I grew up with one sister in a home of quiet people who love to read books. My father is quite masculine and strong, but he was in the Navy and was generally gone serving the country about six months out of every year, which left three quiet women at home. When dad came home from sea, he usually had to remind all of us that maybe we should talk to each other at the dinner table instead of just read. I had no brothers to chase or wrestle, so to say that I am naturally non-violent and non-aggressive is actually quite an understatement. I did have one particular swim coach when I was a little girl who advised me to growl at the people in the lanes next to me before we got on the blocks, and I remember thinking that was the strangest idea I had ever heard. I never even tried one little snarl.
Last week I posted something I had written in 2009, and within that was a paragraph about waiting for the results of a medical test that I had taken. How encouraging it was for me to read those words again after so many years! Let me share another piece from the middle of January in 2010 to explain…
Just for fun, I am posting a piece I wrote in 2006. How interesting to read this with 2018 eyes... Modern America is plagued by an epidemic of anxiety - so many people are afraid and unsettled. We are worried about the government, about terrorists, about the economy, about the drug problem, about the Middle East…the list is long and complex. Closer to home, we worry about our marriages, our finances, our kids, and our futures. I sometimes find myself lying awake in bed at night worrying - about anything and absolutely everything. I might start out thinking about an illness (is it cancer?) or a bill to pay (how will we ever get the money together?) Then I will progress to my friend’s struggling marriage, moving along to some situation that might potentially cause division in our ministry. Once I get started, I have a terrible time stopping – never mind sleeping. And, judging from the number of sleep aides I see advertised, I am not the only one who loses sleep over worry. Worry seizes a person, and it is a very easy habit to acquire.
This is the era of the Superhero movie. It seems like every time you turn around, there is another one being released. They are great and everyone loves to go see them, and evidently the movie studios have found a way to keep selling more tickets forever without ever having to come up with any new ideas. But that is okay - we will keep going because it is the rare kind of movie that both men and women can enjoy together. In our own family, it has often been difficult to find an in-between on movie preferences. Generally speaking (looking at you, Kory!), the guys love war and action movies that all seem to have the most gruesome sound effects possible, and the ladies love musicals and love stories. But all of us love to watch someone sweep in and save the day. It is so gratifying when the seemingly-unstoppable Bad Guy finally gets decimated in one moment by the Good Guy.
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Hi! I'm Mary - mother to two wonderful grown daughters, wife to an incredible husband, and loving our life in the piney woods of Texas... (read more!)
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November 2024
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