A Simple Dream Hard to Achieve

Growing up my dreams changed. I used to not want to have kids. I didn't care about getting married. I wasn't ambitious about the personal side of life. However, my career dreams were outrageous. Then I grew up. I met Jesus. My dreams kept changing but a few things became constant in what I wanted out of life... First, I wanted a husband. A best friend to stand with me. Hand in hand. Side by side. For better or worse. As long as we both shall live. Now, here I am coming up on our first wedding anniversary. It still doesn't even feel real sometimes.

The next dream I had was a house. Nothing fancy but big enough to accommodate us and four kids one day. Nice backyard for the kids to play in. Decent back porch with a swing. Maybe a garden in the front yard... Nice big kitchen table where we would always eat dinner as a family.

Then of course, as previously mentioned four kids. Obviously, I changed my mind on that too. Oh and my big outrageous career dream now? Stay-at-home mom and housewife. That's right. Cleaning house. Cooking (which is no big cause I L-O-V-E cooking), running errands, setting the tone of the home.... and all of the hundreds of other jobs ties into those titles.

Pretty simple dream right? Yet somehow.... that simple dream seems impossible to achieve. The economy sucks. When you get the better job its still not enough and yet you are watching everyone else with the same situations have everything almost handed to them.

Don't get me wrong. I know there are some people that are working hard and killing themselves to have the same dream but it seems like no matter how hard we try, we can never get where we want to be. Something always happens. Something always hits us. Something always comes and pulls us two or ten steps back... we get excited over a promotion or a better job only to find out that we still can't afford life.

I love my husband and I know without a doubt that he loves me, but you can't live on love. We just want our simple dream. We want to be able to have our own house. We want to be able to "afford" kids one day. I know they say you can never really "afford" kids but I just mean we can at least still make ends meet with them.

On very rare occasions we have hope. Then something rips it away or like most days we just feel like hard isn't the right word.... like its more along the lines of impossible. Our simple dream is impossible to achieve. That seems about right...

Ever feel like giving up?

-Kelcy J.

BOO!!!

I bet you didn't expect to hear from me:) Long time no see! Oh! I almost forgot, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that in just a few short hours it will no longer be Halloween and we will have entered into the month of November but I thought I'd throw it in there anyway.

Any-who, how are you? How have you been since the last time I posted? How about your day today? How did today go, hmm? Were you prepared for trick-or-treaters, or were you one of the many last minute candy shoppers? Don't worry, I went to Walmart at around 6PM and I can personally guarantee you that you were most certainly NOT the only last minute candy shopper.

Tonight was our first Halloween together as Mr. and Mrs. and it was quite boring in a since of we didn't have any little trick-or-treaters. We watched a "scary" movie, ate some snacks and enjoyed the evening together.

Now, let me talk to you just a second about my very hypocritical pet peev. Today I was informed by a friend that the city we live in had put up the snowflakes on the light poles around the city. I just could not believe that they did such an insane thing on the DAY OF Halloween!!! Isn't that just one of the most absurd things you've ever heard? Christmas lights up on the day of Halloween. So I reasoned... Maybe they were just putting them up in preparation for the upcoming months.... no big... calm down... However, as mentioned earlier, Charles and I made a trip to Walmart and I couldn't believe it..... ALL of the snowflakes.... WERE LIT!!!!! =O I know you're probably just as baffled as I am.... it's okay... I'll give you a minute....

Okay, now that we've calmed down.... do you remember me calling this a very hypocritical pet peev (rant)? Well you see, maybe it's the snowflakes.... I really don't know.... I am sitting here, listening to Christmas music as I type!!!!!

EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN!!!! THERE IS NO NEED TO PANIC!!!! WE ALL KNOW THAT I HAVE A SERIOUS CHRISTMAS PROBLEM!!!!! JUST CHILL!!!! <---- hehe, see what I did there.... chill.... I know, I know.... it wasn't that funny....

So anyway.... at the risk of being hunted down by a mob of people that know and understand we should only have one holiday at a time, the same people of which who really don't like people that are as overly obsessed with Christmas as I am..... (I should seriously get a break this year since it is my first year as a wife.... just saying...)..... Who is looking forward to the Thanksgiving/Christmas festivities? 

Umm... yeah, that would be me right here. You can betcha I'm ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I finally have my own place to decorate, a husband to spend the holidays with and a whole new way to enjoy this season. It will definitely be different, but I know it will be a good different. 

So are there any of you out there reading this, that are celebrating your Thanksgiving/Christmas in a new way? How about a story about your first Thanksgiving/Christmas out own your own in the world? Did you carry on traditions, start new ones, or a little bit of both? I would absolutely love to hear from you all! Shoot me an email or comment below this post:) Looking forward to the stories flooding in =D 

-Kelcy J.

It's My Birthday!!!!!

That's right! I am officially an A-D-U-L-T! Look out world... can you tell I'm just the slightest bit bored?

Well, anyway... so today I hit adult age legally however after having already started the "adulting" portion of my life...  ya know, paying bills, cleaning the apartment, working....etc... I just wanted to make a public service announcement to every young person dying to become an adult....

SLOW DOWN!!! It's not all it's cracked up to be and your going to miss the time when you weren't the one paying for the power you used, the hot water you used, or the gas to fuel your transportation. When you buy that first grocery bill and read your total be sure you have someone you trust standing close so that they can catch you because it's going to be A LOT.

I'm not saying that being an adult is 100% miserable all of the time, but I am saying that it's a big time wake up call that your parents are trying so hard to prepare you for with all of that advice you keep ignoring...

So I repeat... SLOW DOWN. Spend every second you have enjoying your childhood and don't waste a minute of it. Listen to your parent. Learn responsibility, but right now... have fun. Don't run head first towards your adulthood because I promise you you'll wish you hadn't.

Am I happy? Absolutely!!! I am getting ready to marry my best friend! I am moving towards the "I do's" with each passing day.

Now... to my original point of this post (hence the title of this post) IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

I have been alive for 21 years today. God brought me into the world screaming and crying knowing the plans He had for me. Knowing that I would one day meet Charles and be planning our wedding. Knowing that I would start Great News Ministries. Knowing that I would be writing to you all right now on this blog...

He knew all of the crap I would go through before coming to know Him as my Savior and Redeemer on April 4, 2012 and He knew that I would be spending today knowing that He has allowed me to be on this earth for 21 years and spend the last 4 years of those 21 in service to Him.

God continuously blesses me beyond anything and everything I could ever hope and imagine, and I pray that He will help me to serve Him with all I've got for as long as I've got:)

The Holiday is Approaching...

I realize that I have posted several different posts about Christmas and my excitement for it to get here. I have told you that I enjoy listening to Christmas music (even if I do think it is so wrong that they put it on the radio before Halloween got here) and I am excited for all of the beautiful lights and even a little excited for the cold (but not the sickness that is going to come with it). So having said all of this, I would like to point something out that really only occurred to me this past week. Do you realize that we only have two months left in the year 2014? I feel like just last month we were welcoming in the year and now we are about to say goodbye to this year and hello to 2015. It almost seems to me like each year is flying by faster than the one before it. Thinking about that reminds me of a verse:

"Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." - James 4:14 (ESV)

Isn't that amazing. The Bible says that we are a mist that appears for a little time and then we vanish. Psalm 39:5 reminds us that to God our entire lifetime is just a moment and that at best, each of us is but a breath! How amazing is that? 

So this past week Gardendale started putting up their snowflake power pole lights. The colder it gets, the more accepting I become of this but on warm nights I find them kind of odd and out of place. However on the nights that it is cold, I turn on the Christmas station as I am leaving work to give the night a more Christmasy feel, but (and I know this is probably weird) when the snowflake lights are out of sight the station is changed back to 93.7 or a choir CD. So with these random things posted for the world to see, I am going to get off of here and try to go to sleep. I am SOOOOOOO excited to go and worship the Lord with my worship family tomorrow. I know it is going to be so incredibly awesome!!! =D Have an awesome night/day in the Lord!!!!

P.S. Just wanted to share a piece of scripture that jumped out at me during my study time tonight: "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead even though you have to endure many trials for a little while." - 1 Peter 1:6 (NLT)

I pray that you are greatly encouraged by this verse, I know I was! =)