The Importance of Story Time

Every chance I get, I will encourage a person to tell me about their growing up years and how they got to where they are now. I love ALL the in-between stuff!!! The good, the bad, the ugly. I just love being a part of others lives, and story telling creates a bond we might not have otherwise shared. But the most interesting stories come from those that have lived well beyond my years. It is the one time I can sit for hours with no regret.

Why do the older generation love telling stories about their past? I can only speak for myself, but will bet most feel the same as I. It's the ability to recall and reflect that helps me remember who I used to be, and in turn, helps me identify who I am in the current moment. The (hopefully) improved upon me. It's like the groundwork of beautiful things to come that have been through the storms of life and still survived. No, thrived!

I keep a picture of myself that was taken upon graduating from Miami Beauty College. The year was 1974. By that time, I had already experienced enough pain for a lifetime. Or at least I had thought so. There was just something about the time spent learning a trade that would sustain me, that makes me want to hold onto that picture. It was a happy time in my life. One without having to fear unwarranted death at the hands of a very dysfunctional jealous man. So, I keep the picture to remind me of who I truly am. Many times, as I walked by the picture, I would verbally say, "Oh hi! There you are!" It also helped as the years flew by, and my appearance changed, to remember how I looked when my life actually re-started. The year I loved who I had become. The year I released all of who I was to the One who loves me most. The year I released my rights to myself and asked God to stay close and direct my life while here on planet Earth. The most freedom I had experienced up to that time.

But the stories!!! The stories of my past provide a source of affirmation, hope, and belief that my legacy (in spite of the challenges) has a better chance of preservation. I like to weed out the not-so-good past when telling stories to our off-spring, and jump right on into the years beyond 1974. However, they HAVE heard some things I probably shouldn't have shared. Still, the stories told have only skimmed the top of what I have experienced in these years lived. Look at that '80's HAIR, will ya! 😁➡️

Now if you can connect me with someone from the Baby Boomer Era, no holds barred! 😂 Rarely is anything left out as we discuss line upon line of years past. Unless the memories are just too painful to recall. Some are, rightly so, personal. We'll then save it for another day. Maybe. Depends...

Back to 2022...I was awake last evening when Dennis called it a night and came to bed. I tried sleeping, but sleep wouldn't favor me with its presence. So I got up (10:30 P.M.) and decided to have a late night snack. Never a good idea. But it was tasty. I was in my study, reading through many of my blog posts since 2010. Why I chose to do that, I really have no idea. It just popped into my head and I thought it might be a good idea. It might make me sleepy. Nope! Hey, there's some really good stuff in there, and I actually enjoyed reminiscing the moments I had sat at my computer and typed them out. I would start to read one and would always say, "Oh, I remember this one!" I finally gave up when my eyes began to burn, but still, I was not sleepy. It was 2:35 A.M., and I was invested. But I really needed to get some shut eye.

If any of you who might be reading this, and have gotten this far, you are very familiar with my ramblings. I start at one point and move into various others as they spark their way across the neurons in my brain. Until no one really knows the point I was trying to make in the first place. Roping me in is like trying to give a cat a bath. Hard to do and can be a bit dangerous. See? Don't really know where that statement was intended to go.  

STORY TIME!!! Oh yeah! The blog posts were reminding me of my story! And I'm pretty sure this one was birthed out of sleep deprivation. 

FROM there to here...

⬅️     to     ➡️

AND SO MUCH IN-BETWEEN 

for another time

P.S.

Until next time, here you'll find me...in Mary's World

The Winds of Change

Have you ever felt as if the winds of change have begun to blow? Change is inevitable. Yes? But, has there ever been a time when all your senses have been alerted to the inevitable? This is me. Now.

So much has changed in the last couple of years. Covid19 brought with it an undeniable NEED for change. We all (well, most of us), listened and followed protocol. But, that is not what I am talking about.

There are "seasons of life" that we all must walk through. Some train us. Some educate us. Some prepare us for challenges to come. Not many of us can see the future, or foretell it. But some of us CAN predict it, if our spiritual eyes and ears are open to understanding, and our common sense is well attended. We can "see where this is going" kinda thing. 

What we can't predict is how we will get there. We can plan for it. We can prepare for it. We just can't see how it will all play out. But at least we won't be surprised when it arrives. There may be a few surprises along the way, but hey! Last season prepared us for it! Right?

I'm pretty sure I have lost many of you, if not all. "Is she talking about herself, or just in general?" Or, "I think the winds have blown her off her rocker." 😉I, too, wonder that myself, on occasion. 😂

I used to worry some, about the fact that I was quickly coming upon the marker that my female siblings arrived at, and then left the planet. I have now officially passed the years any of them were able to live beyond. The winds that I love, when they visit me, have left me standing here. For the time, at least. And I know I am going to get some push-back from my girls for even talking about this. But it is a reality of life. We are born, we live, we die. This is not meant to be morbid, but real. And the sooner we face that fact, the sooner we can live our best lives while stationed here. I've finally accepted the fact that I am on God's timetable, and I'll go home when He says it's time. And no sooner...

When we face the fact that life is short, will it make a difference? Will we continue to live our lives focused on ourselves instead of those we love? Will we make different decisions, based not on how it makes us feel, but rather on how it makes them feel? Will we see each new day as an opportunity, or just another day to deal with difficulties? Will we begin to understand that humanity is broken, and possibly defeated, and begin to see with eyes of compassion instead of hatred?  

The Bible says there are 7 things that God hates, found in Proverbs 6:16-19

• Eyes that are haughty (arrogantly superior)
• A tongue that lies 
• Hands that shed the blood of innocent people
• Hearts which plot evil
• Feet that run to do evil things
• People who lie as witnesses
• One who causes strife in his or her family (ouch!)

Now that we know all this, will it better prepare us for seasonal changes? The winds that blow through the years we've been granted, will they whisper "change" to us?

Listening to the winds of change, here you'll find me...in Mary's World