Daily Post · friendship · love

Lifesaver

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If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?

I thought about being someone powerful—someone with lots of money, someone with a great body. The kind of power a president has, the kind of money Lukas Walton or his family has, and the physique Zsa Zsa Gabor had.

Then I started to reflect on this. One day is not long at all to do what needs to be done with that kind of power, wealth, or attraction—whether it’s passing a bill so everyone could receive insurance at a low cost, finding a charity or organization I believe in, or going to the beach and walking around in a skimpy bikini!

The Holy Spirit led me to someone who has not been as fortunate when it comes to medical issues—neurological ones—and life-changing surgeries. Their story is not mine to go into any further, but they would be my choice. I think if we were able to live inside the stories of other friends, family members, or acquaintances whose odds are against them, we might find that what we once thought was important would no longer matter. We might trade power for perspective, wealth for compassion, and beauty for gratitude.

Daily Post · Home · love

King Of The Jungle

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Write about your dream home.

My dream house is a ranch-style home on the outskirts of a small town. The porch wraps all the way around, and it’s concrete and flat to the ground. Soft, dim lighting lines the porch, giving it a warm glow in the evenings. There’s a big willow tree in the front yard, and the front yard is bigger than the back. I have a few wooden rockers, a glider for two, and a large wooden chair. There’s a small side table on the porch, perfect for early morning coffee or a refreshing drink on hot summer days.

The house is modern. The living room and kitchen are open, with a small amount of counter space separating the two, but you can see both areas clearly. My living room has just enough shelves built into the wall.

We have three, maybe four, bedrooms, but they are not huge — just big enough for guests to have a bed and sleep comfortably. The master bedroom has only about four stairs leading up to it. It’s a decent size, big enough for a king bed to sit in the middle of the room and still have space to move around.

The window in our room is on the right side of the bedroom. It’s rectangular and opens outward instead of sliding up. You can see most of the weeping willow when looking out. Every night before bed, my husband climbs up the tree in his boxers and swings down like Tarzan!

friendship

Race car driver or a Cop

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Think back on your most memorable road trip.

I don’t know if I would call this a road trip, but it was definitely on the roads and streets of our town, if you will. My friend Cheryl—who, mind you, I’ve always said is in the wrong profession—was with me. Anyway, when we were in our twenties, she always seemed to have foes, usually other girls.

One early afternoon, she came to pick me up at the trailer I was living in at the time. I came outside onto the porch as she walked up to greet me. We started chatting, and lo and behold, a car with two girls about our age sped by, hollering a few choice names at my friend.

I ran down the steps of the porch, put my hands on my hips, and said, “That was uncalled for!” They let out a couple of loud laughs and flipped me off. Cheryl and I chatted about the situation and then hopped in her car.

We got in the car and headed out of the trailer court. Once we were out, we were stopped at a red light. Cheryl let me know that she saw the girls heading toward us. They swerved into the lane beside us, stopped, and threw an open can of soda out the window. It landed on top of our car, and the soda and can rolled down the window, dripping everywhere.

Cheryl looked at me and said, “Put your seat belt on!” Then she swerved over and tailgated their asses down North Grand, going at a pretty high speed before turning off really fast.

We headed down that road until we saw them coming from the opposite direction, so Cheryl quickly turned at the next road we passed.

A bit down the road, we saw a sign that said No Outlet, and we were just about at the dead end when Cheryl saw them in the rearview mirror. She threw the car into reverse and swerved off the road into the grass to miss them, then turned down another side road in reverse. She pulled into a vacant driveway with tons of grass and bushes, edged a little off to the side so we were kind of hidden, and turned off the car.

I said, “Damn, that was some Dukes of Hazzard–type shit.”

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The Past

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Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

I spend a lot of time in the past, mainly thinking about my late high school days and my mid-twenties. I think about the girl I was, because I didn’t really know her until I was able to look back. She was a bit shy when meeting new people, but not with her friends she’d known since grade school. She loved to skate, walk, write, and sing, and she had the energy to do so. Walking helped her focus on making the right decisions and drew her closer to God. She spent a lot of time daydreaming about her future. Life was on her side, as was time and the way she chose to spend it. She is missed.

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An Invitation

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What is the last thing you learned?

Lately, the last few weeks have been tougher than usual. No one is hurt, and nothing physically is going on. I guess you can say there is a shift happening; with shifts come change and discouragement, which will eventually iron itself out. Ive been praying differently lately; instead of asking God for what I want, I ask Him what He wants from me and to help me understand His ways. This morning, we took some of our residents out to eat, and after we finished taking care of them, we sat down and ate too. I was sitting there finishing up my grilled chicken when a server came out with this one single ice cream cone, walked over to me, all the way in the back, and said, ‘Would you like this ice cream cone?’ I had to chuckle because our God has a good sense of humor, and today He let me know He was hearing my prayers.

“The day after writing this post, I received a few notifications on my Jetpack app letting me know there were some NEW comments on a blog post that was 8 years old.

The blog post was about a CNA who was asked by a resident if they would be working on Christmas…

The comments was directed toward the CNA and expressed the joy of the residents. Another comment was from another blogger who SHARED my post.

Although they shared my post years ago, I did not see the comment until today, and the shared post added to my encouragement! So, I’m learning to ask God more questions!”

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Up and Away

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What do you think gets better with age?

“I don’t worry about other people’s lives like I used to, and for the most part, I don’t sit and stew about what they think of my life. Instead of pointing a finger at someone, I try to focus on making ours better. Not just on the outside, even though there are external problems around here that need addressing.

This has helped me focus better and keep my stress levels way down, so I can focus on giving my son a stable and safe place to lay his head every single night.”

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The fog is Lifting

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What are you most excited about for the future?

“I believe my journey of eating healthier is leading me somewhere new. I think the consistency and discipline, in itself, are giving me confidence, and I have made some decisions on my own!” I’m not sure where I’m headed at this time…

here I am, on the road again. There I am, up on the stage
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, turn the page

Of course those aren’t my words, they are Bob Segars. They fit perfectly with what I’m trying to convey!

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Communication

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What could you let go of, for the sake of harmony?

“The other day, I had a business meeting to discuss important information regarding my job and the time I will need to take off. Unfortunately, this discussion did not go as planned, based on what I gathered from the conversation. I sometimes need a day or two to process our discussions. The more I thought about the conversation we had, the angrier I got. There was one part that didn’t sit well with me. My initial reaction was to talk to other employees about the situation and further fuel my frustration. However, I decided to revisit the conversation and ask what they meant by this particular statement. It turned out I had misunderstood it completely.

“Instead of assuming someone is out to get me all the time, I could ask them to explain what they meant like in this case scenario, instead of acting like Godzilla coming out of the waters!”

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Outside Looking In

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How do you express your gratitude?

“Today, it was difficult to express my gratitude. I made a phone call regarding the business, discussing all my appointments and tests for my surgery. Unfortunately, the conversation did not go in my favor. Afterwards, I found myself saying things about everything that has gone wrong in my life; everything inside me wanted to scream, cry, and yell about how nothing goes my way!

When I said that out loud, I knew in my heart this was not true. Despite this, there have been many good things in my life that I have to be thankful to God for!”