Life Interrupted

Focus.  My word.  My ambition.  My hope for our future in 2014. But so much is hard to see! We have been living a life that is blurred through and through with question marks imprinted upon exposures and I feel like we take two steps forward only to take two steps backwards. I'm sure you have danced this dance before.  If you haven't, you are extremely lucky!

An aging parent is difficult to deal with.  Add an aging parent who is still in the throes of raising a teenager and you get a messy equation.  There is no clear cut solution; many changing variables and no matter how many attempts we make to solve it, we are inevitably erasing constantly. Each family member has their own way of problem solving and sometimes the answers overlap and sometimes they don't.  I feel like I'm looking at a multiple choice test where no matter how many times I do the math problem--my answer is not one of the choices.  I suck at math that way.  Sigh.

But yet every day, we all get up and keep putting one foot in front of the other and move forward.  What else can we do?  In the last six weeks, our regular family life has been cracked open to encompass another member to care for.  A teenager as of yesterday.  And I'm not sure who the adjustment has been hardest on.  Him or us?  I'm not sure that matters.  What does matter is that yesterday he celebrated his birthday and we wanted to make sure it was one he would always remember.

The kids decorated.  We bought his favorite foods.  We bought him his first ice cream cake and invited family over to celebrate him. The kids, being kids, went swimming long into the night.  The adults gathered.  Not just any adults, but family that mean a lot to E and it meant so much more to him that they showed up to celebrate his little brother.

A cool part of the evening was when we prayed over the birthday boy and his future.  It's not that often that people gather to pray specifically and exclusively for you.  What a blessing to enter into the teen years with!

The night concluded with cake and some thoughtful gifts which included some money for books (which he loves), clothes (which he needs), and a St. Christopher medal and cross.  He was touched by the kindness of family and new friends.

So much so, that when asked to stand up and give a speech, he agreed!  This boy who six weeks ago would barely look at you when speaking, only spoke with one and two word answers, and whose self-confidence seemed to be lacking, actually stood up and graciously thanked and acknowledged people for coming and for their generosity.  He expressed what he liked and appreciated about the party and it was a special day that I think he will always remember, no matter where the roads lead him.

Complicated or not, when given the opportunity to do for someone less fortunate in finances, friends, or spirit. . .love does.  He commands us to love one another as He has loved us, so we must rise up and take action.  Say yes, even if it's out of your comfort zone or seemingly impossible.  With God all things are possible and sometimes that simple knowledge will carry you far in the interruption of what used to be your life and color it all kinds of pretty that you never would have expected.

Thirteen years and blessing us as much as we have blessed him. . .

Because sometimes there are not enough words. . .

Opportunity knocked when my cousin invited my mom and I to a New Kids on the Block concert July 5.  My teenage walls were littered with posters of my favorite cuties.  A friend I met my freshman year in high school and I passed a notebook back and forth writing about our lives with the superstars.  She was Mrs. Macintyre and I was Mrs. Jordan Knight.  Those days are long gone but the boy band still (and probably always will) have a place in my heart. 

The night was loud and long and exhilarating as we watched from the seventh row.  We started in the nosebleed section like five rows from the top.  We were using binoculars to see the opening acts.  I was thrilled when Jen got a text from a friend of hers who was on the floor--I said, "Go!!!!" A few minutes later she said there was a ticket for me too--and I may have run all the way to the bottom floor to find her.  Everyone knows what a rule follower I am, so I didn't bat an eye when they told me where to go...even though I hadn't seen the tickets.  Oops.  I was in the third row. OH! MY! GOSH!!!!!!  And then minutes later was kindly (a wee bit of sarcasm) asked to move by Nick Lachey's wife, Vanessa Minello.  I had no idea who she was--but we moved back four rows to the real tickets on hand.  No big deal.  Did I mention we were at the very top before?  Drastic improvement!

 It was just a fun night filled with singing and dancing and being up close and personal with some favorite boys from my youth.   A memory I will hold on to even though Lene and Layla jokingly referred to them as, "Old Men on the Block."  They have no idea what they're talking about. . .