Month: May 2019

What My Son Has Taught Me (Part 3)

by thefaithfilledtraveler, posted in Uncategorized

Have you ever been in  conversation with someone and wanted to say something, but didn’t?  If so, why? Could it have been because you were leery of what the other person may think or say? Or were you concerned about offending them?  If you’re anything like the much younger me, I’m guessing the answer is yes. Thankfully, I’ve learned quite a bit since then and I owe my son, Montana for part of that. For he has inadvertently taught me what it looks like for a young person, like himself, to speak up despite what others  may think or say. And living in the 21st century, he has shown me what it looks like for a young person to do so respectfully without fear of offending anyone.

Although I was raised in a what I consider to be a “good” home with a loving family, I never felt like I had a voice. I didn’t feel like I could say the things I truly wanted to say without them being frowned upon or discounted. I don’t think that anyone intentionally set out to hurt me at all with this behavior and that they were only doing what they had been taught through life experiences. But none the less, it did effect the way I responded to others, and it left me with feelings bottled up inside as a child and young adult.

That said, as a mother, it was imperative for me to teach my children at a young age that they do  have a voice and that the world is a better place for having them speak their truth respectfully, without fear of what others may think or say. For the word says in 2Timothy 1:7- God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power,  love and self discipline. In regards to our voice; although, we should speak with love and compassion to all, we should also do so without fear of how they may respond to it. It took many years of modeling this for my children, but I am proud to say they are all much further along than I was at their age.

Montana, for one, has had several times over the course of the past few years where it would have been much easier for him to shrink back quietly. But, he chose to have his voice heard when necessary. Thankfully, as his mother, I was not only able to witness it first hand a time or two, but I was able to learn from it too. Thank you for that, son! For I now know from many years of experience that a strong relationship between a child and their parents is built on a foundation of teaching & learning. Whether you are the child or you are the parent, there will be times when you are the student and other times with you are the teacher. Embrace them both!

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson

 

 

 

 

What My Son Has Taught Me (Part 2)

by thefaithfilledtraveler, posted in What My Son Has Taught Me (Part 1)

Is it just me or have you ever thought that you knew exactly what was best for you and your life? I mean, how could the Creator of The Universe possibly know better? After all, we are the ones walking this whole “life” thing out on our own each and every day, right? Wrong. As it turns out, he is walking along side us, and his plans for our lives are far greater than our own. This is one of the greatest lessons my son has inadvertently taught me. Or perhaps I should say, one of the greatest lessons the Lord has taught me through my sons life.

I remember the day that I found out that I was pregnant with Montana as though it was yesterday. I could hardly believe it. Although I am a bit ashamed to admit it, I would not necessarily say that I was excited as a result of the news. See, having gone through a miscarriage a few years prior, I was terrified that history would repeat itself. And the emotions that I experienced during that time were not ones that I wanted to revisit. Unfortunately, I knew that there was a high probability that I would.

After 5 months of walking on egg shells each day and having mixed emotions about what was taking place within my body, the day came for my first ultrasound. Although  I would say  I was breathing somewhat easier knowing that I had bypassed the most critical time in my pregnancy, worrisome thoughts about the child that I was carrying were always lurking in the back of my mind. Truth be told, reality of this found me a little depressed, at times.

But something shifted the moment I caught a glimpse of my sons little face for the first time. The worrisome thoughts that I had for the previous 5 months were instantly replaced with joy. To be honest, I cannot fully put into words what my heart felt in that moment, but my love for my son and my fathers love for me,  was never more evident as it was that day.

It was in that moment in time, as I laid there  looking at my son  with tears of joy streaming down my face, that I knew that the Lords plan for my life was much greater than my own. And that he knew exactly what I needed, when I needed it most. For the word says in Jeremiah 29:11- ” For I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord. “They are plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  Be encouraged my friends! For the plans that the Lord has for us all are good. Trust the process… TRUST THE PROCESS!

 

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson

What My Son Has Taught Me (Part 1)

by thefaithfilledtraveler, posted in Uncategorized, What My Son Has Taught Me (Part 1)

With the end of the school year and the scorching hot days of summer upon us, can you recall being excited in anticipation of both as a child? What about when you were counting down the days until your high school graduation? Did they seem to fly by as you were completing your academic obligations, taking part in various events leading up to the big day, as well as preparing for the celebration following it? This has certainly been the case in the Watson house.

In 5 short days our son, Montana will be walking across the stage with his classmates to receive his high school diploma. He will be the last one within our 4 walls to do so. To say that this is a bitter sweet time in the Watson household is putting it lightly. At least that is the case for this mom. I could not be more proud of him and his accomplishments. Nor could I be more excited to see what the future holds for him. But, I am a little saddened by it all to be quite honest.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of the things that I have been fortunate to learn from my son, as well as some of the things that make me most proud of him. Yes, I am dedicating this blog week to Montana.  For the Lord has shown/ taught me many things over the course of the past 18 years as a result of his life that I am forever grateful for.  I hope that you will stick around as I open up about a few of them.

In the mean time, I pray that you all have a wonderful Memorial Day with your friends and family as we honor those who have died serving this beautiful country of ours. May we all take this day to reflect on the gifts we have been given as a result of the ultimate sacrifice these men and women have made for you and I. God bless you all! I’ll plan on seeing you here in the morning. Take care!

 

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson

 

Living… Learning… Growing (Part 3)

by thefaithfilledtraveler, posted in Living... Learning... Growing, Uncategorized

Have you ever said or heard someone say something like, ” You don’t have control over anything or anyone. You only have control over yourself.” ? Personally, I have said and even heard similar statements many times over the course of my life. However, experiencing it through my personal shopping adventure has really heightened my awareness of this.

As a personal shopper, everything from scheduling my hours for the week to shopping for my customers was done through an app. On the days that I was scheduled to work, I would receive an alert when I had a customer that needed groceries. I would then shop for them given the list of goods they had selected on the app and deliver them to their homes.

After a few weeks of doing this, I began to notice patterns related to the app. It became evident that the company was controlling everything from scheduling, to the wait list, to the particular orders that I would receive and where I would shop and then deliver them to my customers. Unfortunately, after disputing the referral bonus that I had received due to it being much less than they had advertised, it was apparent that they were not in my favor. Thankfully, the Lord gave me vision to recognize this.

For years I have prayed for eyes to see, ears to hear and the heart to feel that which the Lord is attempting to show me… to teach me… to remind me of. And there is no doubt that this was the case in this particular situation. What he showed me was that  the things of this life will control us, if we allow them to. What he reminded me of is that he is in control of it all, but we must allow him the room to do what only he can do. See, our father, the Creator of The Universe loves us so much that he gives us the freedom to do it our way. But, when/if we finally figure out that our way isn’t necessarily the best way, he steps in. Thank goodness, he steps in!

Well, I pray this post has helped you in some way. The experience has certainly helped me… tremendously. With that….make it a great day. LET GO AND LET GOD! His ways are much greater than our own. Take care, my friends. I’ll see you here tomorrow as we wrap up the blog week!!!

 

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson

 

Living… Learning… Growing ( Part 2)

by thefaithfilledtraveler, posted in Living... Learning... Growing

Have you ever enjoyed something so much that you wanted to tell everyone you know about it? Was it something that you felt would not only benefit you and your family, but the world around you? I certainly have. In fact, that is exactly what recently happened when I entered the world of personal shopping in an effort to contribute to my families income during my daughters leukemia battle. Only in my case, I quickly learned that things were not exactly what they appeared to be. But, the Lord is who he says he is and does what he says he will do. He is faithful!

See…when I ventured out into the new world of personal shopping, I did so because of the flexibility it offered and because I felt like it would not only benefit my family in various ways, but the world around me. After all, I was able to serve the elderly, the sick, moms who were home with their children, etc. This gave me a sense of purpose each morning that was far greater than myself. And on top of that, the company offered a generous bonus for anyone that you referred to them to do the same thing, if they met certain requirements within a designated time frame.

Excited about what I was experiencing, I shared the opportunity with my middle daughter, Mariah. As a college student, I felt like she would benefit  not only from the additional income, but the flexibility to earn it when she was able to do so. Equally excited, she hit the floor running. Not only did she earn extra income, but she met the requirements for me to earn my bonus. And she did it with a week to spare.

That said, the excitement that the two of us shared quickly came to an end when the company did not stand up to their end of the bargain in regards to the bonus. Instead, they gave me 5% of what they were offering for our area. As you can imagine, this was quite frustrating and disappointing considering that the two of us worked really hard to meet the criteria. Everything that I had come to believe about my new adventure quickly came to a halt.

Thankfully, during that process the Lord reminded me that all good things come from him and that although others may fall short of their promises, he never will. The funny thing is, the reminder came in the form of a Kroger gift card. Yes, my friends…a Kroger gift card.  A few short days after learning what the company did, my family and I received a gift card for groceries from someone, and it was in the amount of the bonus that I was supposed to receive for the referral. Doesn’t the Lord have a funny sense of humor? Not only did he bless us with the amount of the bonus, but he used the very thing that Mariah and I were shopping for to bless us with…..GROCERIES!

My point? There are two. First… although others may fall short, the Lord never will. Second, blessings come in many forms and we will miss them if we focus too hard &/or long on what we think “should” be. He has a plan and a purpose for it all, my friends. Rest in knowing that!!! (Hugs) to you all! Make it a great day!

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson

 

Living… Learning…Growing

by thefaithfilledtraveler, posted in Living... Learning... Growing

Good Monday morning, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. With our oldest daughter, Morgan being in the hospital for the past 6 days, the Watson’s weekend was not quite what we would have planned, but we did manage to get a little rest in here and there. That in itself is something to be thankful for, right?  Besides, for the past month, I don’t feel like there has been much “rest” taking place within our four walls, at least not for this mom.

Some of you may have noticed that my social media presence has been minimal  and that my blog post have been non existent over the course of the past 4 weeks. To be honest, I had been working really hard on the personal shopping adventure in an effort to help my family from a financial standpoint. As you can imagine, not working outside of our home for nearly a year in an effort to be available for our daughter as she under goes treatment for a leukemia relapse, has put a bit of a strain on us. On the other hand, it has also been a blessing in that I have been able to do all of the things for my family that I have needed/wanted to do.

With that said, since starting my personal shopping adventure 2 months ago,  I have learned quite a bit  and have been reminded of just as much. Particularly, in the past 4 weeks I have gained a lot of knowledge about the company that I was contracted for as a result of the hands on experience that I acquired. Unfortunately, a good portion of it has not been positive. Actually, it has been quite the opposite in the natural. However, we serve a super natural God who has graciously taught me so very much through this experience, and I would like to share some of it with you.

Over the next 3 days, I am going to dive into some of the valuable lessons that I have learned and some of the things that he has reminded me of, with the hope that it will some how benefit you. After all, that is what this life is all about.… living, learning and growing. There are no mistakes. Every circumstance that we encounter is an opportunity for us to come out on the other side of it better that how we started. So, will you join me? If so, I’ll plan on seeing you here tomorrow morning and on Facebook until then. Take care!

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson