I remember when I was little how simple life seemed. We went to school, my Dad went to work…we came home had supper and then repeat.
I was raised in the 80s…this was the “transition” to faster paced living. My generation apparently was left at home more than any other generation. We were the generation with microwaves and basically the beginnings of dinner in boxes. I grew up with scratch and sniff snickers. Pop in glass bottles. Cabbage patch kids were the PS5, and sticker collections were a thing. We had friendships beads on our shoes…and four square was how you became a champion on the playground. No worries, I stunk at all sports…but was a champ on the tornado slide. Terrified of the the jungle gym…and was notorious for bloody knees.
I don’t remember life being hard for my parents…but perhaps that’s because they were really good at not letting us know when there was a problem. Maybe they were just better at hiding their feelings.
Today, I had monthly coffee with some of the most amazing ladies on the planet. Even though all of us have completely different professional lives…so many things about us are the same. We have unbelievably heavy burdens…and I think we carry them pretty well. If you had me guess about these problems and burdens…I never would have guessed them…but we still carry them.
Today, after work On my journey home, I thanked God for this amazing life. It’s so easy to watch the news and be burdened…but can I just tell you. When it seems like you are going down at the last second…miracles happen. If 2019 and 2020 have taught me anything….it’s that miracles still happen. What seems an impossible pile of crap…a miracle can still arise. When you think you are going completely under…supernatural miracles occur. I’ve watched them…I’ve had a front row seat to miracles.
I’ve watched impossible prayers answered. I have watched lives restored and relationships healed. I have watched people trust and love who said they never would open their hearts again. I’ve watched medical mysteries healed..and God keep so many in His safety and protection. I’ve watched people that felt they couldn’t be used, used in a mighty way. I’ve watched the broken healed and the sick walk into my store a week later after being on their deathbed.
Today, as the sun was shining….the warmth returning, the birds headed back…I felt hope. Hope has been missing for awhile. We all just felt that we had to keep our noses to the grindstone to power through this past year. We just kept going because we didn’t know what else to do. We all felt helpless as we watched our country burn and rage as those that didn’t deserve bad were punished anyway. Such hate, such unbelievable division. Such sadness and despair…and all of us wanted to just get into bed and pull the covers over our head….but even in the muck and mire…healing can still come.
A lot of us turned off our TVs…we looked around at our fellow man..and just started having conversations. A lot of us took time off the television to establish new friendships, new endeavors…and most of us are not looking back.
2020 causes even more of us to change locations, vocations, hobbies, and so many more things. Many of us quit consuming…and started doing things that matter for the long term.
Change is uncomfortable and stressful. Change doesn’t feel good…until you have the courage to just go right ahead and do it….but when you finally walk through that door…you always wonder why you were so scared.
I believe that life was and is to be lived BIG. I have never been shy or quiet. I have always been loud and even obnoxious…sense of humor and sometimes a bad temper. I’m crazy about my kids and madly in love with my husband. I’m a perfectionist only in clowning and my piano playing…and soap making and decorating…and cleanliness…ok. I guess I’m a bit of a perfectionist🥴.
I am here to make noise…and noise I will make…but when I’m gone from this earth, I want that to be felt but I want people to continue that which I started. I want an impact to be continued where I started…I want the void to be felt but continued.
Life is hard…it is my job to make it more bearable.
“Life is always better, when You are laughing.”
The Reluctant Red Nose 