Good Evening !! This is my last eve of freedom! Tomorrow is the day I have to start working full time again for American....Oh... it has been nice... The time off... You see they allow us to take Voluntary time off in advance if they predict the phone volume will be down... One of the perks of working for American Airlines...I detest my job and love it at the same time... I love talking to people on the phone, hearing their stories and having the ability, most of the time, to help them out.. But I detest the ugliness that oozes out of others..!. I often wonder what gives people the right to be rude to others ..?..I have to admit, although I was never downright rude, I did not give the people in Customer Service, when calling the respect they deserve... It is a tough job... Especially for us in the Airline business... I answer phone calls for Elite Members, people calling who want to use their miles to travel...(whole other story..) People whose baggage didn't arrive on the same airplane that they did...(Least favorite... every one is angry!)...I also answer overflow for just the regular joe wanting to know if he can bring his guitar on board, how much it costs to bring his pet.. or if he is allowed to check his blowtorch ...Seriously...No...you cannot bring your blowtorch.. Or your lighter fluid, or any other flammable liquid...!
People are funny...I could write a book just about the phone calls I get on any given night.. I will add a few after work tomorrow..... It can be your daily entertainment....
Luckily for me, the kids will be out of school so will be able to help out at the store...I am grateful for my job and the opportunities that it provides my family and I.. We would never be able to fly to California to watch American Idol or take that quick trip to Disney World because Savanna just wants to go...Oh her future husband is in all kinds of trouble... She thinks it is normal to just jump on an airplane and go to Disney...!
Do you remember as a child dreaming of what life would be when you grew up..? Is the life you lead what you dreamed? Most of my young adult life was spent feeling sorry for myself and I wasted so much time... !We all have plenty of things that have happened to us believe me... Zachary gets so upset sometimes when kids stare at him or make a remark... I have to remind him that his disability is on the outside ... and sometimes that kind is the easiest to bear... He really does understand this as he gets older. He tells me stories of how kids in his school are having all kinds of trouble at home, or have recently lost a parent, etc.. He has become really sensitive to things going on around him... Last week a little boy that is six passed away due to a heart condition he was been born with.
.Zachary woke up in the middle of the night and tapped me on the shoulder..."Mommie, he whispered... I can't sleep.. I am too worried I will never see my friend in Heaven.. What if I do something in my life that prevents me from going there?"
He just turned ten....What if we do something in our life that prevents us from going there.. Prevents us from seeing our loved ones.. Prevents us from spending ETERNITY in Gods Presence... In PARADISE!
I assured him that Jesus was the way to Heaven and as long as he believed in Jesus and followed in his footsteps he would meet all his loved ones in Heaven... "What if I am mean to someone?' Then you repent and don't be mean to them again....We stayed up for about an hour running through all kinds of scenarios that in a child's mind I guess would prevent them from going to Heaven.
Children have such insight into things... Their minds aren't cluttered with all the things that we as adults have to plunder through each day...Most things are black and white with them... then as we become older everything becomes a shade of gray.(or grey)..(.that is for you Anna.).... the right and the wrong kind of blending in the middle so it is kind of right, and kind of wrong...We make excuses for everything... Boy our kids pick up on that quick too... How to make excuses for things.. .It is funny how we say our kids are naughty.. While we are born in sin... the naughtiness is something learned...usually from us..!
Oh how I wish I could start over with Parenting.. Now that I am middle aged I think I finally get it.. (well kind of...) but most assuredly better than I did when I was young.. These children need so much guidance.. and discipline.. ! Although I am sort of an enabler.. I am able to hold strong to the values that I want instilled in them... Rules too....Lots of rules...
When we are young we have these grandiose dreams of our future selves... I just remember saying "When I have kids I will never let them .....""They will all have......""I will marry Prince Charming and live in a castle.."
I woke up one day to a harsh sense of reality.. Actually it was God giving me a stern talking too... Telling me in a still small voice that it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself... to take the things of the Past and let them go.. The People that had hurt me, let that go too.. Why was I wasting MY life carrying around THEIR burdens? God has never said to Forget about it.. Just to stop carrying it around with you.
I gave it all to him... all of it.. all of the crazy mixed up feelings I had for certain family members... all of the resentment I had for never having a stable home life... ...etc... etc...(If I tell you everything YOU would be the one in the fetal position!) !! It is true that our circumstances can shape our future if we LET it... It is so easy to feel like we were entitled to that Perfect childhood.. or whatever it was we feel we were missing...But.. at some point it is up to us to get down on our knees and cry out to God to take it all ..... ALL of it! Stop drowning in your pities and start dreaming of your life again... Start thinking what it is you want.. for you... for your children... then start DOING it...When you let go of those bad feelings...(it takes a while...!)and pray pray pray every day for Peace in your heart.. When you ask for direction... and then LISTEN to God... Your life will CHANGE!!!!!
I have my Prince Charming..
All I have ever wanted to do for my Children I can...
I live in my Castle...(it is a castle to me..!)
I have prayed and worked really hard to get to where I am in life right now.. I did not do it alone.. God gave me a path to follow and it was a hard path ... I had to humble myself.. I had to realize that in order to be blessed you have to be a Blessing...(Thanks Ed Young !)You really have to stop being selfish and self serving.. and put the needs of others first.. Truly.And you have to realize that whatever you are Given by God you do DESERVE it.. no matter what others say and especially no matter what the Devil says.. For he never ever EVER stops trying to convince you otherwise...
Go back to your childhood list.. what on that list can you achieve? What if we do something in our lives that prevents us from going to Heaven?( Thank you Zachary... )This life is only to fulfill one purpose really.. to serve God.. to try to be like him and to have a relationship with him that we can continue in our everlasting life after our earthly death.. What if we wasted our whole purpose?(In this process you will find your dreams and goals coming true...... If you take his direction..!)..
Our salvation lies in Christ.. Please Please Please take him into your lives and into your hearts..Start living your dream.
Defining Moment.. After spending half of your life thinking you were NOONE finally realizing you are SOMEONE.
Thank you Jesus..