February 14, 2016-Renewing Our Minds

The last few months I have been faced with a lot of negative attitudes and even actions resulting from those mindsets in my life. It’s nothing that I felt I couldn’t handle, but I realize that I was not always like this.  There were days, years ago, when I would have allowed the negativity and challenges in my life to bring me down.  I would have allowed it to drain my own half-full glass and make it half empty.  There was a time I was unable to separate myself and my emotions from those of others I interacted with on a daily basis.  Thankfully, now a days, I can (95% of the time) keep my glass half full no matter what is happening around me because God has renewed my mind and taught me how to stay positive and find contentment in whatever circumstances come my way. With that said, I want to ensure that I continue to renew my mind and keep that mindset in the midst of current challenging circumstances, so I am going to practice renewing my mind each day with a set of versus from the book, More Than A Bucket List, starting with the verse below: 

I am casting down vain imaginations. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

I have learned over my many years in church and Bible study classes that in order to understand the meaning of any single verse, you must put it in context of the chapter, book, or many times, the entire Bible. J  This verse by itself makes me want to Google the question, “What does the verse I am casting down vain imaginations mean?”  So, let me put it in context a bit:

2 Corinthians 10: 1-6

Now I myself Paul beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience if fulfilled; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth, encouraging them to set aside anything in their minds and lives that puts itself higher than or above the knowledge of God. He exhorts the church to mind their thoughts to ensure they are in the right place of obedience to God. 

For me, that means being mindful of where I allow my thoughts to go.  I consider it a personal goal to put a positive spin on the various comments and problems that those I work and live with present to me.  I try hard to be successful in this because I know what a difference it makes for me.  Being able to live life from God’s perspective instead of my own decreases my stress level by 100%.  Once I discovered how to let go of what I can’t control and simply do my best with those things within my control, a huge weight was lifted. 

I think it’s so important to laugh on a daily basis and seek out the positives in every situation and each person we meet. There will always be those times the negatives will overpower us briefly, but we must be able to find the source of peace to refill out glasses with so we can come back to that life-giving positive perspective.  For me, that source is God and His Word, remembering all He has done for me personally and the blessed life He has given me.  I have peace because of God, and although I can never really repay Him for this, I can at least allow Him to work through me to provide peace and contentment to others by helping them renew their minds as He renewed mine. 

February 7, 2016: An Important IOU or two…

The Real-Life Challenge for me this week from Toni Birdsong’s More than a Bucket List is this: Write your parents an IOU. In all honesty, the book suggests writing your dad an IOU, but my parents each played such individual and unique roles in my life growing up that I could not see writing an IOU to one and not the other. And being that today is my birthday, I figured it was the perfect time to remind them of what a special role they’ve played in their only daughter’s life for her first 41 years so far. Forty-One, Yikes! J 

An IOU for My Dad:

Dearest Dad,

I owe you for teaching me about honesty and genuineness.  You taught me that even when it’s difficult, it’s better to just be yourself. You are never afraid of what anyone else will think or whether or not they will like you when you speak your mind; you just do it. They will either agree or they won’t and either way is okay with you.   I think you may have learned the hard way that lying doesn’t lead to anything good, so you gave that up and decided to just tell the truth all the time.  Sometimes, it’s challenging for other people to take, your bold way of speaking, but you stay true to yourself and cause others to consider the topics you discuss more deeply than, perhaps, they did before.  Your love for discussion and debate is inspiring and frustrating all at the same time! J It took me awhile to figure you out, but I think I understand where you are coming from now, and it’s a place of unconditional love and genuine concern for others. 

I owe you for your generosity and extraordinary caretaking ability.  I never lacked for anything growing up, not even for college tuition.  You were always there for whatever I needed financially and in terms of my health and safety.  You made sure there were no coffee tables in the house where I could crack open my head as you had seen and treated too many of those injuries during your long hours in hospital emergency rooms. You made sure I knew to always put on my seatbelt when the day came that the world recognized how important seatbelts were to our travels. You made sure all my sore throats, fainting spells, and general ailments were treated appropriately.

I owe you for my work ethic.  Even on our vacations, while the kids were busy swimming in the pool, you took the time to complete your continuing education, so you could stay up in your field and be the best doctor you could be.  Now, I too, often stay late at work to help even though I don’t have to or I spend time on the weekends taking classes that are not required just so I can be the best I can be in my chosen career field. 

I owe you for all the hours you spent at work in order to provide for us. I owe you for all the sacrifices you made to be my dad.  Thank you for all the concern, love, and care you have always provided and for being there for me, waiting me out, even when I chose not to listen and not to communicate. Thank you for your patience as I took my sweet time growing up and letting go. It’s so nice to know you were always there, believing in me, even when I chose not to believe in you and your love for me.  I understand now…Thank you. 

I Love you,

Susannah

An IOU for My Mom:

To my dear, sweet Mom,

I owe you for my strong faith.  You have been unwavering in your beliefs and values no matter what life tossed your way, and your example, especially through the most painful times of your life, showed me God’s power and love in a more meaningful way than any sermon or miraculous testimony ever could. 

I owe you for your amazing ability to stay positive, smiling, and find a way to see the light at the end of the tunnel in any and every situation.  Watching you and hearing from your co-workers during your days of being a single mom and working full time taught me how to make the most of my days at work today. Your example was one of positivity with a ready smile and word of encouragement for all those who walked into your office space.  When someone at my work comments on how I am always smiling or how they love to see me because they feel they can talk to me, and they feel encouraged by me, I think of you, mom. That’s the example you set for me all those years when I was struggling with growing up, raising babies, and getting divorced. You were my cheerleader. You were the one who always had a Bible verse ready or an encouraging word to share.  You may think you are not a good listener, but you certainly were for me when I needed it most.  When you’re friends and co-workers talked to me about you it was always about how sweet you are and what a joy it was to work with you.  Now that I have found my own source of peace and contentment, I attribute my ability to be that encouraging word and ready smile for others to you. 

I owe you for your friendship. From early on, I learned about adult friendship from you. You taught me that even as an adult, it’s okay to be silly, laugh until you cry, and burden each other with all your woes because true friends are there for each other no matter what.  You have always been more than just my mom. You are also my “punchy” friend, who endures wrong turns on long journeys because we were too busy talking to pay attention and dissolves into silent laughter when her friend sounds crazy muttering about “jamoca shakes” at the end of that long, tiresome ride. 

I owe you for all you gave up to be my mom, even after I left home.  I owe you for your sacrifices to stay in a place where you were not always comfortable because you knew you needed to finish raising me first before you could move on with your own life.  I owe you for teaching me what it means to endure and showing me that people can continually change, grow, and find a new way to live with joy under the most difficult circumstances.  Thank you for allowing me to be me, for supporting me through all my ups and downs and more than anything, for never giving up. 

Love and many, many hugs,

Susannah

January 31, 2016-Working on those New Year’s Resolutions!

This week I’ve actually been fairly productive on taking action toward those New Year’s Resolutions I wrote about in my first entry for 2016.  Here’s the steps I took toward successfully meeting my goals for the year so far:

2. Join that running club I talked about last year or get involved in some other sort of social activity (a book club at the library, perhaps) or a yoga or art class. 

I haven’t joined a running club, but I did attend a Hot Yoga class twice this week. It’s something I’ve been wanting to try, so I went for the introductory week long special and attended two different sessions. It’s was quite an experience. I’m not sure if I will continue or not, but I did enjoy it and am glad I tried it. Because I ventured out for that class, I am now ready to try out some others in the community.  I’ve done some further research and this week, I would like to attend a Zumba class and a more traditional yoga class at another local studio.  I know I will eventually find that class that I can most connect with since I have gotten the hard part out of the way and taken the first step of visiting and researching some local classes already.

4. Find and commit to that service opportunity in the community that I talked about at the beginning of last year and still have not accomplished. 

 I looked further into the Big Brothers Big Sisters as well as the Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer positions and felt as I have the last 1 ½ years of living here…it’s not what I am called to do right now. I just couldn’t figure out why until I took that step to actually sign up for it and also spoke to my husband about it.  Here’s where I’m at right now. I have a 12 year old who I need to focus on and being a Big Sister to a young girl in need or an advocate for a child in difficult circumstances would be too much of an emotional and time investment that would take away from my immediate family needs at this time in my life. I know myself, and if I volunteered for one of these positions, I would want to give it 110%, so either the children I was volunteering for would not get what they needed from me because of my family OR my family would suffer.  So, I went back to the drawing board, to a website I find in my first few months of living here called VolunteerMatch.org. And low and behold, I found an opportunity I haven’t come across previously that I knew immediately was perfect for me and for my family. It’s an organization called the Sound South Children’s Reading Foundation, and there are opportunities for me to read and do crafts with children at day cares and/or libraries in the area (children who might not normally be read to for 20 minutes a day or exposed to literacy at an early age) as well as opportunities for my son and I to help sort and sticker books at their warehouse or deliver books to some of the organizations where they stock them for family literacy programming.  I couldn’t believe how perfect this was for me, so I have already been in touch with their volunteer coordinator, and I am waiting to receive an application from them so I can get started. I am hoping it will become a service opportunity I can really sink my teeth into and use my experience in this area to help them whenever and wherever their greatest need lies at the moment. 

In addition to this, I also took another tip from Toni Birdsong’s “More than a Bucket List” book and decided to sponsor a child financially through the Compassion Organization. I chose a child from Indonesia who has the same birthday as me. I chose Indonesia because my trip to Bali several years ago was such a blessing to me, spiritually and otherwise, and I wanted to touch a family in that country as much as their people and culture spoke to me when I was there.  I chose a child who had my same birthday because I wanted not to ask for something for myself this year (as my birthday is coming up soon), but to give something to someone else, so it’s a birthday present both for the child I have chosen to sponsor and for myself. 

These two service opportunities give me the ability to still serve my family and my job effectively, but allow me to satisfy my need to make a difference in the world, to have a greater sense of purpose in life.  I can’t wait to see where these experiences will lead for the future! And I can still look forward to being a Big Sister or a Child Advocate later on, when my own children are grown, and I can devote more time and energy to another worthy child. 

5. Last, but most certainly not least, make the most of my weekends with family and friends and plan more “outings” to get outside in nature, to enjoy this beautiful state, and to spend less time cleaning and resting and instead enjoy doing and being. 

I am getting a bit of a slower start on this one, but last weekend, I decided to look at things to do in the area, and I found the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, so my son and I spent some quality time there on Saturday afternoon.  It was totally worth it! It was so fun to watch the visiting artist’s creative process in the Hot Shop and to see the wonderful examples of glass and mixed media art (mostly from artists right here in the NW) in their galleries.  This was the purpose of my New Year’s resolution, to enjoy time with family and enjoy what’s available to do and see in the area, since you never know how long you will be in a place, and usually we tend NOT to explore the places we reside. We vacation elsewhere, right?

I also recently took my husband to check out a new home brew place in Olympia, Cascadia Home Brew as well as a fairly new Hawaiian restaurant in the area I’ve been wanting to try (The Lanai). Sometimes, it’s the little things that make the weekends a slight bit sweeter than just staying at home and relaxing (like the Kahlua Pork and Coconut Cake we had at The Lanai Café…Lol).This weekend, we are going to a hockey game for the Seattle Thunderbirds.  We have been to 1 already this year and a couple last year, but it’s definitely something the whole family enjoys and is always well worth our time and money for tickets.  Next weekend, I hope to be up on the mountain snow tubing in OR (which is something I’ve never done before), but no matter what, we’ll be having fun because we’ll be spending quality time with each other and my husband’s family!

What’s Bucket List item or New Year’s Resolution can you start working toward this week? We only have one life to live, might as well make it an adventurous one! Hoping whatever you do that you enjoy it.

  

January 24, 2016- Love Letters

This week, I decided to “live with compassion,” and one of the things suggested by Toni Birdsong in the book, More than a Bucket List includes the following: “write each of your kids a letter. Tell them all the things they are doing right.” So, that’s my entry for tonight, love letters to my boys, letters which I will also personally mail to them, so they will have them forever or as long as they want to keep them. J

To my First Born (Sweet Pea),

When you were born, your dad and I were simply enamored with you. That’s the only way to describe it.  You were so much more than we could have ever wished for or dreamed of in a child.  As you have grown, 14 years now, I am still enamored of you.  You are so polite and respectful of others, calm, cool, and collected in a crisis, and a joy to be around.  You are doing so well in school, even though I know school is at that stage now that it’s more work than fun. You demonstrate awesome sportsmanship in whatever game or sport you choose to play, and you are a kind, compassionate brother, even when the two of you don’t get along so well. Sibling rivalry is normal, no matter who you are.  J You are a people pleaser in all that you do. Make sure, though, to stay true to yourself and what is best for you.  It’s important to take care of yourself too, so you can stay healthy and happy.  Your laid back personality, sly grin, and helpful attitude are my most favorite traits about you, and traits that just seem to come naturally.  It’s just how you were made.  You’ve always been that way.  You are quiet and observant, shy and fun loving all at the same time.  It’s what makes you so popular with your friends and adults.  I love you, dear son.  I hope you always know that I am there for you no matter how many miles, countries, or continents separate us. 

All my love and a few hugs thrown in there too,

Mommy

To my Baby Boy (Mr. Gant),

Our life with you started out much more hectic as you decided to enter via emergency surgery, but when it was all over, and I was resting with you peacefully in the Kwajalein hospital, your dad and I (and the entire tiny hospital on the even tinier atoll) were just so pleased that you entered the world happy and healthy! You are the exact opposite of our first born, your brother, but no less loved.  Now that we have had 12 wonderful years with you, I can say that you are so smart. The way you do math in your head and impress your teachers at every turn with how well you do on tests and how respectful you are in class make me so proud.  Your natural curiosity about anything and everything reminds me of myself when I was younger. I love the age you are at now when we can go to places like museums and really enjoy and learn together.  Your little kid laughter when absorbed in a good movie gives me such joy, and your unbridled silliness, which allows you to sing and dance in a grocery store without hesitation, has always been one of my favorite things about you.  You are my class clown with manners, if there is such a thing.  You have such a strong, stubborn, independent personality, which I believe will serve you well as you grow, even though it sometimes gets you in trouble at home at this age.  Just remember to stay true to yourself, stand up for what you believe, but don’t forget to listen and learn from others as well.  There are so many experiences and people that will come into your life that you can learn from to become wise.  Be open to what they have to teach and wait to hear them out before speaking your own mind. You are so loved, my baby. Whatever you need, you know I will be there for you. 

Love and many, many fast kisses,

Mom