Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Power of Children's Songs

Change is my least favorite feeling in the world, but confusion runs a very close second.  Various announcements about things going on in my friends' lives over the past few days have left me asking questions.  The resounding questions are the ones that will ever remain rhetorical.

Leading the pack is "Are you kidding me?" question.  Then, follows the "What can I do/How can I help?" inquiry.  Then comes, "Why, Lord?" the grandfather of them all, and the one which most frequently remains unanswered.  Maturity taught me that I do not always have to have the answers, and that is acceptable.  

So, here I am asking these questions all over again.  "I just don't get it," resounds in my mind like an echo in a canyon.  I do not have the answers, but I have the comfort of knowing that I do not have to.  Selfishly I change the childhood song to, "He's got MY whole world in His hands," and somewhere a valve is opened that releases all of the emotions I dislike to be overtaken by a feeling of security.

He's got YOUR whole world in His hands too!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Different Colored Threads

In preparation for this post, I reviewed some of my previous ones.  I realized that the previous few posts have been about some of the important people in my life.  Well, I hope not to disappoint, but this one will follow suit.  I've contemplated exactly what I wanted to say as there is much I want to communicate.

A common theme on my blog as well as in my life revolves around relationships.  People come, and people go.  Some leave a brief impression while others leave an impression that will forever be a part of the components creating my muchness.  Each person's impression is woven into the fabric of my life in their own color of thread.  I don't remember the first time I met many of the people in my life, but there is one of my life-long friends who does not fall into this category.  I still vividly recall the day the Moore family came to West End Baptist Church "in view of a call".  My church needed a pastor.  Little did I know that he was bringing with him an 11 year old daughter who would become one of my best friends!

I still giggle when I recall her confession that she thought I was cool because I had Teen Spirit deodorant in my purse.  Hey, at least I smelled good!  Then, I think forward over our teen years spent together blundering through the years of becoming.  People sometimes compared us to Lucy and Ethel (I was Lucy) as we always had some brilliant idea in the works.  Her mom's kitchen was our laboratory where things like sour cream icing were created.  Yes, it's as disgusting as it sounds.  We could be found on the tennis court anytime we weren't at some type of church function.  As doubles partners, we were a fierce team!  Fried okra and Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream were always on the menu.  Hours of dreaming took place as we lay flopped across her bed, never really anticipating where the road of life would take us.

Now, 18 years later, there are other things that I appreciate even more.  Her home has become one of my favorite places to visit.  I walk into the door, and within 3 minutes part of me feels like the teenage girl all over again.  I can say anything, do anything, and be anything in her presence without the fear of judgment.  The performance mentality is checked at the door, and I have the pleasure of just being me!  

Today, I celebrate you, my Michie!  Thanks for all that you mean to my life, all the things listed and the personal things I couldn't.