Real Life is Better Than Fiction

Journey My parents instilled a love of camping in me at a young age. That little baby in the stroller, that's me! Journey is a word that can evoke a lot of thoughts and feelings. A journey can be physical, mental, or emotional. Sometimes a journey we take is all about reaching a specific destination, yet other times it's all about the getting there. We all take journeys from time to time. Maybe the word brings to your mind family vacations. My family would often go camping when I was a child. To pass the time the car my brother and I would play a game he made up called "open your mouth and close your eyes and I will give you a big surprise." The rules were pretty much self-explanatory. One time when I opened my mouth and closed my eyes he fed me dirt from the floor of the car. I didn't want to play the game anymore after that! Many times a journey needs planning. I tell my writing students that they should know the beginning and the ending of their ...

New Anyone who knows me knows I homeschooled my kids from beginning to end. One of the aspects of that I enjoyed most was seeing the light shine on their faces when they learned to read. It's fun to see people's reactions to new things – whether by sight, sound, taste, or feel – especially with children. Watching a child as he or she puts letters together to read a word is an amazing thing. Their eyes light up in recognition and realization. I still have the set of books my mom bought for me when I was leaning to read. (Not sure she really understood what she was starting with that book purchase!) I used those same books with my own children and am keeping them for future generations. I enjoy visiting new places, trying new food, making new friends. Every time we have a new experience, we open the doors of our minds and hearts. When my oldest daughter had the opportunity to go to Europe and see new things, she came home with a couple thousand pictures and a whol...

Gratitude Gratitude is something we are not exactly full of these days. We would much rather show ungratefulness with all of our petty complaints. And what do we complain about? Big things? Sometimes. But more often than not we gripe about such minor issues like the temperature being too hot or too cold. Have you ever known someone who complained about everything? Did/do you like to be around that person? The complaining person can be almost toxic. They bring us down and make us want to complain more. There was one time I was going through the checkout at the store. The cashier complained about the company that employed her the entire time. Apparently she needed to be out of her apartment that day and wasn't allowed to take the day off. My cynical mind didn't want to hear her griping. I'm sure she had more than a couple hours' notice to vacate her apartment. As usual, my mouth was at work before my brain. "You should be glad you have a job." ...

Joy Someone recently told me she wasn't experiencing any joy in her life. Each day she would go through the motions of simply surviving. There was nothing to look forward to. She didn't feel as if she had many friends with whom she could get together and make plans. While her feelings may have been true, the reality of the matter is that sometimes we need to make an effort. Yes, we need to work. Yes, we must pay the bills. But we also must make time for the things that bring us joy. My sisters and I dressed up in some CW finery. One of the things my family did for fun when I was growing up was Civil War skirmishing. That is something that is similar to reenacting, only the different regiments shoot at targets for competition instead of at each other. My parents started doing this when I was only five months old. They continued doing it after I got married. We camped with the same people many weekends from spring to fall. We made lifelong friends, some I'm...

Enjoy Summer is a time when people often think of vacation. Families make plans when the kids are out of school. Summer is a time to enjoy life. The weather allows for more outdoor activities. People plan BBQs (activities surrounded by food are something I always enjoy!). As a child, summer for my siblings and me meant riding bikes, making trails through the woods, plenty of badminton, and long, sunny days at the community pool with friends. We would spend hours with our friends and only come home at dinner time or when Mom rang the bell Dad had installed on the porch to get our attention in far off places. Now that we're all adults, whenever my siblings and I are all together we do a lot of reminiscing. We remember those days gone by that we enjoyed so much. We enjoy the time remembering. So many of our conversations begin with, "Do you remember that time…" "Do you remember that time you spit on my head?" "Do you remember when Mar...

Kindness What do you do when people are rude to you? I have a tendency to "kill them with kindness." Unfortunately, my "kindness" is laced with sarcasm. I'm pretty sure sarcasm isn't what God had in mind when He commanded us to "Be kind one to another" (Ephesians 6:1). While I might have the right thoughts, my attitude is definitely wrong. I'm certain Christ didn't have a sarcastic bone in His body, even when there were those who treated Him so poorly. Sometimes people just need a word of kindness. I was going through the line at the grocery store one day when the cashier, whom I'd had several times before, said, "Thanks for always being so nice." To which I responded, "I try to be. I don't know who came through before me that may have been nasty." "You don't know who's coming after you, either." There have been countless times I have witnessed customers being rude to emplo...

Attentive Attentive. There's another one of those traits where I need some work. I have a friend that I want to be like when I grow up. She not only notices needs, but she also does something about meeting those needs. If I were to be absolutely honest, I would have to admit that I see needs sometimes, but I just come up with a whole lot of excuses as to why I can't do anything about those needs. Yes, my life is busy, but is it really that busy? Am I too busy to do something even once in a while? My friend puts me to shame. When she sees a need, she jumps into action. That's the difference between my attentive and her attentive. I need to rethink my attentive. I need to be more like God's attentive. He sees our needs and begins meeting them before we even know they're there. Have you ever prayed for something and almost before you were finished getting the words out of your mouth an answer was there? I have. There was one time we were struggli...