Happy New Year

Hindsight is twenty-twenty. It’s sometimes easy to look at the past and say, “I could or would have done that differently.” That’s not always the case. I sometimes found the difficult things in life are what help to shape me and make me stronger. It never feels like it at the time.

With each New Year that approaches, hope fills the heart. Hope that the coming year will bring about more joy than sadness. Hope that life will be easier in some way. Hope for things we are looking forward to – events that will take place, people we’ll see and places we’ll go.

This past year brought about lots of change, but next year is a clean slate - a new beginning.

I don’t know what the New Year will bring, but as long as I have Tom by my side, the love of my children and most importantly God to rely on – then I forge ahead.

Happy New Year. May the new year bring you joy, happiness, and blessings beyond measure.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Tis’ the Season

It’s been very interesting shopping around in a big city. I go to the mall and there are absolutely no parking spaces. What tends to happen is people circle and follow someone coming out of the mall, follow them to their car so that they can get a parking space.

The holiday season doesn’t always bring out the best in people. I was in WalMart when a lady was having a screaming match with another woman. I thought it was going to come to blows, but thank God it didn’t.

Unlike the rest of NYC, on Long Island you can turn right on red unless there is a sign stating you can’t. I was waiting to turn, but the light was red and the sign was not in an obvious place. The lady behind me started beeping me and she had some interesting hand signals. I tried to point to the “no turn on red” sign but she was having a fit in her car. She huffed and puffed, and put her head back against her seat. You would have thought the world was coming to an end. Finally when the light changed, I went and she sped past me.

On Saturday it snowed over 2 feet here in NYC. What a beautiful blanket of snow we all woke up to on Sunday. I witnessed six people get out of their cars to help another car stuck in the snow. They pushed until the car got free. My upstairs neighbors shoveled all our snow by the time we came home from church. Yes, we opened the church up on Sunday and three other people came. We live only a block away so Tom wanted to open it up just in case anyone wanted to come.

During this holiday season remember tis’ the season to be jolly. Spread the love.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

And the Winner is . . .

The CD winner is Tina from Palm Tree Fanatic. I hope you enjoy the CD Tina. Congratulations. Check out the 46 second video Tina has on her blog, it's amazing.

Giveaway

For all of you who couldn’t join us to hear Josh Young live, he graciously gave me a CD to giveaway here on my blog. If you want to hear a sample of his songs, check my previous post.

The rules are simple. Leave a comment and you are automatically entered. Do a post on your blog letting others know about the giveaway and you receive a second chance at winning the CD yourself.

I’m giving away Josh’s “Under Your Shadow” CD. I know whoever wins this CD will be blessed.

I will announce the winner on Friday, December 18.

For those of you who already own this CD, please leave a comment about what you like about it or your favorite song. If you own the CD and want a chance at giving it as a Christmas present, let me know. You can be entered also.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Josh Young

A few years ago, Tom and I had the pleasure of meeting Josh Young and his lovely wife Jodi. Josh has recorded a couple of CDs and is one of my favorite worship leaders. When I’m having a hard day and I want to change my mind set, I just listen to one of his CDs. He is talented, humble, real and fun to be around. In other words, a good man.

We are excited that he is playing tomorrow night, December 12th, at our church for a night of worship. If you’re in the New York area and are interested in coming, let me know. It starts at 7:30 pm.

Enjoy these YouTube videos of Josh singing.





© Nadine Zawacki 2009

The Revolve Tour

Last weekend a group of moms and I took six of our young girls to The Revolve Tour. The girls had a great time. The conference was just for girls and the theme was being real. It's an important message for young girls as well as boys to hear. Being real is not always easy. Adults have trouble with it, imagine how difficult it can be for young adults.

My favorite speaker was Chad Eastman. He spoke about guys being waffles and girls being spaghetti. Guys are like waffles because they have compartments. They put everything in a square. They can only operate in one square at a time. He said that they even have a box called, "Nothing." Girls are like spaghetti because everything is intermingled. Girls can go from one subject to another in a second while guys are still in the first wondering where did they go. You can order the book HERE.

My favorite part of the trip was Friday night when I shared the room (2 double beds) with another mom and six teenagers (pictured above). They were great. I was very impressed by the girls. We played this game called, "When I Look At You I See." We told each girl something positive we seen in them, some things were from our own hearts and some things were what we felt God was saying about the girl. These girls are awesome and I was touched by what they said to one another.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Will You Marry Me?

Thirty years ago today this very handsome man got down on his knee, took my hand and kissed it. His smile lit up the entire room and my heart missed a beat. With his eyes filled with love, he looked at me and I knew my world was about to change. He said to me, "With all my heart I love you. I want to spend the rest of it with you. Will you marry me?"

Some wait a long time to hear those words, but I was only eighteen years old. Why God chose to bless me at such a young age, I don't know. I'm just grateful He did. This I'm sure of - He chose Tom for me.

I’m glad I was listening when God was talking all those years ago. No one is more perfect for me than Tom. When he looks at me, my heart still misses a beat and I melt in his arms.

Knowing what I know today and if I could go back in time I would still say yes to that question asked of me so many years ago. I love you Tom.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Picture: our engagement party, December 8, 1979.