In the pattern of AA introduction, I hereby declare that this is how everyone should introduce themselves at The Christian Women (TCW). See, I even have the acronym already. :)

Joking aside, I'm one of the new contributors and perhaps the last one to introduce myself. I didn't want to introduce myself and then not post anything for a long time. So I decided to just introduce myself when I am ready to post something. So here I am...

Let's see, what can I say about myself?

I am from the Philippines - born and raised there. I immigrated to the US in 2003 and lived in Boise, ID for 4 years. My husband and I just recently relocated to Austin, TX (dodged the worst winter in the last 5 years...wooo...perfect timing!) and have been here for almost a year now (loving the warm weather...just know when to go out in the summer to avoid the heat!).

I started my Blogger blog in July 2007 but didn't really write a lot. In fact, I only wrote 13 posts in 10 months! My writing started picking up in May 2008. So technically, I'm just a newbie blogger.

Anyway, I was raised by a Catholic father and an Aglipayan mother. (Aglipay is a Philippine church which resulted from the Philippine revolution from Spain and Roman Catholicism.) They were not real church-goers though. So, I guess they just agreed that we should be raised as Aglipayan. What I knew about God and church was what I got from attending the Sunday mass and various church activities. I knew of God but I didn't really know God.

When I went to high school in the city, I lived in the on-campus dormitories. Being separated from my parents and being away from home at 12 years old was the opening that God used to introduce Himself to me. So, God adopted me into His family on my freshman year in high school. He used a Campus Crusade for Christ worker who faithfully came to our high school campus and who would gather interested children to hear about God. I understood what she explained (and what I now know as The Four Spiritual Laws). She used those 3x2 cartoon tracts with a yellow cover to illustrate how God loved me, how sin separated me from God, how only Christ can bridge that separation and how I can be reconciled with God. I still clearly remember the page showing ego on the throne versus the cross (representing Christ) on the throne.

I didn't grow much as a Christian after that. I do not remember anymore if the CCC lady stopped coming or if I didn't go back to her sessions (which was a definite possibility because I quickly learned how to play volleyball and I became "addicted" to it to the point of playing under the noontime sun (think 100F). But I do know that after that I was questioning, albeit silently in my heart and in my mind, my upbringing's religion and beliefs.

Fast forward to the mid-1990s... I was on a successful professional path in the technology industry - going to different countries meeting with colleagues, visiting customers, and presenting technical papers, being recognized, making good money, lots of material incentives, etc. My personal life though was a mess - breaking up with boyfriends, missing many family occassions, always with my geeky contraptions to be on top at work. Work, work, work was all that consumed me. But somehow I had this sense of emptiness and insecurity.

I started trying out different churches...

And along the way, am glad I found Him again. Or should I say He found me. He was always there, I just was too busy with my own life. I was the one sitting on the throne!

From that time on, He has taught me that He is my Father whom I can always depend on. And just like a child who asks of a father, the Father knows what is best for me.

He has taught me that He is my Friend whom I can go to anytime - whether in happiness or in sadness, in excitement or in boredom, in anticipation or in exasperation, in hopefulness or in discouragement. He is a loving friend by my side.

I am so grateful that He is a faithful God. He never let go of me from Day 1. The CCC worker planted the seed, not many watered though. But the seed? The seed grew miraculously, even if slowly for the lack of feeding and watering. Indeed, He is the ultimate grower! In Him, nothing is impossible!

I now know what it means to be "confident of this, that He who began a good work in you (me) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) I continue to be a work in progress but I rest on the Lord's faithfulness.

Now that I have introduced myself, I look forward to sharing my thoughts. And hearing back from you, of course! :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rela blogs about her daily life at An Ordinary Life and her "secret" fertility journey in The Saga of Becoming Fruitful. So probably, you will hear from her once a week at the most. If you miss her, go visit her at her other blogs and tell her about your visit by leaving her a comment. She would absolutely love that!

Labels: introduction, Rela

Since we have started a team format at this blog and since my original introduction left much to be desired, I thought I would make my own introduction post.

I launched the The Christian Woman website in 2005 after leaving my job to be a stay at home mom. I had been working full-time after having my first child but after awhile felt the draw to stay home. Before leaving my job I began to research work at home opportunities and became very interested in the network of Christian women who made extra money online. The website was my way of compiling the information I had gathered to share with others as well as a ministry to Christian women.

Well, my stay at home mom status only lasted for a year for reasons I won’t expand on, and after another child I returned to working full-time. A working Christian mother is a bit of a minority in most circles but I have been lucky to have the support of my husband and have not felt that my working was outside of God’s will for me. At least not thus far.

Lately I have been becoming a bit restless and feeling the need to live a bit simpler. While there are many things I enjoy about working, juggling life can be a bit overwhelming at times. I am not sure if my restlessness is a push from God to go in a new direction or not, so I am praying and waiting.

In the meantime, I have revived some of my online activities to see if there are opportunities for extra income. When I returned to work a few years ago I let this website stagnate a bit so I am trying to update slowly. Over the last few years I have enjoyed blogging in other venues, so I am happy to have other Christian women blogging here with me to provide a better forum for the women visiting this site.

I share all this in anticipation of future post topics. My husband and I have agreed to try and save up some money to get to a place where I could have the option to quit working. I am not convinced that I want to quit working but I am convinced I would like the option. Much of what I will be posting on will be around my efforts to save money, make money form home, and simplify my life in the long run.

But most importantly, I am trying to discern God’s will for my life at this juncture. Not only have I been restless about working but I have had a desire to do more ministry-type work. My dream would be to take a few classes at a local seminary and spend more time with my nose in a theology book. But most importantly, I would just like to have more time to spend with my family without feeling rushed.

I look forward to sharing more of my journey in future posts.

Labels: Carrie, introduction, The Christian Woman

Labels: Cindy Price, introduction, The Christian Woman

Labels: introduction, Jan Ross, The Christian Woman

I established this blog as an extension of The Christian Woman website because I wanted something a bit more interactive. The website covers a wide variety of topics of interest to Christian women, but I wanted this blog to be a bit more narrow in scope. I also wanted this blog to encompass my current interests – a sort of “where I am at right now” – but in a way that could benefit others.

My initial thoughts were to focus on frugality for the Christian woman. That is an area that I am trying to work on myself and an area that I would like to see all Christian women to embrace. But focusing solely on frugality was too narrow, so I continued to think about it.

And then it came to me. The overall theme of my life right now (and likely for years to come), and what I would like to share here, is balance. If I had to come up with a motto for this blog it would be “finding the balance”.

Juggling work, family, the household, church, time with God, etc. requires finding a balance. There always seems to be more to do than there are hours in the day and I want to spend the most time I can with the things that are most important. To do that, I need to have a plan of action to minimize the time-drain of the less important.

Likewise, frugality is a balance of saving versus spending but also a balance of cost versus time. I like to save money on resources where I can, but there are times where spending more is worth it because of the savings in time. Time is also important resource, especially for a mother.

So that is what the main theme of this blog will be. Finding the balance. I hope that all my visitors will join in with the journey.

Labels: balance, introduction

This is the start up of a companion blog with The Christian Woman website. The topics will be similiar to the content found there (frugality, family, household, etc.).

My hope is that this blog will be a place where the women visiting the website can share their ideas through the comments section since there is no forum with the site.

While I am working out the template I will be posting some older writings of mine. Please stop by again.

Labels: introduction