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*In Loving Memory of my Dad*

We lost my beloved Dad 8 years ago today. While he lost his fight with lymphoma, he gained his eternal home with his beloved Lord. Love you and miss you, Dad!

This is the poem I wrote in honor of my Dad, the Gentle Giant.

DO GIANTS STILL EXIST?
Among the controversies that exist in the land,
The most curious is, do giants among us stand?

Not the kind like Goliath and all of his brothers –
A much different kind, standing far above others.

The gentle giants, of the spiritual variety –
Those who can’t help but gain notoriety…

Not because they choose to, it just happens that way –
Because of their actions, and the words that they say.

They follow God’s heart, eager to do His will –
They tune into His voice, though quiet and still.

These giants serve others first, put themselves last –
Following the example of giants from the past.

They are considerate and kind, tender of heart …
Loving, forgiving, accepting are all part –

Of the qualities of these giants, who still roam the earth –
Gently leading by example, of incredible worth.

One such gentle giant was my beloved Dad, Ben –
Who served God his whole life, right up until when…

He was struck down by cancer, but in our memories embraced…
His giant legacy, like his hugs, can never be replaced.

*Dedicated to my “gentle giant” — my Dad, Ben Willis *

In loving memory of a gentle giant of a father.

*New Day, New Month, New Opportunities*

Happy August 1st!

I love the symbolism of the first day of the month – it’s a new day, new month, and it represents new opportunities. It provides the chance to reflect on the past month – evaluate successes, assess damages – then “leave the behind in the past” and move forward.

Similarly, a phrase in one of my devotional books says, “I need not be forever shackled by my past…”  Reflecting on past days, months, or years is only effective if we learn from it – not if we remain imprisoned in the past.

I am “preaching” to myself here as much as to anyone else! It’s all too easy to allow regrets from the past overwhelm you and become hurdles when you try to move forward. As my very wise husband often reminds me (as do my adult kids), we can’t change the past, so it does no good to dwell there.

So how about you? Are you ready to move forward? I certainly am – I plan to take lessons learned from the past and implement them NOW for a brighter future:

*For my spiritual health: I am enjoying my morning devotions and quiet time with my Father God and Lord Jesus.

*For my physical health: I am taking proactive steps towards a healthier lifestyle by eating right and exercising more, to lose the excess weight.

*For my mental and emotional health: I am striving for a more manageable freelance work schedule and study schedule that will be less stressful, yet more productive.

So here we go … new day, new month, new opportunities, just around the corner!

Somewhere Along the Journey

My husband Dave and I have been on a journey – not physically, as in traveling from an actual location to another – but a journey that started with him being laid off back in February 2009. Over 20 years in his field of welding and metal fabrication, and this was the first time he had been unemployed.Somewhere along the journey from that point until now, July 2010, we discovered some valuable lessons.

First, ongoing faith in God and in each other, accompanied by prayers and loving support of others, became essential keys to our survival.

Second, we learned that we could live on less income by cutting back on non-necessities and “making do” wherever possible.

Third, I learned that while the freelance life didn’t provide consistent income, it did offer a viable supplementary income to Dave’s unemployment compensation.

Fourth, we both determined to invest our time wisely in pursuing higher education through online studies. Dave had never been to college, having entered his career directly from high school. I had a goal of returning to college to earn my doctorate degree.

Thanks to student loans, we both became college students – he, for the first time, and me, as a returning student. Dave was able to enroll at University of Phoenix/Axia College, to begin working on an associate degree in Information Technology/Support. I continued researching doctoral programs and finally settled on Northcentral University (NCU), which offered a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program with a dual concentration of Educational Technology and E-Learning – and NO residency requirement!

Our fifth lesson along this journey was that as long as we had each other and our love, and were willing to see each other through, with God’s help we could make it around the other side!

An interesting sixth lesson we learned is that we could give out of our relative “poverty” to provide homes for even less fortunate beings than ourselves. This occurred when a litter of five feral kittens showed up in our back yard around September/October of 2009. We just “knew” that we needed to take them in, before the Maine winter arrived – and even though we thought we would only keep one or two – we couldn’t part with any of them! They have provided an ongoing source of joy and affection that we desperately needed at times along the journey.

Blessed number seven lesson – God does eventually lead you to the journey’s final destination, or at least to a point of respite somewhat closer to normalcy. As of May 18th, Dave became re-employed at a new version of his former company, as one of the key people. As of this past week, July 12-16, 2010, he is working full time again. He continues to work on his degree, as a potential “Plan B” – or a side job. I am four courses into my Ed.D. program – a bit overwhelmed, but still enjoying it. I’m also inquiring about various new freelance opportunities. Meanwhile, I need to get my companion site to this one set up with my resume and some work samples.

Onto the next phase of the journey …

SGS Asset Management

I usually just laugh when someone talks about managing assets – only because I don’t think I have any substantial assets to manage! However, upon looking up the definition for ‘assets’ – and finding the word simply means something valuable or useful – I have determined that perhaps I should gain a new perspective. This is probably the advice that a company like SGS Asset Management would give me!

SGS Asset Management is headquartered in Nevis and St. Kitts, which are islands in the West Indies, about 50 miles west of Antigua. The population is primarily of African descent, and touts a literacy rate of 98%, among the highest in the Western hemisphere.

As companies like SGS Asset Management know, one of the hallmarks of professional asset management is integrity and reliability; you want your assets to be safeguarded once you entrust them to someone. Certification programs exist which ensure that asset management companies are in compliance and watching out for the best interests of their stakeholders and investors.

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to my newest blog! This one is a bit different than my other blogs, which are more personal and casual in nature, or have specific themes, such as education, and/or I do paid blogging and sponsor posts on them.

This blog is designed specifically to promote my freelance career as a writer, editor, and instructional designer. It is a companion blog to my site by the same name, Office Help 4 Hire , which is currently ‘under construction.’

On my site, I intend to provide samples of my work, my resume, links to online published works, and references, along with other related materials.

Now that a new season is upon us, with the hustle and bustle of the holidays not far away, it’s time to get ‘growing’ into bigger and better opportunities!

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