When it’s quiet here at My (virtual) Place, it’s almost always noisy at My (in real life) Place.
It’s been quiet here for quite awhile. I’ve really missed you.
At home it’s been crazy-noisy, ridiculously yo-yo-ish, and an emotional roller coaster. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced a period so chock-full of travel on top of Life… and it’s not over yet.
Through it all, I’ve been a student. Sometimes intentional. Sometimes by necessity; almost unwillingly.
Learn to walk slowly through the crowd. When you truly understand God’s abundance, there is no good reason to be in a hurry.
Summit Leadership Foundation newsletter
Since April we’ve celebrated several birthdays, anniversaries—our 26th and Daughter the Younger and My Favorite Fatigue Wearer’s 10th, friends’ weddings, and a neighbor passing the state Certified Nursing Assistant test. We finally broke ground on the long-awaited Festival Park in our Historic Mossy Creek District.
We’ve felt humbled and optimistic about doors opening on behalf of orphans worldwide and the emerging role of Hope Unlimited for Children. (More soon.)
We’ve traveled to North Carolina (several times), Indiana, California, Florida and Brazil. We took a road trip to Denver, delivering the last of Daughter the Older’s stored furniture, books, and memories. Some trips were relaxing, others were events we hosted, still others were Pure D *fun* and included keeping one or both of the grandsons.
Big smile!
We watched with heavy hearts as one family looked for answers while Dad spent a month in jail, another dealt with a life-threatening event stemming from PTSD, still another continued the brave battle with their 4-year-old’s cancer. At the same time, a dear young couple took custody of a non-relative to keep him out of the foster care system . . . and a beloved empty-nester couple advocated mightily for a grandchild.
Sometimes Life is so messy…
We were excited when we finally received an offer on our old house (albeit one that was contingent upon another’s house sale)—and frustrated when, two months later, the contract wasn’t renewed because Life happened to the other family and they took their house off of the market. Please pray for them. They’re a military family, and Daddy’s headed to Afghanistan.
We experienced, shock, anger, and a sense of violation when (in a gated-with-security-cameras San Francisco parking garage) our rental car was broken into and everything was stolen. Two computers, iPad, camera, luggage… Ev.ery.thing gone. And, even with a tracker on my iPad and knowledge of its location two blocks away, the police wouldn’t respond. They said it wasn’t a priority.
Feelings of impotence, betrayal.
Yo-yo emotions for months…
When Life hits non-stop from all sides, it’s hard to “learn to walk slowly through the crowd.” Good heavens, it’s hard even to process everything! There’s very little slow-walking, and often more reacting than learning. Not necessarily a good thing, but an honest response nonetheless.
But I’ve tried to be a student. I’ve tried to learn, to find take-aways from the tangled mess of events and emotions that have been our Life for the past few months. In no particular order…
Sometimes there’s simply no answer to “why?”
Sometimes old choices reappear and consequences just have to play out… Even if you’ve been making good new choices.
Life isn’t fair. Accept it.
When I walk slowly through the crowd, it’s often possible to see others’ realities… Pain, loneliness, fear. Love, courage, joy. Exhaustion, confusion, discouragement.
Hang out with children—as often as possible. Put away the phone, the computer, the video game, the television. Play cards, read a book, take a walk, bake cookies. Listen, laugh . . . And learn!
Every day includes something to celebrate. Find it!
I’d rather hang on to a tiny thread of hope than give in to “hopeless”.
Even with all of the bad in the world, there is still a lot of good.
I own too much stuff. Time to get rid of more.
It’s time to say “no” for awhile and let present commitments run their course.
Life and stability can “turn on a dime”. Take nothing for granted.
A whole-house inventory really would be wise.
When Life hits hard, “real” family and friends step in.
The tiniest kindness can have a huge impact. Practice creative caring!
Few things happen on my timetable.
The next few months show little chance of letting up on the crazy-busy schedule, and so we’ll keep going. There are friends and family to make eye contact with, more slow-walking and looking beyond myself to do, more dirty faith to practice living.
Even so, I’m hopeful my time here at My (virtual) Place will be more frequent.
Are you still out there?
If you are—and I really hope you are!—leave a comment and tell me how your last few months have been. What’s going on in your world? What Life lessons are you learning these days?
Hi, Susan!! Wow!! What a roller coaster for you!! While it has definitely been busy here, we’ve managed to avoid some of the complications you’ve had. The time will be right for that house! I’m thinking of all the good projects you have involved yourself, and know that the answers, while not on our timetable, will come for you. I send my hugs and prayers “up the road” to you!
Love,
Nellie
P.S – As I’ve filled in the form below, my “autocorrect”wants to capitalize the first letter on the second two rows. That is not correct!!:-) They should be lower case!!:-)
Hi, Nellie. So glad you’re still out there — and doing well! Hugs and prayers back “down the road” to my, friend. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Not sure what was going on with the autocorrect, but all looks good here! 🙂
Sometimes God calms the hurricane, and sometimes God calms His child in the middle of the hurricane. I’m here. Cherry Kay
So glad you’re still here, Cherry Kay! I know you’ve had some blogging lulls, too, over the past while… I hope you’ve had a great summer and had time with the grands! Thanks so much for stopping by and speaking Truth.
Susan, I fell off the blogging wagon a while back, but was glad to see your post in my Feedly this morning. Goodness, you HAVE had a lot going on. I can’t imagine the shock and feeling of violation from having everything stolen from your rental car! As I usually travel with my favorite, go-to outfits, losing all of them would be a blow. Not to mention electronics! You are a wonderful example of grace under pressure.
Tricia, it’s so nice to “see” you today! Yes, like you, I travel with my favorite go-to outfits and jewelry, and it was definitely a blow to lose them. Most are from a few seasons ago and no longer available which adds to the frustration, but it’s just “stuff” and so much still for which to be thankful.
I’ll admit, though… When we tried to leave the parking garage but couldn’t find our ticket because the car was *trashed*—and the attendant said, “That will be $29 for lost ticket”—my Texan-through-and-through husband got out of the car, stood by the hood, and said slowly and clearly (multiple times) “Open the gate now.” Finally, it was, “You have two minutes to open the gate or get a manager down here before I leave.” When the guy threatened to call the police if we drove through the barricade, David said, “Oh, please do!” Obviously we couldn’t get their attention any other way! (haha) But alas, a manager was called and told the guy to open the gate. Talk about adding insult to injury!
I hope you’ve had a less eventful summer and that the fall season will be a wonderful one for you and yours.
Thanks for sharing your life, wisdom and experiences.
Thank you for stopping by, Angie! I hope you have a wonderful week.