Dancing with Cinderella

We often think about what we would miss about someone if we didn’t get to see them often anymore.  Usually the first things that come to minsd are the “big” things.  We’d miss spending holidays with them, celebrating a birthday with them, maybe even special dinners, anniversary… and those are difinitely things that would be missed, but how often do we think of the “little” things?  The things that sometimes are not things we even think about or at times even frustrate us and we let out a sigh when we have to deal with them. 

Things such as …

• Can you scratch my back? (every.single.time. we sit to watch t.v.)
• Read me this story (right in the middle of your favorite t.v. show)
• I had a bad dream, can you stay here with me (3 am when you have to work in a few hours)
• Can you watch t.v. with me… yes, it may be sports, cartoons… etc.  but they want you with them.

Sometimes they aren’t things we do with a sigh… but we do them without thinking that they hold any importance…

• Snuggling right before bed.
• Drying her hair every morning before school (although I keep watching the clock and thinking I don’t have time for this)
• Michal just texting me to say “hi”.
• The extra squeeze my dad gives me when he hugs me.
• Going to McDonald’s because that is all you know she will eat… later you will be looking for a good excuse to get those fries!
• The drive to the away football game… because it may be the only time that week that you are together and can talk because of busy schedules. 
• The voice on the other end of the line, my mom’s voice,  that just by hearing it… your heart tells you- everything is going to be ok. 
• The excitement in Jayda’s eyes and voice when you visit her at school – she wants you there, she is proud of you. 
• Watching Jayda dance.  Even when it doesn’t match the other dancers ;-).

I could go on and on… so many “little” things…

Enjoy them.  Relish in them.  You never know when you will miss them. 

If nothing else… take comfort in the fact that they serve as a reminder that …

you are not in this life alone. 

They are our  blessings.  Be thankful for them. 

Many probably wonder what the BIG thing is about blogging. I know it took me a good year to really get into the idea of frequently posting on the blog I first created. And, if you go back to my first year of posting, my blog was pretty BLAH! ;-)… my writing was far from what my true potential was and my topics were not the greatest. It was tough for me to truly get into it.

I slowly began reading other blogs, getting ideas and realizing exactly what I wanted the purpose of my blog to be. I wanted to share my faith, my trials, my successes and also share a lot about being a mommy. A big goal for me was to be real. I didn’t want to portray myself as a girl with the perfect life, who was the perfect mommy, perfect wife… because that was far from the truth.

In my world… I cry often, I get angry at God often {but I do say sorry to Him often too}… I make mommy mistakes… but I also share many of my successes… this blog is about the REAL me…

Recently I decided to get very serious about my blogging and made the switch from blogger to wordpress… I love it!

Blog for the fun of it… blog for yourself… blog to be real!

Journey of Faith

How this event came to be…

For several years now I had always *thought* that I needed to do something to help this cause. I needed to “pay back” what had been given to me because of my battle with childhood cancer. It stayed as a thought for a long while until I finally had the courage and will to truly do something. I am a 32 year survivor of a childhood cancer called neuroblastoma (cancerous tumor that develops in your nerves). It was a battle that I am blessed to have had (yes, really it WAS a blessing), but I was also too young to remember. My mom is the true survivor of it during the actual treatments, in my opinion. I had the challenge of surviving the aftermath of it- everything it left for me to deal with to this day, mainly through my physical disability, and it has truly been a journey that my faith has carried me through.  And my mom has survived that part of it with me too. 

This past January I purchased a handcycle and was able to participate in a half-marathon, which opened up a new world for me. A world where I could be active and feel proud of myself. During this time is when the seed was planted of wanting to organize a running event to help raise money for childhood cancer. It was more interesting now because it would be something that I could now participate in as well & possibly encourage more disabled people to start becoming more active as well.

I later came across the Reyna Family through an article in The Monitor and that is when I just knew this event HAD to happen and it was going to be for them and the work they were doing to honor their daughter Lou Lou (Lou Lou Reyna Foundation), who fought a brave battle with cancer. The main use for money they raise if to assist families and extra expenses that they face during the treatment time frame (a lot of expenses).

And that is a short, very condensed, explanation of how Journey of Faith was born. With your help I am praying that this will be a successful event. An event that will have multi-purposes… it will- raise money for childhood cancer, raise awareness for childhood cancer, raise awareness for people with disabilites and how they can find abilities and it will bring our community along with people from all over the RGV together for a great cause.

Cancer can be personal, it was and still is for me.

I truly hope you can all join us on this great Journey of Faith!

I know many do not comprehend why birthday parties are so important or needed.  I go through my moments when I think, “we are keeping it small this year”… after six parties… I am still waiting for the “small” one.  You see, when you have a family the size of mine – it will never be small.  Ever.  But, you know what?  All that means is that the LOVE is big too.  So it is always wonderful in the end.

Every year I search everywhere and ANYWHERE for the cute ideas, the “different” ideas… I have this thing about not wanting to be like everyone else… it’s just in me.  I think I’ve done pretty good with her party ideas…

1st year:  A Disney Luau

2nd year:  Let’s FISH with Mickey

3rd year:  The Wonderful World of Disney

4th year:  Lilo & Stitch

5th year:  Minnie/Zebra with a candy buffet (favorite)

6th year….. We got a bit TANGLED! 

 Are we noticing the Disney trend here?  Yeah… we are obsessed.  It’s a Disney thing. 😉

We had an amazing cake made by Sarah:

Sarah also made us the most adorable and great tasting cookies- shaped as popcicles to match the “pool” theme that went along with the Tangled theme… {I told you- I like to do things DIFFERENTLY- ;-)}

We also had some “cool gumball” milkshakes…. {and rootbeer floats that grandma insisted on}…

It was a fun party… it turned out perfect.  School friends, cousins… what else could we ask for?

I got to celebrate my gift… my blessing… the best thing that God has ever trusted me with…

How could THAT not be BIG?

Oh, and the ideas going through my head for next year… watch out!  It’s on!

I will always celebrate the day that I became….

 Don’t base your happiness on what others think of you.  Or what others do with you or for you…

Don’t rely on them. 

Don’t look down on yourself.

Do trust God.

Do believe that HE made you heroic.

So just do it.

Be your own HERO…

So…

Watch Me…

I decided to just take the leap of faith… and built my wings on the way down…

Strong arms ARE the NEW legs… 😉

Are we the perfect family? HA… not even close.

Truth is…

We disagree.
We annoy each other.
We judge each other.
We frustrate each other.
We calmly discuss our differences we once in a while yell and tell each other what bothers us and sometimes say hurtful things to one another…

For real.  We do.  We have.

Then we have all the grandkids… {what? Did you think I was talking about them already? ;-)}

They disagree.

They annoy each other.  A LOT.  {Almost as much as the adults ;-)… I kid, I kid.  It’s not nearly as much… KIDDING!}

They frustrate each other.

And, yes, they even yell and sometimes say hurtful things to each other.

But, if we as adults do it… of course they will too.

But what family doesn’t go through that?

In the end – we love each other.  We forgive each other.  We apologize to each other {even when we still feel we aren’t the ones needing to apologize}.  We value our relationship far more than a disagreement.

As a family we have been through a lot.  We’ve been close to falling apart … but we fought through it.  We’ve disappointed each other… but we dealt with it.  That is what families do… they move on… they get past things.

My parents are truly one-of-a-kind… they lead us through example.  They instilled the value of education by example – they both finished college and they proudly tell people that their 3 kids have ALL finished college and each have a graduate degree as well.  And they always proudly add the fact that our spouses do too.

Our parents celebrate with us daily… with all the new family additions…

As a family we have disappointed each other.  We have forgiven each other.  We have celebrated together.  No matter what, we still look for each other.  {We still need each other… sometimes we are too stubborn to admit it}.

I love the fact that I can say that my brothers love me A LOT and know that I am speaking the truth.

Through all our differences, through all our disagreements, through all our successes, and through ALL our memories…

We WILL ALWAYS be THE RODRIGUEZ FAMILY… the family who has been through a lot but has managed to get through it.  The family who is perfectly unperfect and is proud of that.  The family that I love through the good times and the bad.

 My Family…

Perfectly Unperfect- forever and for always!

I love getting thes e-mails from Monday through Friday.  It is usually the first e-mail I read every morning.  I would say about 99% of the time it is the EXACT message I am needing to hear at the moment.  God has spoken to me a great deal through these messages and I am thankful for that.  Today’s message was no different.  In fact, I believe that today’s message has been the most powerful one for me.  It described MY situation SO well about the walk I am taking with the Lord… I recently discovered exactly what it was that I had to offer…

So… not too much rambling from me today… I will just share today’s e-mail with you.

**************

“Moses said to the LORD, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been
eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am
slow of speech and tongue.’” Exodus 4:10 (NIV 2011)

When a move took my family from one side of the country to the other,
insecurity surprised me. Despite being a confident woman in most areas of my
life, I suddenly felt out of place and questioned my abilities.

Don’t get me wrong. The people were delightful and welcoming. It’s just that
I felt so different. It seemed all the women I met were smartly dressed and
spoke with charming accents. I, on the other hand, wore casual clothes and spoke
in what suddenly seemed like a boring monotone.

But that wasn’t all. God placed me in a work situation with women who had
impressive resumes and accomplishments compared to me. These women had also been
working together for years. They knew their purpose and seemed self-assured. As
a newcomer, my confidence was shaky as I compared my experience and talent to
theirs.

Over time, the differences magnified as my friends achieved more success. My
gifts and talents seemed insignificant. I wondered how or why God would use
someone like me, a somewhat simple and straightforward woman, when there were so
many beautiful and charming ones nearby.

Although my head spoke words of doubt, God was strengthening my heart with
His truth. He was teaching me that His love for me and my potential weren’t tied
to performance. It didn’t matter what my “resume” looked like, or what level of
“success” I achieved.

He wanted me to accept His love…just as I was. This truth shouted freedom to
an achievement-based woman like me.

It didn’t happen overnight, but as I learned that my value was found in being
a beloved daughter of God, I realized God had never compared me to anyone. He
wasn’t counting accomplishments or gauging my impact. He was simply interested
in what I did with what He entrusted to me.

After years of disqualifying myself, I finally accepted that God created me
unique for a reason. The way I think, my personality and talents are all tools
to accomplish God’s plan for me. What I saw as flaws, He saw as potential. And
the more I invested in how God made me, the greater He was glorified, and the
more impactful I was at work and in ministry.

The same is true for every woman. God’s design of you is intentional. You
aren’t like your mother, sister or friend for a reason. Your life and ministry
will never look like the manager you admire, the women’s ministry director at
your church, or the woman who lives next door.

And that’s a good thing, because God doesn’t want you to be like them. He
wants you to be YOU.

The challenge today is to release the expectations you’ve placed on yourself
and explore God’s amazing plan for you. You’ll discover what I did: Everyone has
something to offer.

Dear Lord, thank You for placing potential within me. Forgive me for
neglecting the gifts and talents You’ve given me, or for wishing I had someone
else’s abilities and experiences. Help me to embrace Your design of me, and to
explore the incredible plan You have for me. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

*************

What do you have to offer the Lord?  We all have something…

She’s not your ordinary princess…

{Her actual birthday is July 19th… but we will be on vacation- so posting now}

I just want you to know…

I am so in love with your personality.  You are a happy girl and you show it.  Because of your fun-loving personality, I have learned so much sweet girl.  Life is meant to be enjoyed and thanks to you- I’ve learned to enjoy it.  What a wonderful gift you’ve given me.  You bring life with you wherever you go.  Don’t ever change that.

Hyper High-spirited is how we describe you because you do have a wonderful spirit… God has big plans for that personality of yours and I can’t wait to see what they are!

I just want you to know…

That even when your high-spirit gets the best of you and I both, I would never change you for anything.  We have our “moments”, but that is what life is all about, challenges and overcoming them.  Raising you has definitely been a challenge… but, I have never been one to back down from a challenge, especially one I love more than life itself!  Don’t let anyone take that spirit from you… just use it wisely my sweet girl ;-).  {When I am not around}

I just want you to know…

You completed kinder this year… and boy did it start off interesting.  I grew a lot as a mommy during this time.  My independent little girl was a kinder student and didn’t need me there at all.  I took you to school that first day- for my own sake… not yours.

It was a rough start {for me}.  But I survived it.  I worried.  I stressed.  Did I send you too soon?  Were you too young?  What should I do?  Your attention span was uhm… VERY limited {kinda still is ;-)}

But, in typical {Jayda} fashion you proved to me that I needed to just {chill out}… you had this kinder thing under control.  You simply continued proving our {Jayda Theory} … you do things when YOU want to do them… from potty training to kindergarten… sigh… through a lot of prayer we will survive the teen years sweet girl- A LOT of prayer!  But God has never abandoned us and He never will.  He knows we can handle each other.  It may be a bumpy road… but we will reach our destination- with His guidance- of course.

I just want you to know…

• Our memories are priceless!
• You were loved before I even held you…
• You make things MAGICAL!
• You taught me to BELIEVE again!
• You inspire me, you helped me learn that in order to love you the best I could, I needed to love myself the best I could… thank you for that.
• You are my greatest blessing.

I just want you to know…

You make me proud!  You bring me so much joy & I thank God for the privilege to be your mommy!

I just want you to know…

Being your mommy has been the most fulfilling, frustrating, exhausting, difficult, delightful, inpsiring, challenging and rewarding job I’ve been blessed with!  You are my world.

Together we will learn more, together we will love more, together we will honor our Lord & fulfill our purpose in this world.

Just know…

That I love you!

Happy 6th Birthday my sweet girl!  Thank you for being YOU.

Love you forever and for always,

Mommy