grace – Laugh.Cry.Giggle.Smile.

Nothing prolific or astounding to report here today. Rather, just a couple of observations from the weekend and a Monday at work.

One – My home is not a staging area for a HGTV show. It likely never will be. I’m good with that. We don’t just exist here. We LIVE here. Work here. Play here. Life happens here. My home isn’t dirty – it’s lived in. Instead of apologizing to people or not inviting them over, I’ve decided to adopt the motto “Clean or Chaos – You are welcome here.”

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Two- Today is Day #4 of rain and cold, damp, dreary weather. Coming from the sunny Midwest USA, this weather makes me want to eat-all-the-things. I’ve already broken out the hot vanilla chai tea. I’m trying to tell myself that it isn’t really time to hibernate yet, but the meteorologist is forecasting our first freeze this weekend.

Three – The absolute worst part of owning a business has to be the phone calls to local customers who haven’t paid. There are very, very few of these. We have FANTASTIC customers. Even though facts are facts and the fact is that “item _____ was rented from ____ to ____” or “part _____ was ordered and shipped,” it doesn’t mean that people will pay in a timely manner. We mail the invoice, then go the phone route, then the letter route, then the phone reminder about the letter route…. and this last week we took someone to court for the first time in 10 years. These customers are few and far between. Life happens. I totally understand that. How do you balance grace and empathy with business?

Four – When I woke my six year old daughter up this morning, I swear I had a flashback. For just a brief moment, she looked just like she did as an infant. It made my heart swell and sink at the same time. The hours and minutes leading up to this might have been long, stressful, and trying. Fast and fleeting are the years that passed to this moment.

Mady5

Basically, I accomplished nothing yesterday except enjoying the day with my children- one of whom was sick and both were home from school for an inservice day. It was a wonderful day of frisbee, mud “pupcakes,” a bike ride, and a hike out by the pond. And while everything is exceptionally muddy, we just slip into our galoshes and carry on.

I think I needed a day like yesterday to help keep this week in perspective.

So much anger, vulgarity, and bashing going on. Maybe I’ve been sheltered for the majority of my life?

I’ve never been witness to so much anger and frustration.

I’ve never been inundated with the wide swath of feelings and emotions being poured out from all directions.

I’ve never heard such vulgarity and sharp tongued one-liners in everyday dialogue.

Thank goodness that for the most part, I can turn off social media and in turn, crank that noise down for myself and my family.

Ladies and gentlemen, please let us remember that we are all allowed an opinion and feelings, but that should come with the stipulation in big bold letters – I don’t have to internalize all of them. You are entitled to your opinion, yes. I am allowed to agree or disagree. I can still love you, care for you, and support you in word, action, and prayer.

Goodness help us – there are big big feelings all over out there. Social media has turned this country into some funky reality where people selfishly think that his/her opinion is THE OPINION or his/ her FEELINGS matter the most of the most-est.

It’s like a house full of toddlers or teenagers.

What do we tell our children when they are unhappy or are having a disagreement with another child? At my house, I tell my child to look at the other child and use respectful words. “I don’t want to play right now, but we can later.” or “You are making me angry. I need some space.” I tell them that their feelings are valid, but that they may or may not change the outcome. “Fits don’t get us what we want, but asking nicely might.”

Am I running the perfect household? Oh my goodness- NO. My 6yr old tried to put on the same underwear he’d been wearing for 2 days after his shower last night… and he almost accomplished it! (Fortunately those Minions are pretty bold and obvious.) Do I get dinner on the table every night? NO. Does my husband juggle it all perfectly? NO. Do my kids behave all the time? If only you could have been peeping in my window yesterday morning… We have faults, but man, we TRY. We TRY hard.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this – Could we all try a little harder to be kind? to be tactful? to selflessly love others as much as we selfishly love ourselves? to see the other side of the fence instead of instantly discounting it? to listen without instantly formulating a reply?

I saw this quote from Lysa TerKeurst today on my social media:

“We can’t look to our feelings to determine truth. We must look to truth to reign in our feelings.”

This isn’t for “alternative fact” or my emotional feelings. This is about actual TRUTH. Not philosophical truth. Not opinionated truth. TRUTH.

There is much suffering in this world and social media has brought the angry and miserable together. As a pretense to voicing those ills, let’s pause for a moment to self-reflect, let the anger pass, and figure out how to constructively deal. We might find that if not acting in anger, the listening ears of those around us will remain open.

Tag: grace

Observations