Who am I? 
Hmmm that’s a long and short (no pun intended for those who know me) story. Let’s see, I am the 2nd out of 4 children from European parents who came to the United States after WWII. My father was full blooded Polish, and my mother is pure French. I guess that makes me half and half, but according to French law, because my mother is French, it means I also am French.
I was the first child born in the United States from my family. My older brother was born in France. My younger two siblings were also born here in the U.S. So on with the story of who I am….
Growing up, was interesting and challenging. French was to be spoken in the house, English outside. This kept us using both languages at all times. I didn’t understand why as a kid, but learned to appreciate it as an adult. I often say things backwards, or use direct translation without realizing it, which to this day amuses my husband.
Which leads me to why I’m writing this background. I have always enjoyed working with people, and have found it to be easy to understand them. Many times as a teenager I found myself helping my mother understand or explain something in English and helping her word it correctly. As I grew older, married and started my own family, I noted that I was always in the mode to assist or help. Sometimes I was overpowering or overbearing and sometimes I was not enough, felt like a constant juggling act or so it seemed.
On with the story…
My husband and I are musicians…you say – What does that have to do with anything? Ha, well it has everything with where I’m going. We not only are musicians, but we have traveled throughout the United States with our 4 children, ministering with music and speaking in many, many places…from youth homes, prisons, churches, youth camps, pastor’s retreats, regional district meetings, schools, orphanages and on and on goes the list. So throughout the time we traveled, we also found ourselves reaching out, helping, encouraging, rebuilding trust in places, renewing vision for some, handing out hope and restoring faith in others. None of this we could do on our own, mind you, but it was a position and place we seemed to find ourselves placed in over and over. Which leads me to why I wrote all this in the first place.
Relationships. You see relationships are everything. Building relationships was something that I’ve done since I was a child, helping my mother overcome her language barrier, building relationships was what my husband and I have done traveling all over the United States, and building relationships is what 2009 is forecasting for businesses everywhere. In this economically challenging time, it’s the relationships that you’ve built as businesses, churches, schools, leaders, families and more that will help you succeed. Have you built your treasure on a rock? or on shifting sand?
Incidentally, my husband and I are currently very involved teaching high schoolers from 17 nations – how to play music together and lead out with a common goal of reaching out to others which in turn builds relationships.
