Do you suppose Jesus was ever distracted by an enriched macaroni product?
The man who sat in front of me at church yesterday had a macaroni stuck to the back of his shirt. One lone piece of pasta. A small shell. Try to pay attention with that kind of distraction. Bad carb.
I mean…really…HOW did it get there?
one indestructible, impenetrable, everlasting, unfading coat of arms (literally). Main duties will include but not be limited to: covering my heart on my sleeve, guarding emotions on command, stopping tears before they begin welling in my eyes and the like. Sheer fabrics need not apply.
My tender heart. That’s the topic of the day. Why? you ask? Because, gosh darn-it! I’m sick of being so emotional!
Well, here goes. What do you want to bet I can’t even TYPE this without tearing up?
So, last week was a great success. I was able to welcome our newest niece, Leah Elizabeth into the world on Sunday. She is a beautiful girl and already seems to encapsulate the sweetness that a name like Leah suggests. I was able to spend some quality time with both her and our other niece Elenna (3). Therein begins the problem.
Anytime I am able to spend an extended period of time with my family I am truly overjoyed. My heart was full from this occasion and even though I missed James ever-so-much and was definitely ready to come home at the end of the week…it just wasn’t easy. My silly heart always seems to get in the way and once again I found myself in tears as I said goodbye to my family. As many times as I have been through this one would think I could handle it better. One would think wrong.
I prepared myself all week. This is no lie. While it is always hard to leave my family after any trip, it is especially hard after the birth of a baby; a baby I was privileged enough to help welcome into the world. When Elenna was born and I had to leave her the very next day, tears were more than flowing…they were flooding. Of course, the same could be said during her birth so maybe, I thought, it would be easier this time. This time, like with Elenna, I was present for Leah’s birth. And while it was just as much of a miracle as with Elenna, I didn’t cry this round. Of course, that could be due to the fact that she came so quickly there was no time for tears. I was focused on capturing her first breaths on camera and so my mind was a bit occupied. I didn’t mind this distraction in the slightest. I hoped it would be a forecast of things to come. Well, like in daily life, the forecast was wrong.
So, like I said, I had been preparing for my goodbye all week. “I will not cry. I will not cry” ran steadily through my mind. I constantly thought about how happy I would be to get home and see James. I thought about us having our own baby. I thought about anything other than actually saying goodbye.
[On a side note: I had my 10 year reunion this weekend and it was incredibly fun...much more than I ever had expected. It was great catching up with old friends and seeing where life had taken them. During one of our events a good friend mentioned something to me about how emotional and soft-hearted I've always been. Seriously? I had no idea what she was talking about. I'm a brick. house.]
Anyway, back to the story. So…the day arrives for me to say goodbye. I’d been holding Leah and playing with Elenna, trying to stretch the time out as much as possible but then, it was time to leave. As I stood up to say goodbye I felt it coming. Crap. It was getting to the point of no return. Waters were rising and would soon be spilling down my face. I was talking to my mom and sister and trying my best not to look at either of them because I knew that the moment I made eye contact, I’d be through. And so it happened. (and is happening all over again as a write this…told you) The tears began pouring and my jaw was straining under the pressure to keep from chattering. Interestingly enough, when I tried to tell Elenna goodbye she nearly gave me the cold shoulder. We learned a long time ago that she, like her aunt, despises goodbyes. However, she, unlike her aunt, has the right idea. She barely acknowledged my goodbye and kept her mind set on the task at hand. Playing. No tears. No long drawn-out hugs. It’s quick and it’s over. Rip that bandaid! Oh…what I could learn from her!
So…I shed my tears for a bit longer while I was in the car by myself and then my blubbering slowly came to an end. What a pain all of this is. My makeup (apparently here illegally) had decided to beat the INS and run south for the border. My contacts are had now begun to blur from all of my salty tears. (And seriously, if for no other reason than this, I need Lasik.) And my nose…so stuffy that breathing is becoming less and less of a reality. All of this because Jonna can’t seem to get control of her stupid emotions. ARGH.
I could go on and on but I think you’re getting the picture. In my world the breakdown is simple and looks somewhat like this:
emotions = pure evil.
I will leave you with this last thought. In Psalm 56:8 David writes about God collecting our tears in a bottle. While that my be true for most, I would venture to say that God has employed the use of a keg for mine. Cheers.
This is what happens when you live in a socialist majority country…this shows the degree of intellect. What fascinates me is all the liberals here in America that are constantly pushing a socialist agenda. France is a beautiful country to visit but really, do we want to be more like France?
Who will you vote for in 2008?
…does that mean I’m going to die soon? I just wanted to tell you one thing regarding my previous post on cell phone usuage (The Pocket God Habit: A Small Sermon). I took a few of my youth gals from Allen Bible to Six Flags on Thursday (which I will blog more on later for it was a glorious day!) and there I saw what I never could have even imagined. It was night time and we were enjoying a ride on the Runaway Mine Train. If you’ve never been on this ride it is an oldie but a goodie. It’s not big but it is a classic that remains fun time after time. On about our sixth ride in a row (we didn’t even have to get off due to the lack of a line) a lady and her young child were seated in front of me. Right before the “big” hill that goes down through a tunnel her cell phone rang and yes, she answered it! About 2 seconds after she answered it we were on the way down the hill while screaming through the darkness. Well, actually there was a little light glowing from her phone but anyway…she tried to talk on it but through all our screaming I guess she gave up and hung up when we were almost all the way through the tunnel. Have you EVER been on a roller-coaster with someone talking on their cell phone? Well, now I have and now I can say that when it comes to cell phones…I think I’ve seen it all.
Well, my time in paradise has ended and I’ve been thrown back into the realm of the real. Exuma was absolutely amazing and I do plan on sharing bits of it from time to time. I actually took over 700 pictures (close to 750 I believe) and will share some with you soon. Right now they are on a computer in North Carolina waiting to be burned onto cd’s and mailed to me (Thanks ever so much C and E!). So until I can provide you with visuals we’ll go about our daily business and come back to the trip as soon as possible. I will say it was fabulous and I’m a bit sad to be home.
Traveling is always interesting to me. I love to watch people. Sometimes they crack me up, sometimes they break my heart and sometimes they just simply annoy me. That is the case in which I am going to tell you about today. You may be one of these people and if so, I will apologize in advance for offending you.
As we boarded our plane that would take us from Atlanta to DFW I was seated beside a younger woman, probably in her early 20’s. (We flew on a 757 so there were 3 seats on each side of the isle.) She was busy texting away on her phone until the flight attendant announced that it was time to turn of all electronics. No big thing. This didn’t bother me. However, as soon as our plane touched down she and about 50 others on the plane whipped out their phones and started in on the calls. Mind you, we had only been on the plane for 2 hours and it was 10:30 at night. 2 hours…that’s it. By the speed at which this people were grappling for their phones you’d think we had lost touch with civilization days earlier. Did I mention it had only been 2 hours?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my phone. Well, let me rephrase that: I love having my phone though I hate talking on it. I love the security of knowing that I can call whomever whenever. I love having technology that enables me to keep up with friends that are far away (although I’m horrible at it; see earlier statement). But people, please! Can’t we have a little balance here? I find myself wanting to scream out and ask these folks how they survived before cell phones? What did we do when we were unable to be in constant contact with the rest of the world? And who must be called the second the plane’s wheels touch concrete? Can’t you wait 5 minutes for decency’s sake (or mine) before falling at the alter of your pocket god yet again?
The same thing can be said for restaurants (and theaters for that matter). I like to dine in peace and with the person that is sitting across from me. I don’t bring my network to the table and I don’t appreciate you bringing yours. Can’t you converse with your present company? If alone, can’t you enjoy a little solitude and quietness? The old saying, “Dance with the one that brought you” should be reworked to account for modern times. “Talk to the one you’re with.” It’s just rude to do otherwise. Now, we all have exceptions to the rule so if yours is valid, stop sulking. You’re forgiven. However, if you’re just jabbering (or texting) away because that’s what you do, you need to check your technology at the door. I will never forget the time that Mr. Nixon and I went for a romantic date at a small restaurant in Dallas called The Grape. (It’s off lower Greenville and is fabulous. It is a wine bistro that features a changing menu every two weeks.) This bistro was quite intimate and the tables were very close to one another. The prices alone should have lent for a little extra class to be shown. However, sitting near us was a couple who appeared to be on a date. I don’t know if this was a first date, a relationship or a marriage. But, just guessing by the looks of it this date was not going well. While the poor gentleman sat across from his lady, she sat rambling on and on and on into her phone. I’m not talking about a 5 minute conversation. I’m telling you that this lasted throughout our dinner. I was so tempted to go say something like this, “Excuse me sir, but I was wondering if you would care to join us at our table since your date seems to be enjoying her dinner with someone else?” I wonder if that would have shut her mouth. Would she even have noticed if he left her table?
While I’m no stickler for following all guidelines of properness (apologies, Miss Manners) I do feel that common sense should guide us. I think people need to feel free to escape the bondage of their technology for at least a couple of hours. Enjoy what is in front of you and tune out the rest. Sit and relax at dinner; go to the movies and forget the outside world; wait until you’ve gotten off the airplane to get back to your old habits. While on the island I didn’t once think about my cell phone. How lovely it was. What a fuller experience I had because I was 100% there.
And while I’m sure that cellphone etiquette may never be fully observed I challenge you to consider what conversation you’re engaging in while in the presence of strangers. Are you ignoring the relationships that are in your presence to foster another? Can you quit the pocket god habit and replace it with something healthy…like face-to-face interaction? Can you be in one place with you body and mind? Talk to the one you’re with. It’s that simple.
