Anny's Courage

This last weekend I attended a baby shower for a girl I actually babysat along with her sisters when they were small.  Anny is taking a new “adventure” in life, as she puts it.  Anny is single and because of physical reasons can not have children.  A co-worker’s daughter (who is a drug addict) had a child and does not want to keep the child.  Anny was asked by the mother and the grandmother (coworker) if she would consider raising Eli.  Eli is a beautiful 8 month old who was born while his mom was on drugs.  So Eli suffers symptoms of his mom’s drug addiction. 

Since I was a single parent, not by choice, for 13 years, I have some idea of the struggles Anny will encounter in this adventure.  I truly admire her courage for venturing on this unknown path of life.  Anny works full time, and like most of us, does not make a ton of money.  She lives in a one bedroom apartment and is currently looking for a two bedroom apartment.  Materialistically, Anny doesn’t have much.  But what she does have is her faith in God and strong family support.  And when the rubber meets the road, these are the things that count. 

Courage – “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty”. 

2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 

It never ceases to amaze me how God's power and His love can take you on a venture you would never have planned for or by yourself.  

Destination

It’s very trendy today to say this life we are living is a “journey” because a “journey” implies ongoing travel.  And if you look at your life as a “journey”, have you given much consideration to your destination point? Where will your journey end?  When and how will your journey end?  Who will be with you when your journey ends?

I love the analogy of my life being a journey, but I find I am so wrapped up in the day to day travel I really had not thought much about my destination point.  This is totally contradictory to how I plan for a trip! 

Right now I am considering a trip to visit my family in July.  One of my first considerations is the weather – very hot, over 100 degrees daily.  What clothes will I pack?  Who will I see?  What activities will we do?  What will we talk about?  So my destination is my first and foremost consideration.

Only after I have thought and planned these details do I consider my actual travel to the destination.  Do I have enough money for gas?  Do I need to have the oil changed in the car before going?  Is the air conditioning working good- very good in this heat?  Will I stop for lunch or just do drive-thru in some town on the way?  Is my spare tire aired up?  

Then why on my life journey do I not consider daily my destination point?  I am a Christian and I know my destination is Heaven.  But how often do I think about Heaven?  Definitely not daily!  Jesus says we are to come to Him as a child comes to Him.  I can just see a child asking questions like, “What’s the weather like in Heaven? Will we wear clothes in Heaven?  Will I see my grandma and grandpa in Heaven?  Can we play in Heaven?” 

These are the questions I need to ponder daily since I am on a journey to Heaven.

Stop and smell the roses

As I transition into my new season of life – retirement –I am discovering many different aspects on this new journey.  I am not as busy as I was; getting ready for work, going to work, working, then coming home from work, getting dinner on the table, and then going brain dead in front of the tube or catching up on housework in the evening, just to get up the next morning and do it all over again. 

I am discovering I actually have time to think and to feel.  To think through ideas, ponder thoughts, remember memories.  I have time to truly sense what took place, what I heard, what I saw, what I touched, what I smelled, what I tasted, what I felt.  Maybe when our lives are not so focused on what must be accomplished, how many widgets must be produced, how many sales calls we must make, etc. then the senses that have been suppressed by the “doing” actually are reborn to start experiencing life. 

Whoever quoted, “Take time to stop and smell the roses” understood the importance of experiencing life rather than living life.  They grasped that relationships become more important than accomplishments. 

For years in the “working” arena of my life I was a human resource director.  And what I found to be true over and over again is that people became disgruntled with their work, not because of not meeting goals or lack of accomplishment, they became disgruntled with bad working relationships.  This attitude usually resulted in a termination, whether they quit or were fired.  The bad working relationships led to bad attitudes which resulted in undesirable behaviors in the work force. 

Today I will smell the roses…

Bloom Where You Are Planted

"Bloom Where You Are Planted" has been my life motto since I can remember.  Not even sure when I started using this motto, but it has served me well.  In truly encapsulates my life's journey.  So far very few of the dreams and plans I envisioned as a young person have materialized, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.  It's all how you look at it.  Would I do it differently?  Yes, but only to the point of not hurting others.  Sometimes to survive you have to bloom where you are planted.  Other times you have to pick yourself up from the dirt and move into the sunlight to bloom.  Sometimes you have a choice and sometimes you don't.