Try to chalk it up to another of life's lessons. If you can let it go. You trusted and had good reason to. You were offered the job and had accepted it. You were high on the possibilities. You were ready for the changes. You were full of hope. You were ready!
And then it was jerked out from under you at the last minute. The shock! ... after you had given up your lease... after CJ had given notice... after you had looked at houses in the new town... after you had made plans! So unfair. Probably illegal, even. But it was done anyway.
A life lesson. People disappoint. People betray. Even people who consider themselves to be good people will do it sometimes if it fills their own needs. So learn from it and move on. But don't stop trusting. Learn that life goes on, that people are weak but life is good. Be cautious, be flexible but don't give up. Remember how it feels to be treated like this and do the right thing yourself. Learn the importance of integrity and accountability.
Life is good. You are so intelligent and capable. You have so much potential. You have a beautiful baby. You are so loved!
What more do you really need?
Yes, life its still so good.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
Dear Friend,
I am sitting here in the sunshine on this first day of June. It's humid and the sweat drips off my forehead onto this letter. My hands are glistening with perspiration but, well... it feels good... the heat. It's been a long cold spring.
It's like when the kids come trundling into the house from college laden with dirty laundry and dragging guitars and amps and cords all of which get dropped in the living room. Yet they also bring laughter and music and joy back into our quiet home. It is all good.
It feels like that, this coming of summer. And just as I am so glad for the kids to come home again I am also glad for their leaving in the fall even as I feel the regret of the lonelier months to come.
Everything changes. But life is still good.
It's like when the kids come trundling into the house from college laden with dirty laundry and dragging guitars and amps and cords all of which get dropped in the living room. Yet they also bring laughter and music and joy back into our quiet home. It is all good.
It feels like that, this coming of summer. And just as I am so glad for the kids to come home again I am also glad for their leaving in the fall even as I feel the regret of the lonelier months to come.
Everything changes. But life is still good.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Dear Soldier,
My son, Brady, is a college student who just returned from a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters National Park up on the border of Canada and Minnesota. He was gone nine days. When I asked if he'd had a good time he paused. "No. But I'm glad I did it."
There had been good times. There were friendships were built, times of reflection and learning, quiet times of deep peace and spiritual growth. But overall, it was hard work and much to endure surviving in the wilderness, paddling across lakes, portaging through the forest with gear, waiting out the rains. He is grateful for the experience and would even gladly go again. But it was not fun. He made sacrifices and that grew him up some.
It was only a short time and compared to what many of you are enduring it is not comparable... but in some small way I think it is. When you come home you can feel proud. You can feel stronger. You will have changed and, if you let it, you can use what you have learned, what you have endured to be a better person. You can become a kinder, more tolerant person, one who searches and finds the good in any situation.
God has a hand in everything. He doesn't make the horrible situations we find ourselves in but he is there. He will use it to make something better. We may never understand what it is but we can live gratefully knowing that God is there.
There had been good times. There were friendships were built, times of reflection and learning, quiet times of deep peace and spiritual growth. But overall, it was hard work and much to endure surviving in the wilderness, paddling across lakes, portaging through the forest with gear, waiting out the rains. He is grateful for the experience and would even gladly go again. But it was not fun. He made sacrifices and that grew him up some.
It was only a short time and compared to what many of you are enduring it is not comparable... but in some small way I think it is. When you come home you can feel proud. You can feel stronger. You will have changed and, if you let it, you can use what you have learned, what you have endured to be a better person. You can become a kinder, more tolerant person, one who searches and finds the good in any situation.
God has a hand in everything. He doesn't make the horrible situations we find ourselves in but he is there. He will use it to make something better. We may never understand what it is but we can live gratefully knowing that God is there.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Dear Soldier,
Memorial Day. I do not want to be that person who only cares now and then. Today I found some addresses to write to soldiers and I will start doing that again. When you know someone in the thick of battle, in harm's way, it stays close to you. It stays real. It's always close to the surface of one's reality even when not consciously thinking about it. I've fallen away from that kind of thought but I need to bring it closer than just an occasional blurb on the news.
My friend, Austin, was in the Marines and did 3 tours in Iraq. Austin went through the horror of an ambush where several in his unit were killed, including his commanding officer. He also experienced a bullet ricocheting around inside his humvee, constant bombardments to his base to name a few of the things I know of. One doesn't really ever get over that sort of thing. When he finally returned for good he wanted something to remember his 6 lost brothers. He had an idea for a tattoo and asked me to design it for him. I did.
Austin still struggles with PSD and nightmares and other issues that often go hand in hand with that. The good news for you guys out there is that he has met a woman who is willing to stick by him on the journey and he is getting married this fall.
There is life after war. Believe in yourself. Believe that God will stand by you always and help you. When you are knocked down, he'll pick you up or send someone to help you get up.
Pray for it and then watch for it.
Blessings to all and thank you, my friends, for your incredible sacrifice
My friend, Austin, was in the Marines and did 3 tours in Iraq. Austin went through the horror of an ambush where several in his unit were killed, including his commanding officer. He also experienced a bullet ricocheting around inside his humvee, constant bombardments to his base to name a few of the things I know of. One doesn't really ever get over that sort of thing. When he finally returned for good he wanted something to remember his 6 lost brothers. He had an idea for a tattoo and asked me to design it for him. I did.
Austin still struggles with PSD and nightmares and other issues that often go hand in hand with that. The good news for you guys out there is that he has met a woman who is willing to stick by him on the journey and he is getting married this fall.
There is life after war. Believe in yourself. Believe that God will stand by you always and help you. When you are knocked down, he'll pick you up or send someone to help you get up.
Pray for it and then watch for it.
Blessings to all and thank you, my friends, for your incredible sacrifice
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