Who am I?

 I am Maria. I'm a 50-something, married woman who enjoys life with Colin.  We have been together over 30 years, and we still like each other.  Sometimes we even go on vacations alone.  We do like time with family too, though, and it's fun to play board games and card games with whoever will join us.  Colin's my best friend and I love him.

Together we have 5 children - 3 boys, 2 girls, from teens to 20-somethings.  We have home schooled all of our children, 3 of whom now have undergraduate degrees and are employed.  Of those, 2 are simultaneously working on continuing their education. 

The most important thing to me is being a follower of Jesus Christ and the greatest blessing is seeing my children following Jesus as well.  Being salt and light for the kingdom of heaven to which I hold my primary allegiance is my primary goal in life.  I want to point to Jesus and hope to help others experience the delight of knowing Him and loving Him and being in the family of God.  I am inadequate at conveying that reality, but I will continue to make my feeble attempts as long as He gives me the grace to do so.

I love to learn.  I love to think.  I enjoy reading, playing racquetball, socializing at the gym.  I love appreciating the simple pleasures of life - hugs, words, ocean breezes, coquinas.  I love to help people smile more, love more, be more free.  I love my God and the people that He has given me to love right here.  There's so much to love, isn't there?

My husband is a leadership and communications consultant.  Colin K. Dunn and Associates offers a variety of training opportunities and helps companies develop and implement strategic plans.  I am one of the associates, primarily assisting with course development and revision.  You can view his you-tube video on "How to Use Mind-mapping to Get a Job" here.

Unfortunately, I'm a messy and a wannabe-organized person.  These two personas wrestle within me.  There's always too much junk around and never enough time to clean up because there's too much living to do.  I often lie in bed at night just thanking God for the great life He's given me and asking forgiveness for not managing it better.  Being thankful, I know, is a gift in itself, but I believe it is a gift we all have access to, and the thanksgiving seems to multiply the sense of blessing and the value in living.  When I allow myself to give in to a complaining spirit, life seems to get heavy and the joy drains out.  Then I realize that I have failed to cultivate a thankful heart.  As soon as I recalibrate my attitude, the heaviness begins to lift and life again regains its freshness.  So life may be messy and I may wish I was more organized, but I don't need to allow that to make me miserable.  

We live in Virginia, but we love to travel.  Having served in the military both as a veteran and a spouse, I am fortunate to have lived in many places and visited even more.  One of the things I appreciate about blogging is being able to continue visiting so many different places through the blogosphere, as well as different people and perspectives.  It's a fun hobby.