Lesson(s) Learned

You know, over the course of the last handful of years, I’ve noticed that my blog has taken quite the different direction(s). Mainly, because my life-story has taken on new directions, experienced new adventures, and uncovered new lessons to be learned all along the way. Today, as I went about my daily routine, I realized how lucky I am. Actually, luck has nothing to do with it. I recognized, truly, amidst all the life-change, the redirections, and the varied transitions, how blessed I am. For me, the moment came today when I saw my sweet husband’s army fatigues in the house. In that self-same moment, I realized how very proud I am of him, the man he is, the heart he has, the  way he serves our country, and the way he loves me so ridiculously well. At the same time, I became deeply humbled - to the point of tears – that God chose me to be his wife. Seriously, of all the women in the world that it could have been, it’s me. And only me. And always me. There’s somet...

If you’ve read the 1990’s Children’s award-winning novel, The Giver , written by Lois Lowry or you’ve taken the time to see the recent theatre-box rendition of it, then you’ll know what I’m talking about when I use the phrase seeing beyond . It’s nothing mystical or oddly-spiritual. It’s simply the ability some (few!) of the characters in the book/movie were born with that enables them to see things other people don’t see. They’re tuned into things like color, for example, when the rest of the world is merely seeing black-and-white. It’s an interesting skill to have, this seeing beyond .   It’s actually quite cool to have an advantage like that over the others. But this ability must be exercised and revealed with caution. For with much privilege comes much responsibility. Just as recently as yesterday, two distinct situations came across the lives of two people that are very dear to me. And they soon, as you can imagine, came to my attention as well. The first situation...

Today, as I drove along my usual winding path (that is the only escape-route out of my apartment complex), I passed several of the same landmarks that I always do. But today was different because God spoke to my heart as I drove. You see, at one point in my journey, I passed by a church on my left side and simultaneously passed a funeral home on my right side. It may be a stretch of your imagination to go here with me; but in my mind and in my car-ride, I felt a tension between life and death in those few moments on the stretch of road winding between the two buildings.  [I would dare say if you were riding shotgun in the passenger’s seat, you may have felt the same thing.] Why? Well, a church building is a symbol of hope and life, amongst others. While a funeral home is nothing short of a symbol of death. (It reminded me of the passage in Deuteronomy 30:15-19, where life and death are sitting in front of God's people as a choice to be made; and God urges them to choose ...

     I've been married nearly two months now (Whew! Where does the time go?!) and have not made the time to post on my blog in what seems like, (in the words, voice, and inflection of the beloved Gru), "Forever!"        Some days, I'm just too busy with finding delight in accomplishing daily chores/tasks and/or crafting, creating, fun times, and memory-making. Other days, I'm honestly just too lazy to capture all of my thoughts, collect them together, and string them into something that makes any semblance of sense to anyone outside of my little mind, self, "kingdom" (a.k.a. my house), and world.     But I've wanted to give some updates and some clarifications on the recent updates in my life for those of you that are naturally curious, personally concerned, or simply lacking better things to read at the moment, so here goes:     As many of you know, I'm now embarking on a new (very unpopular, might I add) journey. I...

For most people, a wedding day and a honeymoon week are days, times, experiences, and memories-made that will never be forgotten. For me, I became lucky enough to not only marry the world’s most wonderful man, have a beautiful wedding day, a wonderful honeymoon, and memories made to last an entire lifetime; but I also got to be gifted with the stark reality of “real life” on the very day our official “honeymoon” was over, so much that I was literally in need of a fresh, new start(er). Allow me to explain. Jeff and I enjoyed quite the wonderful week, following our impeccably- smooth-going wedding day, of official honeymooning in the quiet, nature-esque area known as Stone Mountain, Georgia. Very quickly, Jeff and I became very fond of the quiet and secluded characteristics of our resort (so much that Jeff made a song of it… another story, another time), yet we also enjoyed its proximity to the not-so-quiet, “the-world-is-coming-to-Atlanta”ness within a short notice’s driving ...

Why do we want to live the façade of a life “fixed” instead of admitting our brokenness? Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way… We’re all broken. All of us. Each and every one of us. Every single one of us. The Bible clearly teaches us that ALL have sinned. That means me, you, the sweet little grandma figure you idolize, and every one in between. We’re in shambles. We’re just not right. We’re broken. Growing up, I used to think I had the perfect life, the perfect family, the perfect everything…. I must have been God’s favorite or something because it was really ridiculous how perfect my life was. Or seemed. How perfect my life seemed. There’s a world of difference between what “was” and what “seemed” to be so. Now, I’m not negating the fact that God extra-blessed my with a huge family full of wonderful people that do love Him, but let me set the record straight. We’re not perfect, and it took me a lot of grown-up years to figure that out. But the problem is ...

The Wonder-full Life I’m not even two days into my break from school for the summertime and my relief from all duties related to classroom teaching for quite-the-while, and what to I find myself doing? That’s right. I’m teaching. Only this time, I’m teaching myself new things. As a modification to the old saying goes, “You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t take the lessons out of the teacher.” Ok, so that isn’t a modification to an old saying. I pretty much made it up on the spot. It’s only thirty seconds old. You’re welcome. Old or new sayings aside, it’s true that the lessons a teacher-at-heart gives and shares oftentimes extend far beyond the classroom walls and go on to embracing, altering, and inspiring another soul for the long haul. Just two days ago, I became decidedly anxious to learn about all-things-domestic that I don’t yet know about (which I’m learning is pretty much everything). Cooking. Cleaning. Sewing. Building and crafting things ...