Dads!

So thankful that father’s day causes me to pause and reflect on the great dad I have.  Dads are so important in a girl’s life.  It is no secret that our early relationship with our fathers has a strong influence on how we perceive God and what kind of husbands we choose.

My dad was fun; he was a preacher but never stuffy, pious or arrogant.  He played with us, laughed with us, and allowed us to be ourselves.  I remember at five years old he rode the Ferris wheel with us and when we reached the top, he convinced us to take off our shoes and throw them down towards our mom sitting on the park bench below.

One of his best traits was teasing us and then, as we got older, allowing us to tease him, one of my very favorite things.  For example, my dad pronounces bagel as baggle, and we laugh every time. (Oh, the examples are endless)

Thanks Dad for your influence in my life.

Too Cheerful

In the past couple months I have been told twice that I am too cheerful.  (And no, I’m not on drugs.) “Yeah, you kinda need to bring it down a notch,” said one woman.  Okay that hurt, I instantly became defensive thinking, what’s so bad about being cheerful? (I wanted to say in my meanest voice, “oh yeah, at least I’m not ugly.”  Then stick out my tongue, not very nice.)  I would take cheerful over cranky any day.  I did not like hearing someone criticize my personality.  These encounters made me feel small, and flung open the door to my insecurities.

                                                    

This makes me consider how to deal with the disapproval of others.  I must confess, I still want everyone to like me.  But that isn’t the reality of life.  There will always be people that don’t like me, don’t get me, don’t approve of me…. Sigh.

That’s why it’s important to know how to embrace my value.  Once in awhile I have to be my biggest fan.  I must remember my worth comes from God.  He made me and loves me regardless.

Passing on the Left!

I commute to work and I love finding safe and legal ways to pass the slower drivers so I can get ahead in order to get to my destination quicker.  I often hear myself say out loud to other drivers, “come on let’s get there already!”  It reminds me that I am not a fan of the cliche, “Enjoy the journey.”   

Very often we grow impatient, irritated at the time it takes to reach whatever our goal or destination is.  We look for short cuts to just get us there.  This can be troublesome when it comes to our relationships. 

Good relationships take time, they don’t develop instantaneously.  Good relationships get good by individuals experiencing life together, facing difficulties, triumphs, disasters, and occasional boredom.  Life over time provides us with the ingredients needed to figure out what works and more importantly, what doesn’t. 

So stop insisting you have to have the perfect relationship NOW. Settle in, keep your heart and mind open to learn as you go along, watch, listen and look for the gifts along the way.

Apologies Don’t Come If They Don’t Know They Hurt You

I am doing some research on the topic of apologies.  The process seems so simple in the articles I have read.  A few important steps to an effective apology, but the steps are basic. Yet repeatedly individuals tell me that they have waited for years, sometimes a lifetime, to hear a genuine, “I’m sorry” from another person that hurt them.  Why don't people apologize?

I realized in these situations perhaps the offender does not know they offended the person.  The offender does not know there is any thing to apologize for.  I reflect back to wounded places inside me that are left unhealed; times when others hurt me.  Many of those painful places are places where I never did tell the person how much they hurt me.  I assumed they should know.   Thinking it over, I really don’t think they do know.  I should never assume.


Back when the wrongs happened I was not courageous enough to tell them, "hey, uh.. when you did ______ that really hurt me."   And… to be honest, at this point, I don’t want to revisit wounds from long ago.  To tell them now would be to risk seeing a blank look on their face and me feeling the need to go into a lengthy explanation that I am just not up for.  I guess I will not pick at old scabs.


It is best to tell someone they offended and or hurt you at the time of the occurrence! 

It is my responsibility as the offended to inform my offender of the hurt he/she caused me.  There are good, bad and VERY bad ways to do this.  Going forward I want to do better.  I will strive to grow, to speak up (hopefully with wisdom and tact) and tell others when they have hurt me.  If an apology comes... great, if not, at least I know I did my part.

I Love Mother's Day

I love mother’s day!  It always reminds me of the best miracle Mitch and I ever experienced.  We prayed for a long time to become parents.  I spent many days crying, so sad, longing to be pregnant. 

Then it happened.  My pregnancy was one grand celebration.  I felt happy, excited, and couldn’t believe I was having a baby.  During the pregnancy I could be seen consuming peanut m&m’s and chocolate milk in mass quantities, it was my celebratory food of choice.  Yikes!  Could be why I gained a lot of weight. 

Derek came 6 weeks early, his first 48 hours we were filled with fear that he was too sick to survive.  But he did, making me the happiest mother in the world.

I relished and cherished each sleepless night of his infancy.  Regardless of the hour of the night I would slip out of bed with joy at the thought of finally having my own precious son. 

Thanks Derek for making me a mom, love you!

I Will Get It Done!

Today I will get it done.  I will tackle the things I have been procrastinating for several weeks.  I will force myself to finish up my project. 

Ugh…. It’s Saturday and my tired side wants to go to the Amish Bakery, eat carbs all day, and sit staring out at the lake, nap.  And you know what? I could do this Saturday that way, using the rationale that I work very hard all week, and my job is intense and now I need a break.  But………….. That would only leave me feeling like a lump, a slug.  Monday would come and I would feel guilty. 

So, I will go for my walk/run.  I will start and finish writing the second to last chapter of my first book. (To my editor – ‘it’s coming, I promise.”)  I will shop for a swim suit, (worst task of all).  I will clean the toilet. 

What do you need to do this weekend?  Just think how good you will feel when Monday comes and you got your stuff done.  Come on now, get up and do it, no more excuses.

Five Powerful Minutes

Just sat with a dear friend as her elderly mom gently transitioned from this life to getting ready to enter heaven.  My friend was thrilled to report that she finally experienced the long awaited resolve of a very difficult conflict between her mom and herself.  Stuff had come between them for many years.

“In five minutes I got what I needed and I cannot express how amazingly better I feel! “It was a 5 minute conversation that included forgiveness and a short prayer in the quiet privacy of mom’s hospital room,” she said as tears rolled down her face.  I hugged her and thanked her so much for sharing the moment with me. 

It got me thinking, sometimes when we have long standing issues with those we love, we long for a dramatic lengthy reunion, multiple intense therapy sessions, fall down prayer experiences that will make all the complex hurtful past fall into place.  Sadly we won’t be satisfied until we have an EPIC resolution. 

How wonderful to know that it doesn’t’ always require a long drawn out process or earth shattering miracle.  Sometimes even years of hurt can be soothed and healed within a brief sacred moment.  Love it when God works like that.