New Website

I've been blogging over at my main website for a few weeks now. This site will remain here, and I may update it on occasion, but my main focus will be on the other site. I hope you will join me at: www.jonishaffer.com

 

I do want to thank those who have emailed me and encouraged me to keep writing here. I truly appreciate your kind words. However, having my own site and domain name is important as I continue to expand my writing career. The writing and blogging world is always changing. The fact that many people read blogs on mobile devices makes it necessary to keep things simple and without a lot of distractions. Unlike this site, my new site is clean and simple with less distractions.

 

One thing won't change though. My purpose for blogging will still be to glorify God and encourage others, especially women, on the journey of life.

 

I hope to see you at my new site. Blessings to each of you for sharing my writing journey.

Winter

The hardest season can sometimes be the most poignantly beautiful-if you simply take the time to look. 

There's something magical about walking in freshly-fallen snow. I ventured out this morning to drink in the quiet beauty of a mountain winter. I was not disappointed. The only tracks in the snow were mine and the tiny tracks of birds and other mountain creatures. My cares slipped away as the snow crunched beneath my feet. 

Walking through the woods is something I will never take for granted after spending last winter in a wheelchair due to an accident. I often complain about the winter months and long for spring days and warm temperatures, but winter truly does have a beauty of its own. It's all in how I choose to perceive it. 

If I focus only on the cold winds and barren trees, I will miss the beauty of falling snow and the sun sparkling over the frozen landscape. I will miss the abundance of colorful birds at my feeders. I will miss the joy of sitting by the fireplace sipping a mug of hot chocolate while listening to the wind howling outside. I will miss the smell of homemade soup simmering on the stove and fresh-baked bread in the oven to ease the winter chill.

The same is true in my personal life. The last five years have been a long "winter" season of being abandoned by my husband, health problems, an accident, losing my job, financial hardships, and heartache within my family. 

If I choose to see only the bad, I will miss the beauty of the last five years. During this "winter" season, I was blessed with the birth of a new granddaughter and another new grandson who is expected to arrive in May. I was lovingly cared for by my family and friends who were always there for me. I have a new job working at home as a writer, which I love. I've seen God supply my needs in miraculous ways when things appeared hopeless, and I've learned more about trusting God than at any other time in my life. 

There truly is beauty in every season. We just need to look for it.

Bear Family

 

 

This photo was taken in November of 2014. A bear family enjoyed visiting the deer feeder to feast on shelled corn. The bear population seems to be increasing in our area each year. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but black bears are fascinating creatures to watch.

 

Life has been full and busy. Unfortunately, this blog gets pushed aside too often. Since losing my job last year due to my injury, I've been thrust into the crazy world of freelance writing. I love it, but it's hectic at times. If I'm not writing web content for clients, I'm searching for new job opportunities, tracking business expenses, and updating my main website. I'm almost done with the updates on my main site. I will be blogging there on a regular basis in the very near future. I plan to continue to update this blog as time allows, but the new website will be my primary focus.

 

I'm also doing transcription again part time. My physical therapist needed a medical transcriptionist and offered me a job typing his medical reports. He set things up for me to work from home. I write during the day and type his work at night, which leaves little time for anything else.

 

I'm so thankful I have work I can do from home. I'm still not back to 100% yet. Recovery has been a slow process for me, and working anywhere but from home is not an option at this point, which suits me fine. There's no place I would rather be than here at home in the mountains. 

 

Mornings are often spent working on my laptop at my desk in the kitchen while watching the birds outside my window. A work day doesn't get any better than that! There's been an abundance of woodpeckers here this winter, and it's not unusual for them to awaken me in the morning by pecking on my house.

 

God has truly provided for me during this season of transition. I'm the queen of worry at times. When I look back and see all the ways God intervened and provided what I needed, in just the right time, I feel ashamed for ever worrying. God's word says he will take care of us. It's so easy for doubt to creep in when we are faced with challenging situations in life, but God is always faithful.

 

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.  (Psalm 9:10)