree! I used my trusty label machine and went to town! The three boxes hold a few baking products (including my fav. cornbread mix), ramen noodles (I use the noodles not the seasoning packet...before my friends start worrying about my bp), and the container in the middle has marshmallows, hot cocoa, etc.

This is my favorite part of the pantry! My can goods are stacked up for now on top of each other. I use way less can products then I use to but Marc likes soup so many of the cans are his. I'm still debating on whether I should get the tiered shelf for cans, but for now I'm content with my set-up. The green baskets (from the Dollar Tree) hold my popcorn supplies and a few misc. items! You may recall the containers from Sam's Club...and yes I went back and got one more set before they ran out! I just love looking at them all nicely labeled and stacked up! LOL

My project became complete yesterday after I went to the Black Friday sale at Michael's. I had my eye on the green wicker basket for a while, but I knew if I waited I could catch it on sale. I got the wicker basket (which is usually $15.00) along with four wreaths that I am going to decorate for Christmas for a total of $14.00 bucks thanks to the basket being 40% off as well as the wreaths, plus I got to use a 30% coupon on my entire order! I lined the bottom of the basket with inserts from my cloth bags (I always end up losing them somehow) and then put a plastic table mat inside to contain spills from the bottles. The Dollar Tree baskets hold my "salad" fixings and the bottom holds extra peanut butter and jelly.

Marc has been very encouraging as I tackle each of my projects and last week he brought me two cloth baskets. One now corals all of my blankets in the family room and this pretty striped one now holds our snacks! I was also able to move my potato and onion baskets from my newly organized kitchen shelf (which gave me more space to put some additional small appliances up and off of my counter). 

The Finished Project!

Now I love going by my pantry and don't even mind when the door is open! I don't think I would have had the courage to tackle this project for a long time if not for watching Jen's pantry video! I now look at "projects" (which by the way sounds so much better then cleaning...lol) in a new light and actually look forward to the challenge!!!! 

Organized like Jen!

As you may or may not know I have been obsessed with "organizing". In part because of Organizedlikejen . I love watching her videos!  This is my new mail system which is very simple and effective!

Anyway she has not just influenced my organizational skills. I also started buying small chains to wear for everyday wear. I love big jewelry but the pieces I have don't really go with my everyday jeans and t-shirts. I don't know why I never thought to wear small jewelry pieces. Not until I watched one of Jen's videos on her other channel.

I'm also coordinating my little cousins wedding next fall so I'm loving my wedding planning book (also another idea I got from Jen). 

One other idea I got from Jen is to have a catch all basket in various rooms that you can fill with things that "collect" during the day and then at night take and put back in their perspective place! I have another basket in mind but at the moment this plastic tub works in a pinch!

I can't remember where I picked this idea up from, but I really want to be organized for Christmas. So I created a Holiday and Christmas planner. Now lets hope I do better with all of these in comparison to my daily planner which I love but sometimes forget to use! HAHA

I'm thinking about doing a video on each of these systems but it won't be until next week sometime. 

Motion In The Ocean!

My weekend got even better when one of my friends gave me free tickets to go this Black Tie event! With Marc in school on the weekends Nicki and I are always looking for things to do! So we were game from the start.

And I never need an excuse to dress up, dress up (well maybe sometimes). LOL

We knew we were in for something different when they handed us these!

I also cannot tell you when the last time was that my hand was stamped for anything other then an amusement park! LOL

As V.I.P's we got access to the entire aquarium! 

And ate some snacks! I mean, you got to have food.

Of course I'm always looking for great party ideas, and this party did not disappoint. They also had a silent auction (that was the "I can't afford that" part of the black tie event). 

All in all we had a great time!!!!!

Passions!

Last Friday I went out with my girlfriends to a place called Passions (more on the name later).

Luv these ladies to life! We always have a great time when we are together! I didn't take my camera so all of the photos were done with our phone camera's. 

As great as the food was, the best part was the company. Can't wait tell our next get together!

My family had a great time teasing me about the fact that the Preachers wife was going to a place called Passions! My daughter even asked me was I sure it wasn't a strip joint! SMH It didn't help that I decided to wear my favorite boots, my short dress and wear my hair down for the first time in a long time! LOL

Hey, I have never said I was a typical PW! LOL

Last of the Fall Decor!!!! I promise! LOL

I have so much to share...I think I'm going to break it down into parts! LOL I'm starting with the last of the Fall decor. I promise even if I find something else I'm not going to post about it. LOL Partly because I'm itching to start checking out the Christmas stuff and most of the Fall stuff is gone in the stores anyway. And if I don't start looking at Christmas stuff by Christmas it will be gone! SMH on that one! Anyway, here are a few things I recently picked up or made.

I have yet to find my old front door wreath so I made this one using stuff from the dollar store. Total cost $10!

This plate came from Ross. I think it was less then $5.00!

Same with the plate here. I hope to find a "fall" centerpiece next year to put in place of my lovely blue one I found this summer at the Thrift store. I love the idea of switching out certain items in my home depending on the season.

My pumpkin candle looked lonely so I found him some friends at the thrift store! LOL

Another thrift store find ($3.25)! I plan to put this on my bathroom door upstairs. I'm still looking for one for my laundry door. Now that I look at this picture I think I need to "decorate" my banister! Well, guess I'm not done! LOL

Last, but certainly not least is this lovely! For years when we first moved into the house I had an "apple" one on my counter. Unfortunately someone broke it. Yesterday Marc and I picked the last one of these pumpkin ones at Sam's Club! Now I need a "fall" cookie jar! LOL So even when I think I'm done, I'm not! The good thing about that is there is always next year! LOL

Next post coming up!!! And of the yummy food I have been eating!