Job's I would never want

I was visiting my friend Cathy at the hospital last night and I decided without a doubt that I could never be a nurse. Her nurse was cleaning her incision, giving her an IV, giving her medicine, monitoring her blood sugar, arranging for her to get a shower, and calling for housekeeping to clean her room. All of that was done in an hours worth of time!! Even if I could do all of those things as soon as I had to actually clean a wound or see blood of any kind I would either get sick or faint. So THANK YOU to those of you that can do this!

One other job I would never do is wait tables. I think I would get so frustrated with people that I would blow up at them. I couldn't handle all the complaining and special ordering! My motto would be "shut up and eat it"! I think I wouldn't make much in tips......

Then there are the obvious jobs I wouldn't or couldn't do like be a garbage collector (Richard your stories convinced me of this), do anything on a boat or with fish (again I would get sick or faint), sing (although I wish I could do this!), and so many more.

What jobs could you or would you never do???? Please share!

Why?

I posted on Facebook the other day a status of "Kathy MacKenzie wonders why?" and today, here, I am going to try and explain. There are so many things going on right now that I just don't understand. I don't understand why my beautiful, loving, friend is so sick and seems to be going through one valley after another. I can't help but wonder and ask God why? I know that he has a perspective that we don't but that doesn't stop me from wondering why. I also wonder why she has such courage and such humor in the midst of such difficult times. I actually know the answer to that, it is God the one and only. I do wonder if I would be as full of grace as she has been if I were in her shoes.

One other thing I don't understand is why people can be so critical. I know we all have opinions but it seems like we are letting our opinions control our attitudes and our mouths. There is nothing wrong with sharing our thoughts and feelings but it seems like we as a whole are sharing more and listening less. I am taking this completely out of context but as I am pondering this thought I can't help but think back to Richard's last point on Sunday where he said that sometimes we just need to "shut up". If we want to be different and make a difference we need to stop talking, stop criticizing, stop judging and start acting in a way that pleases God and not ourselves! I am preaching to myself on this one!

The other thing I wonder is why we think it is all about "me". It seems like the whole world is in "me" mode. How does this make "me" feel? How does this make "me" look? Where is the place for "me"? Why didn't you think of "me"? Well guess what, it isn't about "me", it is about God. It is about how God can work through "me". My prayer is for "me" to get out of the way so that God can actually work!

Anyway, that is just a few of the things that I wonder. What do you wonder why about?

Letting Go

Today has been an emotional day for me. My Dad died 14 1/2 years ago and now my Mom has decided at the age of 70 that she is going to get married again. Her fiance's name is Wayne and they are happy as can be about being together and getting married. I however am having a hard time with it. I am not having a hard time with my Mom getting married but with my Dad being replaced. You would think that at 41 years old I would be mature enough to deal with this but I'm NOT.

Wayne is a really nice and caring man. The kind of person I want my Mom to have in her life and the kind of person that will be a good Grandfather for my girls. BUT it isn't supposed to be a nice man that is my girls Grandfather it is supposed to be MY Dad.

I am really trying to adjust to all of this and for the most part I am except for the fact that right now all I can think of is that I miss my Dad. It isn't fair that he died when I was so young and that I never got to see him with my children or Andy. So I guess what I am really doing is mourning all over again for the loss of my Dad. Not the loss of the everyday Dad that left 14 years ago but the loss of who my Dad was supposed to be in my life as I grew into adulthood and had a family. I thank God for the man that my Dad was and for the gift he was to me. I don't know who I would be if it hadn't been for my Dad.

My prayer now is that I can accept Wayne for the person that he is in my life and the life of my family and that I can love him despite the fact that he is in a place that in my heart will always belong to my Daddy.

Friends

I just wanted to say that I am so thankful to have friends. I just spent the afternoon with two friends and it was so fun. It's not that we did anything that great, in fact, we did nothing. It was just being together. It was being able to spend time with each other talking and sharing our lives. It didn't matter if we were in our casual clothes or if our houses were clean. All that mattered was that we were enjoying being together. It didn't hurt either that all of our kids were in school!

There is freedom in having friends that allow you to be yourself. I know that I am quirky in a lot of ways but I also know that my friends accept me the way I am. I have been blessed with not just friends that are fun but friends that are real. When I first moved here I longed for friends and it is amazing to me to see how in God's timing he has placed the perfect people in my life just as I need them. Who would have guessed that God knew what and who I needed!

Anyway, I just want to say thank you to all of you that if I am lucky enough to call friend for your friendship and acceptance.

Time

School is about to start for my girls and I am trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing with my life. I spent the last school year and this summer so busy I couldn't enjoy anything. Where is the line between doing things that are good and doing too much?

I want to be a helper to my church, my friends and my family but somewhere in all that I get lost. Somewhere I need to learn to take time for me. It seems like I keep waiting for the time but it never appears. I thought just wait for summer and I'll have time to finish my projects at home, time to read my Bible everyday, time to play with my girls and just time to relax. Well NONE of that happened. Now school is getting ready to start so I am thinking that NOW I'll have time to finish my projects, time to read my Bible and time to relax so that I am refreshed and willing to play with my girls when they get home from school. My fear is that I won't have the time I am hoping for.

The girls start school on Wednesday and my day is filled with helping others or going to meetings for things I am helping with. Again, there is no time to do the things on my list.

How can I learn to say no to being busy and yes to doing what God really wants for me. I don't believe that God wants me to be so busy doing that I never have time to be. I want to learn how to be a Mary that can just stop and sit at Jesus' feet even if there are meals to cook or chores to do.

I am hoping and praying that I can change so that I MAKE time to do the things I need to and want to so that when it is all said and done I don't say that I just didn't have time to do.......

Summer Break

Well. I am blogging now with the rest of you. Enjoy or don't, it is up to you.

I am not a very wordy person so this is probably a waste of time but here goes anyway.

The topic for today is I hate how short our summer break is.

Why do our kids have to go back to school in just 3 weeks? I know they have been out since the end of May and it is "time" for them to go back but for goodness sakes, it is still Summer! Kids are supposed to be home during the Summer so they can play and swim and just have fun. We haven't had any time to just kick back and do nothing for weeks on end. Also, aren't they supposed to be getting on my nerves so I want them to go back to school? This is one of the few times that I actually wish that I homeschooled my kids. I know that we have other breaks that justify going back this early but in my mind school is not supposed to start until September. I love everything about Alabama except for the fact that they steal the joys of Summer from my children.

Well, I am off of my soapbox for now so that I can go and play with my kids. I may post again. But then again, maybe not.