Life Update - House, Walking Business, Health etc

 

This blog is called 'Life with Helen Johnson', the reason for that is because I want to share experiences from my life and use them as a tool to help provide advice, encouragement and insight. There has been so much change in the last year of our lives, and some of those changes I've shared with you and some I continue to keep private. As I have shared on a number of things in our life I thought you'd appreciate an update on what is happening in our lives and some of the changes that are taking place. 

1. House move

In the second blog of 2025 I shared that Andy and I were putting our house on the market. We have been so blessed, because in one week we received an offer on our house and were able to then put an offer on a house we love, and thankfully our offer was accepted. We are currently in the process of working with solicitors and surveyors, and at the moment it is just a case of waiting and doing whatever is asked of us from our solicitor. We do feel so blessed by God, we felt so much peace in the home we plan to move into and see it being the home we raise our family in and a place of hospitality and relaxation. You never know how long the process takes when moving house, but we are fortunate that the chain is not complicated and every party is really keen to get things moving quickly. We are hoping we will be in by May, but we hold onto that hope with slightly open hands as it is not in our control. What we are able to do is start making steps into organising our home and boxing items we won't need now but will want to take to our new home. We're both so excited for this chapter and I'm sure there will be more updates in the future, including pictures and sharing the journey of renovations and how we will use the home to build community and friendships. 

2. Heart operation

I spoke with the hospital in November/December time last year and found out that I will be top of the waiting list in June/July 2025. The hospital also confirmed that as I've been waiting a long time, if it got to late Summer and the operation hadn't been done they would be taking action, as I would have been waiting over a year and half. As you know if you're a regular reader my operation has been delayed several times and I've been told dates that weren't accurate, so if I'm honest I do find it hard to get too excited about it being done this summer. However I do try to see the positive that I will be top of the list shortly and by the end of 2025 I will have had the operation and recovered. At present I don't think about the operation, as life is busy with other things and it also seems too far away. I am sure when I do get confirmation of the operation date I will be filled with excitement, but also nerves and anxiety. 

3. Walking business

In May 2024 Andy and I went on our first training day for our walking business. We had planned to launch in September 2024, however due to physical and mental health, plus commitments we also had in place we felt it wouldn't be possible to launch in September 2024. At the time we planned to launch in January 2025, however when October came around we realised that we still had a lot of commitments, plus we were getting ready for Christmas and I was experiencing burnout, so again it didn't seem possible to have a January launch. Andy and I have had multiple conversations, we still are so excited to have our own walking business one day, but we don't want to put a date on when that will be. We are hoping that once we move house and settle into a routine we will have a more realistic idea of when we could launch the business. We are hoping that by January 2026 we will be leading the walking business, as I would have recovered from my operation and we would have been settled in our new house, but again I don't like to commit to dates as sometimes life hits and things take a backseat. One thing I can say for sure, is that this year we do plan on doing the remainder of the training (most likely in the spring and summer months), and I plan on building up my physical strength so I'm ready to lead this business along side my husband. 

4. Blog & other content 

In November and December last year I felt a sense that God was directing me in a different direction for this blog and for other potential content. However when January came around I didn't feel like I had heard what direction God wanted me go in, and I didn't want to delay bringing the blog back as I had promised you it would be February 2025. The one important direction I am clear about is that I want this blog to be centred on helping people and showing people God's amazing love, rather than just a blog about me. I hope that you've seen that in my writing I am sharing personal experience, but I'm doing my best to make sure you experience God and His guidance, rather than just my own. I also want this blog to be easily accessible to all, I had plans to change the website platform and create email newsletters, but with house hunting I found myself feeling overwhelmed. I am hoping in the first half of 2025 I will find time to sit down with my husband and upgrade my blog to make it more accessible. I have also contemplated other content, such as starting a YouTube channel, at present this feels a bit too much, but it is still a possibility. I am very eager to keep listening to God's direction this year on what His desires are for this blog and potential other content.

I hope you've found this blog helpful in sharing where I'm at and some of the plans I have for the future. I'm having to learn the balance of doing as much as I can without burning myself out. In my first blog of 2025 I shared that I want to let God lead and this means Him leading every part of my life, whether that's my marriage, my job and even this blog. 

Next Blog: How to effectively rest