unexpected blessings

Posted on by
4

In my church, we all share the responsibilities. We don’t have paid clergy in our congregations, and so we all pitch in. While I’ve been a member of my congregation for about seven months (crazy!), I was not given anything to do until just a couple of weeks ago, when I was asked if I would be willing to teach the 4-year-olds. I said yes. I was happy to have something to do. But I was also a little nervous.

As those of you who know me know, I adore children…the ones that are related to me. Other people’s kids? Not so much. Well, that’s not a blanket statement. I like children who belong to my friends, too. Needless to say, teaching a bunch of kids who belong to people I don’t know very well, if at all, made me a little nervous. I wondered, when I was asked to do this, if maybe it was my punishment for not liking all kids, or for judging some of their parents. (I try not to judge…but when you see parents totally ignoring their kids, it’s hard not to.)

So, on Sunday, when I got into sharing time and sat down next to my row of ELEVEN 4-year-olds, I was still a little overwhelmed. It was my first Sunday with them. My co-teacher was out of town. I’d never done this before and I didn’t even know these poor kids’ names. Not to mention that I knew, after sharing time, I was going to be spending 40 minutes with them attempting to teach them about God. Thankfully, the little girl I sat next to was as sweet as could be. I watched the kids. Some were acting out a little, but they are four and I was trying to be patient. Eventually, we were singing and smiling. Things were going along just fine. I sat there thinking to myself that this was going to be all right.

And then, sweet little Catherine* (the darling girl sitting next to me) looked up at me with tears welling up in her big puppy dog eyes. I don’t know if it’s from my years as an aunt or just instinct, but somehow I knew that she had had an accident. I asked her what was wrong and in a very small, very embarrassed voice she whispered that she had wet her pants.

Now, you might be thinking that this was going to be the end of me; I mean, I was already nervous about dealing with these kids (aka carrier monkeys) who don’t belong to me, and worried that I wouldn’t like them at all. But seeing this sweet little girl so sad just melted my heart. All I wanted to do was pick her up and give her a hug. (I didn’t. I have limits. I mean, life and death situations? Sure, I would have picked her up. But she’s not my flesh and blood and she was going to be fine.) I sent someone to go find her mom and I just kept telling her that it was no big deal. She was going to be fine. And it wasn’t and she was.

That one moment suddenly transformed these little 4-year-olds from scary little carrier monkeys into sweet little children who deserve every happiness and all the love there is to have. You’d think it would be the opposite, right? The rest of the day went off without a hitch. These eleven 4-year-olds are just about the best behaved (with the exception of one or two) 4-year-olds I have ever seen. Seriously. And even the ones who aren’t well behaved weren’t that bad.

When it was all over, and I was waiting with the last child for his dad to come get him, I realized that somehow I had seriously started to love each of these kids in less than two hours. I was shocked. I still am. And so very grateful. And to think it was all because one little girl had an accident.

*Name has been changed…she’s a 4-year-old and not mine.

shoes

Posted on by
1

I love them. And today, I went to purchase a pair I’ve been wanting for a couple of months. My new favorite brand of shoes is Miz Mooz. They are comfortable and made for city living; heels that stand up to the stairs and cobblestone, as well as the miles of walking we do here in New York. I actually discovered them a while ago, but they are now my go-to brand.

Anyway, I decided that I would go to my favorite place to buy them (other than Nordstrom), Infinity Shoes on Broadway just south of 4th Street. I walked in and found the boots I wanted. I looked at the price; $50 less than I thought they were. So, what does a mathematically inclined girl do. Realize that she has an additional $50 to spend. And of course, because it was “extra” money (my dad loves this logic), I decided I could splurge on a pair that I didn’t need. (Yes, I needed the black boots.)

No buyer’s remorse here. Just excited to wear the new oxfords to church tomorrow!

not really good at anything

Posted on by
1

I grew up in a household of varying interests with a mother who ensured that we were always learning/doing/seeing something new and different. Over the years (childhood until now) I’ve learned and done a lot! I learned how to cook and sew. I learned about music. I played multiple sports. I took dance classes. I was in gifted and talented programs that exposed me to different languages and advanced math. I somehow got this crazy travel bug and decided to move to Belgium as a 14-year-old high school student. I was a cheerleader. I swam. I taught swimming lessons. I became pretty good at step aerobics.

I babysat and loved (and still do love) taking care of my nieces and nephew. I skied. I backpacked through Europe. I ice-skated and roller-bladed. I learned how to drive a stick shift and then took those skills off-roading. I hiked. I learned to love reading. I sang in choirs. I took all kinds of random classes. I painted ceramics. I arranged flowers. I took cake decorating classes. I bought books about art. I studied French. I learned how to change my oil and my brake pads and rotate tires. I became handy when I bought my first house. I went to beauty school and learned how to help people with their skin and apply makeup. I got certified in scuba diving. I moved to Hawaii for a couple of months. I discovered photography. I learned to enjoy running. I discovered a love of writing in college and rediscovered it through this blog. And I still do a lot of these things. And that isn’t the end of the things I’d like to learn to do.

I want to learn at least one more language. I want to take some kind of music lessons (violin? guitar?). I want to go to culinary school. I sometimes think about getting a PhD (once the loans are all paid off, of course). I want to take a watercolor class. I would love to start rock climbing.

My point? I seriously love learning, but I never become really good at anything. Sure, I have some skills and I’m better at some things than I am at others, but I just can’t be bothered to become an expert in anyone thing. I couldn’t even be bothered to get really good grades when I was perfectly capable of doing so.

For a long time this really bugged me. I wanted to be really good at something. I finally got over that when I realized that becoming an expert in any one thing would likely mean sacrificing the other things that I love. It’s funny how there just really is no life without sacrifice. And so I’ve learned to be okay with my mediocrity (okay, I don’t think I’m mediocre in everything, but you get my point). And I figured out a career path that would allow me to continue to do all of the things I love doing (meaning, something I enjoy enough, doesn’t take over my life, and earns a good income). I admire people who love one thing so much that they can sacrifice everything else to do that. That is not me.

On Sunday night, when my girlfriends were over for our little makeup night, Maria asked me if I had taken this picture of the Conservatory Garden I have hanging on my wall. I replied that I had. After which Jenn stated that one of her favorite things about me is how multi-talented I am. This made me smile. Apparently the one thing I am really good at is collecting talents…even if I’m not the best at any one of them and even if I never will be because I don’t have time.

time for a csn giveaway – *contest closed*

Posted on by
24

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of doing advertising on my blog (like in a post), but when I got approached by this company to do one, I looked a a bunch of their stuff and thought, “I would actually buy stuff off this site.” So, here’s the deal. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish modern dining room furniture to cute cookware, chic lighting pieces, baby gear, luxury items, lighting, luggage, toys and more!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. You’ll have two days. I’ll pick a winner Thursday evening, 7 pm EST. You’ll get a $35 gift certificate to use as you wish. Personally, I kind of love these dessert plates.