By Ashley Wells, on July 30th, 2010 being a wife, keeping the home, and working outside of the home…
I’ve known this to be true ever since we moved to KY and I started working. But, I didn’t know how to write about it…
I believe the best place for a women to be is in their home (Titus 2), serving God and their family in that way. And, I’ve been doing that for well over 2 years. It has been wonderful!
During the 2 years I was a full-time wife and homemaker, I have seen God working through me, like never before! I’ve seen enormous growth in my personal relationship with Christ and in my marriage. It was great to be able to be there for Michael when he needed anything. It was great to be there for my family if they needed anything. And it was great to be home awaiting an adoption placement once we had become licensed.
Now that we are here and we wanted to become debt-free and save a little bit of money before Michael starts school…it is hard.
It is hard because my heart wants to be home. I’ve been wholly satisfied in my role inside my home. lol…I had finally got the hang of managing a home and I had started learning new tasks, like sewing.
I know that working now is just a season. Next spring we are hoping to become licensed to Foster/Adopt and we are planning on me coming back home at that time. But, for now, here I am… And, it is hard…
It is hard to juggle all these things.
Most days, I feel like I am drowning, like sometimes I cannot bring my head above water…
I don’t remember it being this hard when I was working in the first few years of our marriage…but it is so hard now. And, I think the reason is because I know the ideal for our family. I know how it works!
And this is not it…
But yet, I press on. I get through each day (barely) and go to sleep, and then do it again.
I know that what I am doing now (Even though it is hard) is going to greatly benefit the future of my family. I know that by me working now, I’ll be able to stay home once our family expands. I know that by working now, we will be debt-free and able to pay for school easier without our monthly bills.
This is just a season, a short one even! But yet, in the midst of it I am often reminded of how hard it is to juggle all these things and not be able to give 100% to everything.
Each day, when I am struggling to get through, I look forward to coming home again.
By Ashley Wells, on July 29th, 2010
(I am sharing this great list of partners later than I would like to this month, apologies for that!)
Each month, I like to take the time and introduce you to that month’s “Featured Partners.”
Right now all of my Featured Partners are people or companies who partnered with me to provide prizes for Give! Win! Send!. In the future, these spots will be available to purchase (And the proceeds will go towards future adoption costs).
So, without further delay, here are my Featured Partners for this month:
Kathi Lipp helps women renovate their life with projects for the soul. She is a national speaker and author who inspires thousands each year to take beneficial action steps in their personal, marital, and spiritual lives. Earlier this year I reviewed her book The Marriage Project, which I loved!
Kathi can be found on facebook and on twitter.
Halas & Phos is your one stop shop for Christian jewelry, accessories, gifts, books, bibles, games and home & office décor. They offer a wide variety of products…you are sure to find what you are looking for!
Halas & Phos has a mailing list (Sign up at the top of their site) to stay in the loop, and can also be found on twitter.
Angela Vinez Designs is a wide range design company that has a lot to offer! Angela offers very affordable items that are custom made for you!
I love lists! So, you now I love ListPlanIt! Their tagline is “lists to put your world in order,” and they do just that! Jennifer Tankersley, aka List Mama, has been making lists since she learned to write. She is not only the creator of ListPlanIt, but also its #1 user!
Soul Blessings is an etsy shop ran by Bev. She specializes in mixed media canvas art. Her art is a reflection of her walk of faith, and straight from her heart and soul.
I love her art and I think it looks so unique and decorative, while also adding encouragement!
Life Verse Design is bringing Scripture and Inspirational sayings to life visually by using stunning sepia toned photography and collaging techniques. It is their hope that your heart is touched by the beauty and power of Scripture.
Life Verse Design can also be found at their NEW blog.
Olivia Isabella Jewelry Boutique is the GO TO place for romantic, beautiful, and unique jewelry! You can find necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and even hair pins in this adorable jewelry boutique!
You can check out all the products in the etsy shop today!
Make sure to take some time and meet this month’s featured partners!!!
By Ashley Wells, on July 28th, 2010 I wrote this post last year at the end of April. But, to be honest, this is something I continually struggle with and trying to change.
This past weekend I went to the Women of Faith Conference (I won the tickets on my local radio station!!!) and something happened…
This might hurt
It’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care
If I break
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just ok
Is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life
I realized that the past three years as I’ve been going through infertility, I’ve let something happen. I’ve gone into cruise control, just going through the motions. I lost some passion. I lost my vision of my eternal future. I got consumed by the nothingness of this life.
I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions
And, I decided I am going to make a change!!! I want to refocus my vision back on Christ, back on His promises (Psalm 119:50)! It is so easy to become wrapped up in this world, the pain, the sorrow, the struggles. But, we, as Christians, can look to our future home and hope in the promise that we have (Romans 8:18). We can look to heaven where there will be no pain and no sorrow (Revelation 21:4)!
No regrets
Not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love
Make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something
We need to remember this life is temporary. The pain is temporary. Our troubles are temporary. And we need to remember that there is nothing in this world that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
We need to stop going through the motions and instead give our life as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1) and do everything for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31) holding on to the promise we have (2 Peter 3:13, 1 John 2:25) remembering that our God is faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9)!
Like I said at the beginning of this post, this is something I am continually working on. Even after well over a year since writing this originally, I still struggle. It is so easy to just going with the flow of life and let our actions become meaningless. However, I want to live a life full of meaning and purpose…and most of all I want to live a life that brings Christ glory, and honor, and praise!
Inside the boxes are the lyrics of the Matthew West song “The Motions.”
By Ashley Wells, on July 27th, 2010 THIS SHOP IS NOW CLOSED.
You know that sense of excitement when you find a product that you absolutely love? And you want to tell the whole world about it?
I DO!
Without fail, at a social or family gathering, the women end up in a circle talking about new things they’ve tried or want to try and some new product that they are in love with! Or at least this happens when I’m there! lol…
Well, welcome to the circle where I am going to share with you about products that I have tried, and use, and love, and now I’m ready to tell you!
I am so happy to announce that I am going to be able to start sharing with YOU products that I love and you will have the opportunity to purchase those products from my shop and at the same time support this blog ministry!
 Have you heard of The OpenSky Project?
It’s this really cool way to shop…you shop from people you know and trust (like me)! What an idea!?!
This shop is going to give me a great opportunity to spread my reach beyond this blog and into your home and life, in a real and practical way!
In the Putting God First Place Shop, which will open on August 10th, I will be hand-picking and selling products that will help you serve your family and work in your home more efficiently, I know because that is what these products allow me to do.
And, remember, all the products that I choose to sell are products that I love and use myself!
So, get ready for August 10th! That is the officially launch of the Putting God First Place Shop!
Do you sell products and want to spread your reach? You might want to consider supplying to OpenSky!
By Ashley Wells, on July 23rd, 2010
I last updated you about our adoption in October and said that we were waiting to be matched. Then when God impressed upon our hearts to move to KY, I shared that for now, we are putting our adoption on hold for at least a year to focus on Michael starting school and getting settled in KY.
Well, we are here again where we made plans, and then God had other ones that are way better!!! Since we’ve moved we just continue to feel God pushing us to continue with our adoption now, not later.
The problem that we have is that our license and homestudy do not transfer. So, we have to start the whole process over again. That was a bit discouraging…but, if it’s what we’ve got to do, then we are going to do it!
Instead of going through our country children services, where we felt very little support, we found a private foster agency that has a great adoption program! It is practically the same exact thing as before, except they have a great support system and want to know exactly what we are looking for.
We had our first meeting with them last week, and it went wonderfully! We start our training on Monday and we should have all our training done by the middle of September. We will be able to finish our homestudy next spring after we move (When we moved to KY we just found a small apartment to get us through the first year, we only have 1 bedroom, so we can’t have a placement and finish our homestudy until we move when our lease is up).
Our agency is making is seem like we could have a placement by next summer! Which is so exciting! We are getting licensed for 3 children under the age of 8. So, by this time next year, we may be a family of 5 instead of 2!
Please continue to pray for us along this journey!!!
And I would just like to give a heartfelt thanks to those who have continued to be an encouragement along this journey!!! Thank you!
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