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Showing posts from April, 2016

Raw

I have struggled to even write this piece.  I got the idea the other day and have avoided my computer like the plague.  I kept telling myself its too raw, too honest.  I’m an open book but there are some things that are just too close for comfort.  But I also know that God gives me the ideas to write and writing on that topic is the only thing that will flow from my fingers.  Writing is an act of obedience.  If I don’t want to write, I know I need to because it is what God has called me to do.  I also know that if I don’t want to write, there is something that will come out of it whether it is personal healing or someone else needs to hear it. A few days ago the hubs accidentally locked his keys in his car so I was dropping off his spare key.  As I pulled up to the parking lot I tried to call Denny.  My phone wouldn’t make outgoing calls.  I was mad.  Thankfully a text to denny would go through so I sent that to let him know to call me.  When I gave him my key, I went to set up

Travel tips

As the family of a pilot, we have the opportunity to travel.  I love to travel.  I love the airport.  I love to people watch.  I love the hustle and bustle.  However, I have a toddler.  My toddler isn’t just content to sit and watch people as we wait for a flight.  So I have to be creative and very organized.  We have flown together a handful of times already so I often get asked for tips for traveling with a little.  Here the lessons I have learned when traveling with a tiny traveler.  1.         We fly standby so we are very limited in what we can take.  We get by with a stroller, a small suitcase and a back pack.  The only place we have flown is home to the grandparents in Michigan. Thankfully they have all the kid necessities- carseat, pack n play, even diapers.  Those are travel cheats.  2.        I have been known to use a wreath hanger (for your front door) to hook the suitcase to the stroller so I can be as hands free as possible. 3.        Backpack- I keep this ve

Dots

I feel like I’m making a career out of grief.  It’s a terrible thing to joke about but grief has given me a warped sense of humor and if you are repeatedly slapped in the face with grief, you have to choose to laugh.  I’ve grown to love funerals.  I love hearing about the one that Heaven gained.  You learn so much from funerals.  You learn what is important, and what is not.  You always walk away learning new things about the deceased and wishing you had spent more time investing in that relationship.  You learn to dig deeper into the relationships you have now so that you don’t miss any wisdom that you can grab onto while they are here.  You walk away with the blunt reminder that life is short.  Make it count.  Heaven gained another good one this week with my Uncle Jim.  My uncle was quiet with a very dry sense of humor.  He loved nature, trains, diving, and art.  He also deeply loved his wife, Annette.  The marking moment in his life was an accident he had when he was a teenag

Music

Music is powerful.  It can fill you with joy.  It can fill you with hope.  It can be motivating for exercising or cleaning (have you ever listened to Motown music while cleaning?  Life changing.)  Its perfect for when you feel like sitting in sadness or anger and it also has the power to lift you out. It can send you back to a simpler time.  Isn’t it funny how music can trigger memories?  My dad can tell you the year a song came out AND what he was doing when he heard it the first time (i.e. 1966, eating ice cream on the streets of Cupertino California).  This was a weekend of musical triggers. On Friday night I was scrolling through facebook and a video popped up that looked intriguing.  I started watching it and was struck immediately by the first couple chords of the song playing in the background.  I knew the song but couldn’t place it.  It was partnered with a video about a couple who had multiple failed attempts at fertility treatments.  Over and over the word “FAILED” pop