Life is...An Obituary

 Life is...An Obituary

My Gma would have been 87 years old today. Sometimes I write as the emotions hit me. Sometimes I need to process in order to write.

My Gma died almost a month ago. I could share a million memories, but I'm not sure they would matter to you.

An obituary is fine but is so incomplete. Here is what I would say about my Gma.

1 Corinthians 13:13 was read at her funeral..."And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

My Gma lived out FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.

And I would add JOY.

They weren't just words that she didn't put into action. She lived them out to show their purpose and their power.

Even during her last months, during a worldwide pandemic, she was teaching me. 

Here's what I learned through her Actions...

1. Even when I'm confused, scared, and hurting I want to be someone others want to be around. Someone who exemplifies JOY and HOPE.

2. Even during a pandemic of fear Gma showed LOVE and FAITH. She said but also showed that LOVE drives out Fear!

There is a great song by Kari Jobe "The Blessing" 

"May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children

In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you, He is for you"

I feel comforted during the weeping and thankful for the amazing blessing that has come to me, because of the FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, and JOY from previous generations. 

May we continue it on to be a blessing to others.

Dreams (part 2)

Life is...Dreams (part 2)

Waiting for someone to die is hard, emotionally draining. I was miles away struggling: how do I be there for her and my family? Had I done enough? Had I said everything I wanted to say? I had, a million times, but still those doubts come. Gma wanted to go to heaven. I had never seen her stop fighting before. She was ready.

Sometimes I asked God, why don’t you take her? Please don’t make her suffer!

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

God’s timing is perfect!

Maybe Gma was ready, but her friends and family weren’t. God had something to teach us through that time of waiting.

Teaching

Life is...Teaching

I took my son to a splash park. He had a great time, but as we were leaving he saw a pool, and he started whining that he wanted to go there. I tried to quickly explain that we were able to go to the splash park today, and we needed to go home. Nope, that didn't do it. Meltdown! We got to the car, and after the tears stopped I tried to explain gratitude. It went something like this...

'We had a really fun time, right? When we do something fun it is not kind to whine about doing the next thing. We need to say thank you and be grateful for what we have and get to do.'

As a three-year-old he kind of understood. But at 32 I feel I only kind of understand gratitude. I find myself wanting more, more, more. I may say "Thank You", but I want the next thing. I don't have tantrums at splash parks anymore :), but I find myself needing a reminder to be thankful and grateful - Period.


"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ~1 Thessalonians 5:18

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe." ~Hebrews 12:28

Follow my Blog by entering your email address under "Follow Me" on the left. Thanks!

My Word

Life is...My Word

Someone asked me to pray for them, and I said, “Of course”. Two days later, I realized I hadn’t. I was ashamed. Am I too busy to truly pray for someone? No! 

It really struck me that I can’t be lackadaisical about this. I can’t just say, “I’ll pray for you,” because it’s the ‘right thing to say’. I have to truly mean it and then truly do it! It made me think, do we believe it when someone says they will pray for us? Or, do we think of it as a saying something like, "Have a great day!"? I hope not.

God always wants our yes to be yes and no to be no (Matthew 5:37), but when we are using Him as our ‘reason,’ I think we should be extra vigilant.

After I was convicted about “I’ll pray for you,” I wondered...do we say other things without really meaning it? Things like, “This is where God wants me” or “We felt God calling us here.” It’s easy to say these things because no one will question it. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. It will eat at your faith and destroy your credibility. 

When I had surgery a friend said she’d pray for me, and then every couple days, she sent me a Bible verse. It was amazing, and I have taken this idea to heart with many interactions because it makes me stop my ‘busy life’ and look up a specific verse. It forces me to do what I said I would do...pray for them.

Potty Training

What I Learned from Potty Training

-A lifetime skill may take years, but once you truly learn it you have it for life.

-I’m not in control of my son. I can help him, love him, and show him the right way, but it’s up to him to decide.

-There will be mistakes made in public, like peeing in your “big boy underwear” :)

-When you think you’ve learned something - you probably haven’t. There are always steps back.

-Chocolate and gifts work better than stickers, no matter how much you don't want to resort to them :)

-Getting frustrated and upset does absolutely no good - it actually hinders.

-Sometimes you have to go somewhere you don’t want to - into the men’s bathroom to get your son, because he knows he’s a boy, not a girl :) 

-This is only one of the first life skills that must be taught - Here’s to parents who teach their children these life lessons and learn something themselves! :)

Tell your story...www.GenerationsToGenerations.com