I've decided to write more and perform less. A blog can be a performance of sorts. Anyway, I won't go into the performance part but let me just say, I'm going to write more. I may bore you. I doubt I will enlighten you. I hope I make you think. Maybe, at times, I will make you laugh. It's hard to say. I'm tired of thinking that I don't have anything to blog. I don't want to blog any more. I just want to write.
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Two things have riveted my world over the weekend.
First, some friends in my hometown (friends of friends, really) lost their teenage daughter in car wreck on Thursday night. Their other teenage daughter was driving the car and is in the hospital. The driver of the second vehicle (who was not at fault) is expected to be okay. This situation weighs heavy on my heart. It's hard to imagine losing your child- in a moment. She died at the scene. It is heart breaking to imagine the loss and the struggle to console the recovering child that was at the wheel. I'm shaken by the tragedy. For some reason, it's reminded me that tragedies happen daily. More than that, I'm just powerfully reminded that we don't know the day that we will pass. We don't know the day that our loved ones will pass. We need to love freely. I am not sure if each day is a gift (sometimes it doesn't seem like it) but we don't know how many days we have. We should live to the fullest. We should love to the fullest, too.
The second thing weighing on my consciousness is my bubble. I live in a culture bubble. (I believe you do, too.) My surroundings -my town, my kids' education, the TV shows we watch, the local fashion (or lack thereof), my beliefs of what's necessary for success- wrap around me like a cocoon. Yesterday, I saw several presentations that challenged me. Some friends had a Chinese exchange student live with them for a while. There were remarkable differences in his upbringing and the way they are raising their kids in rural Oregon. I also heard a lady talk about a medical mission trip she is going to in Guatemala. I heard stories from a couple that lived in Cambodia for 6 years. The differences in my living situation and the people in those countries is startling. It reminds me that I have much, much more than I will ever need. I am certain that the God I believe in loves those people just as much as me- and it has nothing to do with what we own or how we live. Even so, these glimpses of other countries make me desire simplification.
I want a full life with less, doing more for those I love.
7 comments:
so glad you are writing...your writings touch me, inspire me and sometimes make me laugh. Very sad about the Schepen girls...can not even imagine the grief that family is going through Have been praying for your Mom and Sarah...
when I hear missionaries talk they all say after they go away and serve and learn to live on very little, when they get back they realize just how cluttered their lives are with stuff and they immediately get rid of it...
A very dear friend of mine lost a boy a few years ago. The night it happened I was called to come to their home. The sadness that was in their home was unmeasurable. When I arrived home I immediatly went into my sons room and prayed for him and the other family while he slept.
I will pray for you and the other family.
Please continue to write your writing touches me deep and makes me think about what is important.
I totally get what you're saying about the blog being a performance. We can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to write how we are "supposed" to write.
The accident is heartbreaking. Stories like that rip me out of my comfort zone. Sometimes that is necessary, but I wish it could be done w/out trajedy.
THank you for writing
That family with the daughters is living a nightmare I hope never to experience. And to your second point, we've been watching 'An Idiot Abroad' on SciFy on Saturday nights - completely eye-opening to see how real people in other cultures live. We have SO much, and somehow still want more. Simple - going to try to reach for that more :)
I can understand your feelings on both things. My heart hurts over tragedies like you described. It just really brings home to me that life really is fleeting. It makes me thankful for every second that I have with my family and prayerful for their safety.
I also have been thinking about the bubble I live in. When I think about the way people go out into the world to make a difference, I feel ashamed that I'm too chicken to do the same. I stay here in my super comfortable life, not doing what I should for the world around me. I need to really start pushing myself to do better in this area.
Thank you for your thoughts.
~Nicole
Wow. Such a sad story. I'm so sorry for this family. Thanks for sharing. I will pray for them.
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