Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts

7.10.2013

Marriage Vacation

We have 1, 2, 3, 4 kids. 



It is a gang basically.  
A fun gang.  
A gang who finds sleeping a boring past time.
A gang who eats without remorse of supply.

They are a ruling power (just don't tell them).

There are few times to breathe.  But a few times a year, my saint of a MIL takes the gang for a few days. 

One such time, was this past week.  

Folks, it couldn't have come at a better time — this duo needed a break.  



But this break was a bit different.  
There were no projects that we completed.
I didn't clean any closets.
The toys sat on the floor in the except spot where they were left. 

We enjoyed the break, we embraced the break.


My hubby and I ate where we wanted.  
We stopped to listen to pick up blue grass music.  
We took time at different stops to dream.   
We watched tons of West Wing re runs and talked for hours about politics (super geeks).

It was awesome!  And when they came home - it was even better!    

9.25.2012

Talk to me

I talk a lot during the day.  
To tell you the truth - I enjoy talking.
I rarely meet a stranger. 

Whether it be face to face, facebook posts, messages, texts or emails.  There are a ton of words that come from my freckled face.  

But it wasn't until today till I stopped and thought about what I really said.  
What did my words do during the day?  
What did my words destroy?  
How did my words honor God?  
Did my words work towards building anything? 
Did they insight excitement for life?  
Those words, did they love?  
Did they hate?  
Did they judge?  

Did I let my preteen daughter know that she is absolutely the most beautiful gal I know?
Did I remind my friend that I admire her journey to become a healthy woman?
Did I thank the person who gave so selfishly?
Does my husband know that I trust him and know that he is working hard?
Does my friend, who just took a pt job driving a taxi, know that I amazed by her commitment to her family?
Does my friend forging ahead with a life changing ministry know that I pray for that ministry every day?
Did I apologize when I need too?  

There were so many opportunities that I missed today.  So many times I wanted to just keep talking and so little times that I took time to think more than I spoke.  Wonder how many times my lips were moving so fast that I forgot to listen along the way too? 

9.05.2012

I really don't want to like you

I really like people.
I love being around people.
There is intense euphoria from being with authentic souls.

It is not necessarily that I want everyone to like me, or to even be popular.
But I have this weird desire to know what the check out girl's dreams are, what may be going on in the life of my child's teacher, or why my neighbor is sitting on the front porch with a cup of tea.

I don't think that it is really nosey.
I'm just interested.  
Interested in what makes them think the way they do.  
Interested in what they love.  Interested in why they love.  
Just really interested.
It is just that people are the greatest work of art that I have ever seen.

Well, maybe not everyone ;)
There are some people that I want so bad to love but I just can't seem to get through their mess.
I think about them a lot.
Then I just want to scream about thinking about them.
It is a cycle that I just can't seem to understand.
Then today, on a day that someone just did wrong (again), I see this.......



And I realize that I CAN NOT let the bad overshadow the good.  For even those people who spout hate are as beautiful as the ones that don't.  I won't be a door mat but I'm committed.  I'm determined to search for the beauty amongst the ugly - In.Each.And.Everyone.


8.18.2012

cannibalism

There have been many strange things that I have witnessed.  Some beautiful, some not so beautiful.  

The most disturbing ((to me)) is the way woman tend to treat each other.  I really just don't get it.  It used to scare me but now it just frightens me.  We are mothers, wives, community activists, daughters, influencers, and cannibals. 

It is difficult to wear so many hats.  So why then, do woman seem to spend their free time tearing each other apart.  Whether it be face to face or behind closed doors.  Is it really difficult to be open, honest, loving and perhaps encouraging?  After all, we are in this together -- for a reason.  

For a while I was wanting to write a post hitting on this very subject.  I had a list of examples boiling in my head.  But, releasing that list ((and adding forgiveness at the end)) was so much more effective. And reading this was a roadmap to the rest..........

Proverbs 12

1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but whoever hates correction is stupid.
2 Good people obtain favor from the Lord,
but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3 No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4 A wife of noble character is her husband's crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5 The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8 A person is praised according to their prudence,
and one with a warped mind is despised.
9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant
than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
10 The righteous care for the needs of their animals,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
but those who chase fantasies have no sense.
12 The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous endures.
3 Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk,
and so the innocent escape trouble.
14 From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things,
and the work of their hands brings them reward.
15 The way of fools seems right to them,
but the wise listen to advice.
16 Fools show their annoyance at once,
but the prudent overlook an insult.
17 An honest witness tells the truth,
but a false witness tells lies.
18 The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19 Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
20 Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil,
but those who promote peace have joy.
21 No harm overtakes the righteous,
but the wicked have their fill of trouble.
22 The Lord detests lying lips,
but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
23 The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves,
but a fool's heart blurts out folly.
24 Diligent hands will rule,
but laziness ends in forced labor.
25 Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.
26 The righteous choose their friends carefully,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27 The lazy do not roastt any game,
but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.
28 In the way of righteousness there is life;
along that path is immortality.
Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. So after reading this, what road are you going to take?

4.04.2012

awwwwww, NOT!


I strongly dislike emails, facebook status updates, and messages with - Aw. 
Ick.
Not for me.
Although I know that people mean it with the best regards.
But to me it is kind of like saying, “suck it up and get over it.”
Or maybe someone would use it to describe someone; like a little baby.  Why wouldn’t you just say, “she is so cute!”
What really drives me nuts is the awwwwwww......you know the one with 15,000 w’s on the end?  Why not just spell it right to begin with?  Does it mean more with more w’s or is it more insulting with additional letters?

awe,aw, awful

Think about it, the word “aw” is one root to the word awful.  Do you know what awful means?  Yup, exactly.  Don’t use the word aw - it is not nice. Or maybe I'm just not?

11.16.2011

Yes, there are four

"You are crazy," 
said the over teased, over frosted hair wearing 50+ year old woman who wore the same outfit that day as she did 30 years ago.

"I bet you're busy." 
said the check out girl at Kroger who just finished telling me how she works two full time jobs. 


"WOW." 
said the little old, but still with it, man at church.


"You know how that happens, right?" 
said the kind receptionist at the pediatrician's office.


I always answer, "yes."  Then I let out a little snicker, shrug my shoulders and go on my merry little way. Did I really ask them to begin with?  Was I looking for an opinion?  Do I care what they think?  Would I change my life in anyway to avoid the constant snide remarks -- I don't think so.  

They are mine, on loan from God.  He is an amazing Lord to trust someone like me with such a precious gift.  I don't think I do my best everyday, but I will continue to try me hardest as long as I have the job.  



So thank you interesting people of the South for letting me know what you think of my career choice - your compassion is amazing (sarcasm).  But.........


There are just some days you can leave your opinion at home. Because no matter what you say, or how hard the job may be that day --- I choose to give you the extra grace that I being a mom of four has taught me to have. 

11.14.2011

Respect

Growing up in scouts my husband got to know an amazing couple - the Howards.  Mr. Ray and Ms. Anne were magnetic.  You never met anyone who didn't love the Howards.  Their house was a safe place, a welcoming place, a haven of creativity and love.  They were a saving grace to my husband.

I only got to know the Howards when I met Michael in 1996.  I loved going to their house.  It was a mismash of things collected over the years.  And while those things came from different places -- they all seemed to work together.

They had the most relaxing screened porch off the side of their house.  The porch featured an amazing fountain that continued gurgling thru gentle conversations.  It was made from a claw foot path tub with a down spout and goldfish inside.  It was perfectly imperfect.


Source: recyclart.org via La on Pinterest

I remember one hot afternoon relaxing on that porch when I noticed a cast iron bed in the middle of the flowers outside.  Mr. Ray, calmly acknowledged the bed with a , "why wouldn't a bed be in a flower bed."  Suddenly, that made sense.

While the Howards had a creative knack for making sense out of insensible things, there was something else that continually brought people back to their cottage in the pines.  It was a simple attraction that most of us forget to display in our everyday lifes.  It was respect.

Mr. Howard once told us that if you don't have respect for people they won't know that they important, that they are loved.  People can disagree but as long as respect stands tall their is still an opportunity to build important relationships.

(picture of Mr. Ray and Ms. Anne in Boy Scouts years ago)


Mr. Ray and Ms. Anne are not here with us anymore but in just a few short years, I learned so much from the Howards.  I thank God everyday for the Howards and wished the world had more people like them.