The Lonely Tree

Everytime we pass a certain field by our home my daughter always says "there's the lonely tree". Then she starts telling us why the tree is lonely. It is a really cute and creative story that I thought I would share.
The story starts in a small forest where there is an evil snake. The snake is so evil that it hurts. The only way to make the pain lessen is for the snake to bite someone and release some of its venom. The snake is slithering along looking for its next victim when it comes upon a wizard. This is not just any wizard but a kind wizard that has nice magic. He helps to heal all the forest animals and plants when they are in need. The snake sneaks up on the wizard and bites him releasing the evil venom. This changes the nice, kind wizard into an evil, mean wizard who is no longer helping the animals and plants in the forest. He is now causing chaos. The wizard changes a skunk into a flower, and changes a toad into a mushroom. Then he comes upon a small grove of trees. These trees are brothers and best friends. They spend the day enjoying Gods creation by looking at the clouds, talking with the birds that land on their branches, and drinking the cold rain water. The wizard sees the good trees and is very jealous since he is no longer good. The wizard casts a magical spell on the trees causing them to be evil like himself. The trees are not fighting with each other and swatting away the nice birds that come to rest on their branches. All but one tree that was missed by the wizard because he is smaller than the rest. The trees pick on their small brother and tease him. They no longer enjoy Gods creation around them, instead they complain all day long. Finally after a few weeks the big, evil brothers don't want to be around the nice, little tree any longer so they cast him away into a empty, lonely field where he is forced to spend everyday alone. This made the little tree sad and lonely. The brothers eventually died from the poison in the wizards spell. But after years on being alone in the field the little tree decided that he is right where God wanted him to be. He enjoyed more sunshine than before, he drank more rain water, and had a better view of the beautiful sky. He made friends with the birds and squirrels and grew to be a bigger than his evil brothers ever were. He is no longer the lonely tree but the happiest tree you'll ever find.   THE END

A Legacy

Dicia Ann Holden Steele: Mother of 6, Grandmother of 22, and Great Grandmother of 7. What an amazing Legacy. I feel sorry that there were many of her grandchildren that live far away that she had few opportunities to get to know. I feel fortunate to always have been close by. I remember when I first lived on my own as a college student and had to call Grandma to ask her how to make spagetti. I know pretty pathetic but I have never claimed to be a good cook. I can still hear her giggle but then patiently explained to me the process. I also have many memories of Grandma and Mom dragging Aunt Beth, my sister and myself from store to store to store most saturdays when we were small. I am still pretty sure that both my mom and grandma looked at every single thing on every single rack in the whole store. I know that us kids were just there for the McDonalds. Although it was so painfully boring at the time it made a lot of memories that I wouldn't trade for anything today.
Every couple weeks for a few years I would go to clean my grandparents house once grandma could no longer handle it. What a great opportunity. I got to spend time with them and not to mention Grandpa paid really well. Once her disease started effecting her where she could not remember peoples names I was so proud that I saw her enough that she still remembered mine for a long time.
Alheimers has been hard for all of us that new my grandma Dicia. To watch her deteriate has been hard but I feel so fortunate that she has had her children supporting her along the way. Wiping her tears when she was so scared or reasurring her when she had that look of fear on her face. I am so thankful that Aunt Beth took her to her church for so many years so she could be a part of her own congergation. To praise God in a familiar setting I'm sure was a great comfort to her. I am also thankful that my grandpa took care of the love of his life until the very end. Although I know it was a constant challenge what a great sign of love and devotion. Thanks to my mom (Diana) also for taking care of her almost daily so grandpa could get a much deserved break. I know that all her children have busy lives but I am so thankful to all of them that helped take care of my Grandma.
There were also many cute thing that my Grandma has done since being sick that I will always cherish. Like when she would have her smile beaming as her great grandbabies played at her feet and would say "Awww look at the puppies". It still makes me giggle just thinking about it. Or the singing and dancing around that Grandma would do. It was always nice to see her in such a happy mood.
I miss her crafts, her strawberry jam, and her giggle but I am so glad that God put us together.
My Grandma was such an amazing mother and grandmother and I can not praise God enough for sending me to be a part of this family.

Grandma Dicia

Today is a sad but joyous day. Early this morning my Grandma Dicia pasted away. After many year of lossing herself to alzheimers disease she finally subcumbed to this terrible disease. What makes this day joyous is she is with our heavenly father. I am so glad that she is no longed scared and confused but able to be in Heaven. Can you imagine Christmas in Heaven. WOW!!!! I'm sure it is such an amazing thing that we being fragile human beings could not even handle the magnitude and excitement of it. I picture my Grandma Dicia in Heaven (being a farm girl) leaning with her mother against a split rail fence watching some beautiful horses run across the field.
 I have so many wonderful memories of my Grandma. I feel so fortunate to be the oldest grandchild and always living close to her. My grandma was only 44 when I was born. She was so young that she was almost like a second mom to me when I was little. Since she still had young kids at home herself she was still in mom mode when I was a younf child. One of my first memories of her was when I was 3 or 4 and I was making funny faces at her. Like most Grandmas she said the my face was going to stick like that. I thought for the longest time that it would. But thankfully it never happened because I can make some pretty ugly faces. When I was little I also remember asking grandma to paint a seatshirt for me for my birthday. I treasured that sweatshirt and wore it all the time. What an amazing talent she had for painting the cutest things. I know that all the family has many things made by her that we all treasure. (My christmas tree is covered in them) It seems like it has been a long time since I lost my grandma. Before she was sick she would giggle at everything. What a sweet quality that I have already missed. She was a collector of antiques, anything with horses on it, she loved to read. I will miss her soooo much but I am so happy and joyous for her to be in Gods presence. I look forward to the day that the Lord also call me to him to spend eternity. Dear Heavenly Father thank you for sending me such an amazing person to be such an important part of my life. I know that her time here is now done and that you need her more. Thank you for the years you shared her with me and I look forward to the day that we will be reunited in your presence. Amen

Interview Day!!!!!!

As many of you know both Toby and I have been looking for new jobs. I have given up on the Davenport Position because the hiring manager said they were still doing second round interviews and it has been a few weeks since I had mine, so i'm sure they haven't found anyone they like yet. On a good note Toby had his "Big" interview with Auto Cam today. He had one half hour interview with two people and another half hour interview with three people. He said he thinks he nailed it and was in a really good mood when he got home. So thank you lord for the help and giving Toby the right words to say and calm nerves. I am so thankful to everyone that has been praying for us. They told him this was the final interview and he will know shortly, so please continue to pray that the Lord lays his decision on the hearts of the hiring managers.
I also had an interview today with Farmers insurance at their new campus across from Davenport in Caledonia. I would be working in the Help Point Claims center. It is a call center that fields calls from customers with questions, claims, and payments. I think my interviwe went really well. It was all Behavioral questions so those alway are interesting because I feel like I have to rumage through the files in my brain to find a situation or past experience that fits the question. It must have went well because I passed the typing test and I have another interview scheduled for Tomorrow -Thursday November 3. This is going to be a 2 hour interview but that includes a tour and sitting down with a Customer Service Associate that is already doing what I would be doing. That way I will get a chance to shadow someone and see what the position really entails and what it is like. So thank you to all the prayer warriors that have been there in my corner. Please continue to pray for me and that the Lords will be done for this position. It is obvious that the lord didn't want me at Davenport and I am totally fine with that. I am just curious where he wants me. But it is all in the Lords plan for us and I can't wait to find out.

Waiting for the Lords will!

Sometimes it is really hard to wait for what the Lord wants for me. I had my interview with Davenport two days ago and even though my thought process is that it is in the Lords hands, it is still killing me to wait. I know that God has already planned out what happens next in my life but being human makes it so hard to wait for the next move. I have some exciting news though, Toby applied to Auto Cam in Grand Rapids and the HR person sent him some info about the Machinist Apprentiship program. So he told her that he is very interested so we are awaiting a reply back about that and waiting to see if I am going to have a third interview with Davenport. I feel like our life is all in Limbo right now. But at the same time the prospect of change is so exciting. Tomorrow I am helping in Olivia's preschool class. I am so excited to see how class goes and how she interacts with the other kids in school. I hope my presence doesn't make he act differently than any other school day. We'll see.... I am really excited about the prospect of going back to school if I get the DU job. I would be able to take 3-6 credit hours a semester paid by the University. So I know I already said all this but to learn new things that could potentially help someone or to help myself to be sucessful is very exciting. I guess I am at the point where I need something that is mine away from the house and my kids. I love being the center of the universe for my kids but to be a productive member of society again would be something I really need. I guess staying at home and not have a lot of adult interaction on a daily basis is really depressing. Thank goodness for my friend Mindy who walks with me during preschool. I don't think she know how much I look forward to those walks and getting to talk about life and just to get out. Mindy if you read this you are definitly a gift to me from God. He knew I needed your friendship and he led us to start our walks right when I needed it. So God and thank you Mindy. Well its been a long day and I am going to enjoy some time to myself. God give me the patience to wait. Goodnight.

Interview Day!!!

Today I had my second interview with Davenport university. I think it went really well. I was shocked when I left the building and looked at my phone to realize it took and hour and a half. WOW!!! Time flew by. I had a lot of questions for them and then they had a lot of questions for me. I felt like I really hit it off with both the people that interviewed me. When we were leaving the office when we had the interview the one girl told me that she also use to work for starbucks in target, lived in Middleville, and went to Western. So needless to say we stood around to shoot the breeze together for a few minutes after the interview. We'll see what happens. All I can do now is to pray that the people that are making the decisions about third interviews make the right ones. I hope it includes me but only God knows if I should work there or not. I am excited to find out though because I really want to go back to school for business managment. I think that is what I should have went to school for in the first place ( yes Aunt Faith you were right). We'll i'll update on facebook if I got to the next level or not. Think of me and the people making these life changing decisions in your prayers.

BURNED OUT!!!!!!

I love being a mom and I feel so fortunate that I was able to stay home with my kids for the last 2 years, but that is all about to come to an end. This is something that is very bittersweet for me. I love being at home with my kids but my husband works so much that I never get a break. I am pretty sure that regardless of what I say he is under the impression that being at home all day isn't as hard as having a job. Toby (my husband) says "being a mom is the most rewarding job". That may be true but even when you have the best job in the world you would need a break. Being a stay at home mom is like doing everything at the office. Including sleep. I am sad to not be home with my kids all the time (once I find a job) but I am also in need of a break. I just wish I had someone I trust that I could hire to watch my kids when i'm at work. My sister has my mom monopolized even though she is 35 minutes away and I don't think I want and extra hour and ten minute drive every day I work. I guess this is something that I need to let the Lord take over from me. Let your will be done God, show me the way. I do have an interview this Monday at Davenport University that I am super excited about. I think I would be perfect for the position so if it is Gods will maybe i'll have a new job as early as next week. I guess the whole point of this post was that I am feeling like an under appreciated over worked mom. I have to admit when my toddlers wrap their chubby wrists around my neck and give me a great big hug it makes it all worth while. Well I think this over worked and under paid employee is going to soak in the company tub (that sounds gross when you think of it that way). Tomorrow is Sunday and when i'm feeling down like this I always feel better after I hear a good sermon and have some good christian fellowship. Praise God!!!!