New Beginnings

For those who know me, or follow my blog, you will understand the inspiration behind this post.  My daddy always told me, be careful what you wish for!! Sometimes we get in a rut, and wish things were different.  And sometimes we get our wish, and things change.  And we find ourselves faced with a new beginning.

A friend of mine who works for the Barrow Journal asked if I'd be interested in submitting a column for the paper.  Writing is a guilty pleasure, though I seem to have let my passion wane a bit over the past few years.  I'm excited to share that my very first article was published in last week's paper, and now I'm sharing it here!!  Hope you will enjoy, and maybe catch me from time to time in the pages of the Journal.  

New Beginnings

The past few years have provided me with several opportunities for New Beginnings.   Not all of them were welcomed, and a couple of them were actually quite devastating – at that moment.  But time and God have a way of working things out for the best.  These New Beginnings have made me stronger, and have confirmed that I’m where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’m supposed to do. 

New Beginnings are sometimes a little scary.  The opportunity to submit a few words to the Journal is exciting, yet humbling…. and a little bit scary.   My blog has gone unattended for quite some time, and the words I’d normally write seem only to tumble around in my head these days, and never get written.  Sometimes Facebook provides a soapbox on which to stand and opine about the topic de jour but I’ve missed recording my thoughts lately.  This New Beginning with The Journal will perhaps reignite my passion for collecting my thoughts on “paper”.     

So today I will think about  New Beginnings.  They are everywhere.  It won’t be long before the big yellow school buses will once again rumble up and down the streets of our neighborhoods.  Freshly-scrubbed little cherubs will be left in their classrooms for the first time, while teary-eyed parents reluctantly leave them behind.  Middle school kids will put on brave faces, hoping to hide their nervousness, as they pass through the doors of their new schools, while the 9^th graders are ready to tackle the exciting world of high school.  Teachers will begin their preparations in just a few short weeks now, and before we know it, the New Beginnings of school will settle into a routine.  

A few Saturdays from now, a coin will be tossed, a whistle will be blown, and the Bulldogs will dominate  the field to tackle the New Beginning  of another season.  (Go Dawgs!!)

There will be new jobs for some, new babies, new marriages, new homes, etc, all to be celebrated!  There are times, though, when a New Beginning is the result of the ending of something else.  Not all  are pleasant, and are sometimes brought about by divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job, health challenges, etc.  While there is always uncertainty whenever we leave behind the old and embrace the new, all we can do is trust that our past life experiences, the lessons we have learned, and our faith will carry us through to the other side of the New Beginning… to our new normal. 

Is there a New Beginning in your future?  Regardless of age, it can, and does happen – at times when we least expect it.  Meet the changes head on!  Or if you’re in a rut, make some New Beginnings for yourself!   Do something different – learn a new hobby, research something that interests you  (How did we ever live without Google?),  volunteer at a homeless shelter or a local animal shelter.  There are so many ways to get outside your box, do something new, and help someone else at the same time. 

My challenge to you this week is this: Do one new thing!   Make a change!  Shake things up!

What will your New Beginning look like?  

Eat Your Wheaties!!!

Judging others is something I detest.  I’m pretty much a live-and-let-live kind of girl.  So it’s not my intent to judge anyone with these words.  However, some things just need to be said.

As far as I'm concerned, Bruce will always be Bruce.  I was in high school when the Bruce phenomenon came on the scene.  Wheaties became my favorite cereal, and my family consumed tons of the stuff.  I’d sit gazing dreamy-eyed at the picture of that hunky man in those (really short) gym shorts on the front of that orange box.   All the world watched him stand on the podium at the Olympics.  We were so proud.

Now, to be totally honest, I must say that I have little understanding of the transgender thing. And that’s okay.  This is not about him being transgender.  He can glue a cotton ball to his rear end and call himself a bunny rabbit for all I care. 

This is about him being presented as a hero.  That gives me a problem.  Brave?  Maybe  – though what did he have to lose?  He’s already famous, has plenty of money (or not? who knows/cares?), has a wacky family to support him, already has been a “Reality TV Star”, and is now getting his own show-  “I Am Cait”.  I’m thinking he would have been a lot braver to have done this 20 years ago, when nobody ever thought about him any more.  But – whatever the reason – he has chosen to do this now, and I suppose it would take a bit of bravery to subject himself to the ridicule  that he will surely endure. 

But a hero?  

I'm sorry.  Not for me.  

Tell this little fella that Bruce is a hero:

Tell this wife:

Tell his parishioners and family members:

Tell their descendants that Bruce is a hero:

The closest thing to a being hero I can find about Bruce Jenner would be his athletic skill and accomplishments in the past.  I’m not a sports person myself, so I have no true appreciation for his talent, but I’m sure there were young athletes at the time who elevated him to hero status. 

My heroes don’t wear gym shorts and tank tops (or size 13-M Peep-toe pumps)  – they wear fatigues, turnout gear, and bullet-proof vests.  They wear surgical scrubs and operate on indigent children, or nursing scrubs and volunteer at Mercy Clinics.  They leave huge tips at the café for a single mom working hard to support her children.  They wear aprons, and cook/serve dinner to people at the homeless shelter.  They foster and/or adopt animals who would otherwise be euthanized simply because they were born. They drive rescue vehicles and LifeFlight choppers.  They volunteer in the wake of disasters, to see that their fellow man is fed and sheltered.  They donate blood.  They drive cancer patients to their treatments, and sit with them to keep them company.  

They teach our children every day in the classroom.

However the media wishes to define him, I can promise you that “hero” is not a word you’ll ever hear me say in reference to him. 

To the REAL HEROES in our world, I say thank you, and carry on.  We know who you are!!!

Weekends Rock!

Well, it's actually Monday already.  So I'll be back at the desk again in a few hours to get the work-week
started.  Leyland and Corey came over yesterday around noon, and we hung out here at The 409 all afternoon.  They did some crafting, while I did my chores.  Later, we did a CiCi's pizza run for a quick bite to eat.

[And can I just say here how wonderful it is that they're big enough to fix their own plates?  It doesn't take much to make me happy these days.  But, truly, they are at the best age!!  Still young enough to do the cute, silly, kid stuff, and enjoy snuggling with Greemaw - but old enough to take care of a lot of things themselves, and not require constant supervision. It's fabulous!!!]   Though I do miss those sweet tiny babies....   But I digress...

After 'dinner', we visited with Nany and Pawpoo.  The kids had not been to see them since they moved, and were so excited to see the new place.  We played the "I've Got A Secret" game, and Nany got her giggle box turned over.  She was trying to whisper "Clem Kadiddlehopper" to Leyland, but I don't think she was ever able to actually say it.  She was laughing so hard she couldn't speak.  Haha!  Makes me happy to see people laugh and have fun.  We all enjoyed the visit.

This morning I was awakened by two little snuggle bunnies crawling into bed with me.  My favorite way to start the day!!!  After a little cuddling, we had breakfast and made it to church barely in time.  It was a very sad and emotional day - Ken's last Sunday.  I am terrible at goodbyes, and DJ and I bawled pretty much the entire time.  We'll miss them so much.  So many hearts broken - so much that could be said.  But here is another situation where we have to trust that God has a plan - and our lack of understanding doesn't alter the plan.  So we trust, and know that even though we can't see around the bend in the road, we do not travel it alone. Godspeed, Ken and Debbie.  We love you, and will miss you.

I'm still hanging onto that trust for my own situation as well.  The devotional readings from my Jesus Calling book are still spot on, and give me daily reminders about that bend-in-the-road thing.  And I'm so thankful I don't travel it alone.  Nothing to share at the moment regarding the job search, but I remain hopeful.

This afternoon I tackled the New Cable Box challenge  - and happy to say I am victorious!  So glad to get that old dinosaur box out of here!  The install and setup process was easy.  And I only had to make one quick phone call to customer service to get them to send a refresh signal so that all my channels would tune in, and that was it.  Yay!  

Lasagna for dinner at DJ and David's, snuggling with adorable 7-week-old kittens, visiting with family and friends rounded out the day.  Yep.  Weekends Rock!!  I'm ready to do it all over again.  Is it Friday yet?