Tongue Tied

Note: This is a short story I wrote recently in honor of my husband, the love of my life. Purely fiction and romantic fluff. Hope it's not too sappy for ya. It started out as such a good day. My favorite suit fresh from the cleaners. My hair laying exactly right. No traffic on the freeway. Annoying receptionist out sick. My out-box actually more full than my in-box. Not to mention the lavish praise from my boss on my latest project. Nothing like a pat on the back for a job well done to boost the ego and spirits. I probably looked ridiculous, walking back to my office with a big grin on my face, my heels happily tapping on the tiled floor. I was well on my way to that promotion I wanted so dearly. Nothing could ruin this day. And then I saw him. Had I not been so well practiced in wearing high heels I probably would have landed on my backside right then, files flying from my grip and floating down around me as I sat dumbfounded with mouth agape. Thankfully, that didn’t ha...

Note: This is a long one…and a difficult one. I almost didn’t post this because it was just too personal for my liking. I don’t mind discussing any topic in the world except this one. But if I’m going to learn and grow, I have got to be bold and transparent, even when I don’t like it. Blah. However, I do mention the struggles of others in this blog, so if anyone I mention would rather this not be posted on the internet for all to see, just let me know. It’s not an easy thing, being perpetually in financial stress. Always wondering how you’re going to make it-how you’re going to meet those obligations and what you’re going to have to sacrifice. And always thinking that people will judge you no matter what you do. I should know. I cannot say there has ever been a point in my life where I was comfortable with my financial situation. Even as a little kid, I worried about money. My parents were in full time ministry, a.k.a. full time financial hardship. My sisters have told me when they wer...

It's funny what you take for granted until you can't have it anymore. Like rain during the summer. Or sleep until you have children. Or electricity until a power outage. Or food till you're a diabetic....or married to one. This last Thursday (07-31-08), my husband was diagnosed as having diabetes. It came out of nowhere and surprises everyone we tell. He doesn't seem to fit into the nice little "categories" of people that we usually hear as having diabetes. He's not obese, inactive, older, and has no family history of the disease. It's only been five days, and yet so many things have changed so drastically, and a kaleidoscope of emotion is constantly whirling about. It's so easy to be frustrated by something that affects your health that you had no control over. Though he hasn't spoken it aloud, I'm sure the thought "why me?" has crossed his mind. It's certainly crossed mine. It doesn't seem fair that a 27 year old with n...

I just finished reading “Get Out of That Pit” by Beth Moore. I picked it up at the library the other day, not because I knew I needed to read it, or even because I knew I was in a pit, but for no other reason than I happen to like Moore’s books and thought I’d give this one a whirl. Boy was that a good call. I wasn’t sure when I began reading what this whole deal with a “pit” was. But it soon became evident that I was indeed in one right now. Moore defines a pit as coming to a place in your life where you “feel stuck, you can’t stand up, and you’ve lost vision.” We can find ourselves in pits for various reasons. Perhaps someone pushed us in by their sins against us. We can stumble in by accident and then have no idea how to get out. Or we can jump in willingly by our sin. I think I found myself in this current pit by stumbling in. It didn’t begin with sin, but I certainly wasn’t looking where I was going and what started out as innocent led me to the bottom of a slimy cavern. Once I wa...

"As far as why I've never practiced a specific religion, I think I'm just too pessimistic to just wholeheartedly believe in faith, to not examine and question the Bible, or any other religious text's veracity. Frankly, I think I'm too ignorant about different religions to subscribe to one specific one. I also have a hard time trying to be part of a religion that tells me that I am not 'good enough' on my own..." "I think the reason why *I* don't have religion is because I don't feel like I NEED to believe in something or have faith in anything other than myself..." "Many religions require members to believe in things I just cannot get behind--like a resurrection. My world, which is pretty heavily-bound by hard facts and science-would not allow such an event to occur." I came across these statements on a website I occasionally visit that's geared for moms and parenting. These were responses to a question posed by a young ...

Today would be my Grandpa's 87th birthday. We miss you!

We're thinking about getting a new computer, so I've been going through a lot of my old files on this one, printing things out or deleting things of little value to me. It's kind of like a treasure hunt, finding long lost poems and stories that I have written and forgotten about. And I can't help but notice that I used to write A LOT before I had children. It was a passion of mine. In fact, in highschool, I was certain if I ever had any sort of professional career it would be in writing. But somewhere along the way, in the midst of having babies and life as I know it, that passion slipped away a little bit. I don't feel as creative as I used to, but I do know I miss writing whenever an idea hit me. When we were newlyweds, I can remember just sitting down at the computer late at night and words would just fill the screen as if they'd written themselves. Now, late at night, I'm sleeping or holding a baby. And if I do have free time I like to read. Bu...