TIME AND WHAT IS NORMAL

     It was 4 am when I awoke thinking about time; how much time has passed, how much time we think we have, and what the truth really is.

     A talk show celebrity, Kelly Ripa, is approaching her 50th birthday this year and was remarking about how amazing that is, etc. I agree with her - 50 years is half a century, a remarkable amount of time for anyone.

     So I lay in bed calculating how many days there are in 50 years.  It's 18,262 days!  By the time I reach my 63rd year, I will have had 23,010 days; 4,748 more days than Kelly simply because I'm older but she could surpass me if she lives beyond me.  Or not.  There is no way to know for certain.  

     Then I thought about just one day, how long it is, how quickly it goes by, and how some people never live beyond a day.  We cannot comprehend how much time we have been given by our Creator or why this is.

     On a lighter note, Kelly Ripa is a favorite of mine; I enjoy her bubbly personality, quick wit, and hair style.  I would say that Kelly leads a normal life for her, but not an ordinary one. As a celebrity, she has received many awards throughout her career as an actress, a talk show host, dancer, etc., and she lives in a milli-mansion. Normal for Kelly is not normal for me, and my life is more ordinary than hers. I tune in to watch her as often as I can because she brightens my day.

     Beyond thinking about Kelly Ripa, my mind took me back to long ago places when I was young and for the most part, care-free, and as far as I know, leading a normal life in a big family in a small town. But what is normal?  I now know for sure that some of the ways I grew up were considered not normal but I could not have known this at the time because it seemed normal to me.  

     "Normal" is different for everyone, something I noticed throughout my childhood, and notice more as an adult when visiting others' homes or environments. No two families or persons do anything the same as the other.

     I had girlfriends whose moms ran a tight ship; a place for everything and everything in its place, while another's mom let the housework slide - dishes piled high in the sink and on the counter tops, junk strewn here and there...my Mom was neat so we had to be neat too, and still are.

     If I could go back to what was normal for my 8-year-old self, what would I say to her about what she thought was normal? Was it normal to go barefoot most of the time? I did not like wearing shoes. Still don't. I took my dislike to a whole new level by challenging myself to see how black and dirty I could get the bottoms of my feet during the summer by walking on the hot, sticky, tarry pavement. I would find an especially sun-softened area and stand on it until my feet were coated with tar, then walk around attracting additional dirt, grass, and gravel. At the end of the day, I would check to see how well I was doing; the blacker the better, and I didn't want to ruin my progress by bathing. Was this normal? To my young self, I would say yes.  For someone else, maybe not.

     What about forcing a young girl to stand in the pouring rain with a book of matches, telling her she must get the garbage in the burn barrel lit and burning before she could come in the house? Is this normal? To my 8-year-old self I would now say it's completely not normal! You just did not know it.  It was a different another time in life.

     One thing I do know now is this: "There is a time for everything under Heaven," and we have been given as much time in any day as the next person, however the day ends, to do whatever the next thing in front of us is, whether normal or not; good or not.

Also, "God has made everything beautiful for its time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3 for both quotes.)

     For me, time is beautiful; life is beautiful; a space which has a beginning with an unknown end. It makes sense how God would put eternity in the human heart: a desire and longing for something different from what is. What has been put in by God cannot be taken out but it can be violated by making it what it isn't, such as misusing time, whether normal or not; good or not.

     While Kelly Ripa leads a more exciting life than I do, she and I have the same 24-hour day, and in my ordinary, normal, sometimes not normal way, it's up to me today to make the most of it, however it ends, especially during these  challenging times.  

PICTURED:  An ordinary, normal day at home with family. 

     

     

EASTER MEMORIES, OLD AND NEW

     Growing up, Easter was a special time in our home, a time of  surprises on Sunday morning - colored eggs hidden beneath furniture, baskets overflowing with chocolate bunnies and bright jelly beans, and later on, a holiday feast at our Grandparent's farm, complete with ham, tender rolls, deviled eggs, and sweet cakes for dessert. Year after year this tradition carried on, festive and fun, yet not about a resurrected Savior.

     When I grew up, I discovered a new truth, one which I had not heard of, how Easter had another meaning, and the eggs colored so beautifully and hidden by our Mother's hand were also a symbol of  an empty tomb, the empty grave of Jesus.

     Seeing Easter more  clearly gave me an entirely new-found perspective, one which I could understand and appreciate. It made perfect sense, this Son of  God who died for all.

     Easter is a time of rich tradition celebrated in many ways all over the world. We will always color eggs, put out special  decorations to signify new life, enjoy sweet treats, send cards, then end the day with a simple and delicious meal with family and friends.  

     In addition, we celebrate the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus at home, at church, in the community, and especially in our hearts as we read and reflect about this Glorious Day.

     "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity."      1 Corinthians 13:11-12

     

CHANGE. WHAT'S YOURS LIKE?

  December 31st of 2019, and time to make up some resolutions....or not.  I find the word "resolution" itself more than intimidating, and even a bit scary so I want to get something straight here:  to resolve does not mean to change,  and change is the outcome of a resolve.  Resolve is intention, change is to act upon resolve.  

Assuming it is, what makes change so difficult?  Including myself, I notice in people the same patterns year after year, even and especially when they want to change something.  Change is personal; therefore, it is hard to do.

Some changes are obvious, like the picture above.  I have changed over the last few years (lines on face, etc.), and Angus used to be a baby!  Those are naturally occurring changes, visible from the outside; so what about on the inside?  There is plainly no easy way to change, and I think most people want a simple, quick, and done deal, like in maybe a week or two.  Hasn't worked for me yet!

Scientifically speaking, it is a fact that the more you do something, whether positive or negative, the more you will continue to do it because a pattern of thinking develops, and the channels in the brain deepen as the years go by.  (That's the scary part!)  No, don't stop reading!

Of course, there is more than one type of change, brought on by life events such as a sudden disaster or a spiritual force, both of which will cause one to become more motivated during the process of change.  For example, my husband had a spiritual awakening around the age of 27, and he immediately quit using tobacco, a habit of 15 years!  However, the desire to smoke took longer to overcome but the resolve won out.

I have no handy hints or suggestions here.  I have lived long enough to notice that people tend to resolve but fall short of change.  Not to sound negative, but has anyone ever wanted you to change something about yourself or in someone else but they don't seem too interested in what they need to change?  It is simply easier to spot the shortcomings of others but not the ones in ourselves.  

What I do believe in is progress, and progress is a process which is never instant or painless.  It also requires careful planning.  My husband stopped smoking, and avoided even touching tobacco products and used the word "no."  He had a plan.

Ok, a little humor please!  For years, I have tried to be a morning person like some of my friends...you know, cheerful and chatty in the a.m. and sound asleep by 10 p.m.?  I admire them!  But every time I worked on this, it was a fail, at least to a degree.  I did manage to force myself to at least not act as grumpy as I felt, and this was progress.  I  have now decided that I am ok not being 'Miss Happy' in the morning but I also will make you coffee cheerfully.  I plainly don't 'turn on' until after the noon hour!

The point here is to know yourself, to think through what to keep and what to give away (out with the old, in with the new!), and work towards a goal, however slow or frustrating it may be, so that you have accomplished something, whether it is  learning a new skill, stopping a habit, or working on a character trait.  And like you've been hearing for years now, you can do it!