What You Know & May Not Know

 

 

Last week I was challenged to be less guarded in my writing.  “We want to know more about you!”  Some days I wonder what people really know about me.  I fall into the private category when it comes to disclosing much about myself.  Little will be discovered on Facebook apart from basic knowledge like being married, having kids and schooling history.  If you are my friend, in real life, as opposed to my Facebook friend, you could probably come up with 10 to 15 things for which I am passionate.  But, what have those reading my weekly posts learned about me?

 

1. I love the Word of God.  Reading the words chosen for each story within challenges me to understand more about God, what He loves and what He despises, how He engages His creation and what He has to say about me and to me.  I never fail to be surprised.  New thoughts and different angles appear each time for me to explore.  My love for His Word hopefully shocks no one.

 

2. I choose to let my life revolve around family. My wonderful hubby and amazing kids anchor my spinning inner circle.  God graciously gifted them to me and I pray I am found faithful in loving them well.  Following them, parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces and nephews fill out many weekends of the year with time spent together.  I have been spoiled, as have my children, to have multiple generations still living with whom to share life.  I pick them!

 

3. Adventures sprinkle the months of my life. With the kids mostly grown, traveling with my husband fills my heart with great joy.  I loved to travel as a kid, seeing more than half the states and both bordering countries.  My sweet has broadened my horizons even more adding almost all remaining states and several trips abroad.  A rare moment exists when we have nothing up next on the calendar.  So much to explore and our whole lives before us!

 

4. My heart has been broken and will continue to be. The world in which we reside is filled with sad things that easily bring me to tears.  The older I get, the easier they flow.  The death of a four year old, life altering sickness of a teen about to launch, opportunities missed because of poor choices, things not as they should be fill my days and nights with a broken heart.  I do the only thing I know to do when it is all beyond my helping…pray!

 

5. Seasons direct life for me. Drawn to new blooms in spring and leaves changing in fall, I look forward to each new thing.  When the first snowflakes descend, I must prepare a Crockpot full of spicy green chili soup.  Hawaiian Tropic is the only scent to be lathered in, come summer.  With the dawn of the new, old routines go into motion.  The seasons offer framework to the map of my life.  With children growing up, family members passing away, jobs changing and the rhythms of each day coming and going, the consistency of seasonal routines helps me manage the ever-changing seasons life throws me.

 

I am fully confident those reading weekly can see the above things reflected in my writings.  However, there may be a few things that would be news to you.

 

1. How many Bible studies and books for reading enjoyment going on at the same time are too many? I have yet to find the answer to that question.  At any given moment, I am usually attempting 2-3 Bible studies along with reading 3-6 different books.  Maybe it’s a need for variety or possibly my inability to focus on one thing too long—whatever it is, I keep adding a new one when I finish another.  I believe my next addition to the blog will be a tab for book suggestions you all could enjoy exploring!

 

2. I might be a bit compulsive with the desire to organize. Having four kids, I learned to let some things not matter quite so much, but love when things have a place and are in their place!  Our garage is not one of those places.  It has become a revolving door storage unit for all my kids moving to and from college and apartments in these early 20’s of theirs.  The desire is to conquer it this summer, but hoping I’m not just dreaming!  Folders and labels, bins and totes, or shelves and drawers bring excitement to the tasks when I organize.  I do find it far easier to help others toss, but am getting better at pitching when no home is found.  If I could just get my hubby to put the sugar container back in its correct spot after making his coffee each morning, all in life would be well!

 

3. Things were just meant to fit together. I love games and tasks which involve strategy or puzzle-like objectives.  Packing 6 people and gifts into one car for a trip around Christmas became like a human game of Tetris.  The advanced version ensued while in moving kids to and from college every year!  These types of challenges engage my mind in ways nothing else has.  You won’t find many games on my electronics.  Apart from a scrabble-like one, all the others test spatial awareness and engagement.  If you have a good one, send it my way!

 

4. I need encouragement just like everyone else. I long to encourage people!  Each of us struggles in some area of life—with weight, confidence, finances, relationships, priorities—the struggles are real.  A sweet word of reassurance, a surprise text of acknowledgement, or a phone call to check up on someone can change a person’s day.  I write with the hopes of offering this reminder; we are not alone in our struggles.  Others often believe we are capable of more than we, ourselves, believe we can accomplish.  The encouragement given by someone else delivers hope not easily mustered within ourselves.  As much as I love to give encouragement, I need encouragement, too!  We all can make a difference if we choose to notice and then act on it.

 

Laughing may erupt when you realize this was an attempt to reveal things about myself that others may not know.  As I read through, I smile at what makes me quirky and unique.  God wired me to be exactly who I am, His creation.  I wish I could change a few things, like getting the curly hair gene, but instead I am just praying for perms to come back in style.  Like many others, I am learning to love the person God designed me to be.  Most of the time, our friends love us for just who we are today, not who they hope we will become.  May we see ourselves in His eyes and theirs!