July 28, 2016 turned out to be quite the momentous day for me. There were two events going on that week where I potentially would be recognized for my work. One was in Las Vegas and the other in Chicago.
John and I ended up taking our three youngest children (all over the age of 21, thanks casino security by being so vigilant and checking in with us every single time we walked into a casino) with us to Las Vegas for the Global Convention celebrating Enagic Corp’s 42nd anniversary. We were privileged to have five other members of our Kangen Wisconsin team travel with us as well. We got there Monday night and the week at Mandalay Bay was jam-packed with meetings, training, recognition, and connecting with our friends from the Kangen Water community who were there from all over the world.
We’ve always had a strong conviction that Kangen Water is the healthiest water any human or animal can drink but after a week being with like-minded people and being educated on true health and wellness, we all came back more inspired by the mission of Kangen Water than ever before.
The highlight of the week for me was Thursday when John and our son Nick were each honored for achieving the rank of 6A in Enagic. John and I are so proud of Nick because he and his wife Emily were the very first people to embrace the message of True Health that Enagic espouses and invest in a water ionizer through us. When John joined the business in 2013 that promoted me to 6A and now that two people under me are 6A, I officially earned the rank of 6A2. According to someone I spoke with at Enagic Corp, there are only 287 people at that rank in the entire United States and only three others who’ve ever hit that rank in the state of Wisconsin, so it is quite the privilege to have achieved this.
It’s been an interesting road I have to say. When we got our machine in April of 2009, it was solely to help our youngest daughter who was a Make-A-Wish child that year. Even though this represented an incredible business opportunity, I had no intention of doing this as a business because I had a career as a journalist and didn’t want to be in “sales.” But after what we experienced within weeks of investing in our machine, I felt an obligation to share the message and this water with anyone who would be open to it. We wanted to make everything that our daughter went through mean something and to pay it forward for the blessings we received from this water and this company.
When I think of this journey we’ve been on, many times the parable of the sower comes to mind: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
We’ve sown thousands of seeds in the last seven years. Some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up (people heard about the water, read or heard one negative thing and were scared away — of course we all know that everything you read on the Internet is true, right?).
Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil, it sprang up quickly and withered because they had no root. Those were the people who were initially excited about this concept and for whatever reason, lost their enthusiasm for this amazing product. It could have been the spouse that didn’t attend a presentation but did five minutes of research on water ionizers and decided it wasn’t a valid product or did no research at all but was adamant against spending money on healthcare technology, regardless of how beneficial it would be for their family.
“Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” This was like the people who were lured away from the one true medical-grade water ionizer by the knock-offs who offered empty promises of a lifetime guarantee, incredible sales and other offers that were too good to be true.
Then of course there were the seeds that fell on good soil. Those were the people who listened to our message, took it to heart, and then invested in the health of their families by getting an Enagic water ionizer. We have been so blessed to have welcomed these people into our Enagic/Kangen Wisconsin family. Kangen Water folks are some of the nicest, most compassionate, most motivated people we’ve ever met — many of them are our friends for life. We look forward to years of working together, traveling together and strengthening our friendships.
Meanwhile, back to that incredible week, on the other side of the country, the Catholic Marketing Network was hosting its annual trade show in Chicago. A couple of months ago I had received notification that my novel, A World Such as Heaven Intended, had been nominated for the CALA award and was actually one of the top three Catholic fiction young adult novels for 2016. Since I wasn’t able to attend the awards ceremony hosted by the Catholic Writers Guild, my publisher asked me to write an acceptance speech, “just in case.”
That morning, I got a text from Full Quiver Publishing and it said, “Check your e-mail!” Immediately I grabbed my phone and saw an e-mail from them with the subject line, You Won!!! When I opened up the e-mail there was a picture of the 2016 Catholic Arts and Letters Award for Young Adult Fiction with my name and the name of the book inscribed on it.
I feel so incredibly honored to have received top recognition for both my mission and my profession. There are no plans to rest on my laurels, however! I’m back to work now helping John and Nick advance to the rank of 6A2 so that I can advance to the rank of 6A2-2. My goal is get there by December 31, 2016. If anyone reading this wants to check into this amazing water and potentially join our team and our mission, go to my web site www.KangenWisconsin.com and you can learn about the water by ordering an e-book or signing up for the Health Awareness Newsletter.
A World Such as Heaven Intended is the first book in a trilogy. The second book is outlined and the first two chapters are written. Now it’s up to me to carve out the time to work on finishing book two. The goal date for that is December 31 as well.
I want to thank every person who has been instrumental in helping me achieve these honors. Whether you offered words of encouragement, accepted my friend request on Facebook, purchased the book, invested in an Enagic water ionizer, Anespa shower unit or Ukon turmeric supplement through our group, kept me in your prayers, or even discouraged me to help strengthen my resolve, I appreciate each and every one of you.
I’m looking forward to seeing what lies ahead. “The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades!”