She destroys & paints, I leak & write

I'm sitting on the back patio swing, pondering the difference between people. Jody is beside me in the yard painting broken pieces of tile. A close mutual friend of ours is going through a tough situation that came upon suddenly today and each of us is processing in our own unique ways.

Just a few minutes ago Jody made the statement..."I wish I could do things easier like other people", hence my preoccupation with the differences between us.

We are both deep people, both of us have been through some tough times in our lives, some of them different, some of them insanely the same. We are both processors too. We have to have time to work through things, neither of us are usually quick to make a decision until proper consideration. What makes us different is they way we process.

Jody is an artist. Very creative, unique and as I affectionately view her...not normal. She destroys things, redesigns things, changes things, paints whatever she can find (her plastic pink flamingos have recently experienced this!). Currently the kitchen is in shambles because she borrowed a tool from a friend to fix one thing and decided that everything in the kitchen needed to be changed! (She blames him for letting her borrow it!) The point is she expresses herself through her art, through making something beautiful.

I, on the other hand leak and occasionally write. Leak is the word Jody uses for crying. She doesn't leak, while leak is a understatement for me and when I process. Turning on a faucet is a better way to put it. I still struggle with seeing crying as a weakness. I am realizing more and more that it's my outlet, my way of dealing and getting my feelings out. It's cleansing for me. I've teared up several times in the last couple of hours when thinking of my friend and his situation, trying hard not to turn on the faucet. The other way I process is writing. I used to write almost daily and fell out of the habit somewhere about a year ago and I have missed it terribly. I write in my head, but haven't taken the time to actually write it down. Writing is something I dream about, just as Jody dreams of painting.

I responded to Jody's comment with...."We all process in our own unique ways". It doesn't make one person's right or anothers wrong. God has made us each unique. He has made us to deal and process in ways that is best suited to us as an individual and uniquely suited to bless others. Jody blesses people weekly with her art. She is the creative person for our church and works there full time. She uses her gifts to bless people and it makes me envious of her talent. From my view on things, she has it easy being able to express in beauty. Most of my leaking is done in private and I gaurantee it's not beautiful! But my tears are real and I pray for real in intercession for people and I hope that it blesses others by finding it's way to God's ears. And my writing, well that probably has a wide range of opinions. I believe it blesses some or God wouldn't have given me the passion for it.

I have a long way to go to getting it right with proper sentence structure, grammar and just the right words, just as Jody is not at the full potential in her art. But, we are a work in progress, artfully designed by God and all our days are written for us.

I'll gladly choose to be unique.

Living in the moment

Yesterday was one of those days that I want to commit to memory. I've been in the Wissing home for a little over a month now and this was the first time that we have all really been able to relax together and have fun (mainly due to me and a crazy job schedule throughout the holidays!) and what fun it was!

The day started out going to church and hearing an awesome sermon by our pastor Paul and then off to Tin Star for lunch with great friends. Usually my Sundays off are spent on the couch, but it was a beautiful day and after an invitation to jump with Joe on the trampoline, I gave up my couch time. I spent the next couple of hours on and off jumping on the trampoline with Joe, Nick, Cole and Grace. We ended up having wrestling matches on the trampoline, many times all four kids against little ole me! I have to say they only pinned me once for the 10 second rule!

I had planned on making burgers on the grill and after a great suggestion by Jody we called our friends Andy and Amy to join us. We had to make a run to the store for the extra mouths, but hey, while we were there why not pick up some wine! We grilled out and Jody made homemade Mac & Cheese, add some wine and a couple cold Coronas and you have an awesome meal!

Later we lit a fire outside and made smores....ymmmm! As I was sitting on the porch swing with Amy, watching Joe burn all his marshmallows, I told her that this was one of those times that feels like family time. I felt like I was at my sisters house and that the kiddos were my nieces and nephews. It was a peaceful feeling.

As I think back I couldn't have honestly said that "It couldn't get better than this", because it could have been better. I could have been skinner, richer, married, in the Bahamas...... But I wasn't even thinking at that time, I was just living. Living in the moment, committing it to memory and praising God that he has put such awesome people into my life.

retro

Ok, so we really  do watch the black and white TV!  Andy came over and wanted to watch the game.  The kids were watching the main TV so I sent him into the kitchen.  He chose to come over here and hang with us instead of staying home and watching his 46" plasma.  I don't know... but I like watching the retro TV.  Must be difficult to watch a game since all the uniforms are the same color.  Not to mention the TV's googley eyes being right over the score.  Andy is a good sport.  :)