"Thank you for caring."

If any of you knew me when I was growing up, you'll know I always had big dreams for my life and career. I was going to be a doctor, a writer, a lawyer, a princess, a senator, a journalist, a detective, a teacher, a missionary... you name it, I was probably going to be it at one time. Well, I was going to be it and somehow become famous and possibly rich. I've never "gotten off track", I just consciously decided to let God change my priorities and direct my path. Here I am now, having tried several interesting professions and learned lots of helpful life lessons, working with seniors, particularly ones with Alzheimers. I've figured out that it was WHO I am that God is concerned with and that WHAT I am doing is just a tool in His hand to shape me and make me more usable.

For the past few days, I've been training a new employee. This is one of my favorite things about my job because I get to rehearse not just what we do here but also why we do it. Then I'm reminded of all the reasons that I love this job: all of the hundred or so precious people that I see every day. Here we have a favorite saying: "To the world, you might just be one person, but to one person, you might be the world." I have the privilege to bring understanding, humor, and the love of Christ to people who may be beyond the reach of anyone else. It was a little embarrassing to find myself getting teary while explaining to my new employee just how her attitude would influence the residents at an activity. But I guess it was important for her to see that passion, no, compassion is the key to this job. Mrs. Whitely said it over and over to us when we were in high school: "People are more important than things." I kinda believed her then, but now that is one of the principles that shapes my life.

I still have big dreams for my life. Within the next year or so, I hope to be involved in missions with a fantastic group of God's servants. I always hope to write that best seller. I have faith that God will send along "Mr. Just Right For Me" to have adventures and a family with. Of course, my greatest dream right now is to learn to obey God because I love Him, with no other motivation needed.

Back to today.
"Sue, where's your walker? You need to remember your walker." Her glasses make her eyes huge, and she peers at my boss and me owlishly with frustration.

"If I could make a club..." she says. "They always... I don't..."

"I know," I sympathize. Working with Alzheimer's patients helps you become a mind-reader. "Everyone says that to you, don't they? 'Where's your walker?'"

"We just don't want you to fall," my boss explains.

"I haven't fallen in five hundred years," she states assertively.

"Let's make it five hundred and one years. Just carry your walker along with you."

"Okay. Okay." Sue smiles at me. As we start to walk away, she pats my arm gently. "Thank you. Thank you for caring."

Cleaning out your email folders

It's a task I put off until I have to do it. But, like cleaning your room, it's a task that causes you to find things that were lost. Or people who were lost. Or yourself whom you lose all the time. I found this in a letter I wrote to a friend a couple of years ago. Pastor says we should preach to ourselves. This letter to someone else from "years ago me" caused "present day me" to feel conviction. Maybe I've shared it before-- if so, blame the contagious Alzheimers. (umm, that's a myth, in case you don't know)

"Providential timing amazes me so often. I've been concentrating very hard on similar thoughts lately. Going through the events of the past three years have really shaken up my beliefs on "what life is supposed to be like", on living life for other people's expectations, etc. Now, I am dealing with the other side of that: will I live my life for my own temporary ideas of pleasure? What is truly most important to me-- not just in my words, but in my practical life choices? Do I glorify God in how I speak, how I spend my money, how I spend my time? I don't want to look back on my short life with regrets. I don't want to be deceived by my own desires into wasting my life on things that aren't truly important. I want to live with zest and passion for the things of God. I want joy to explode out of me to those around me. I want to be a pilgrim, however that plays out in my life. So now, I'm sharing with you, friend.

You have so much potential. But potential is only potential for so long. Once the time is past, it's just wasted potential. Don't live for what anyone else wants for you, only Christ. Reevaluate everything if you have to to make sure that what you are doing is what He wants for you. Anyway, that's the advice of someone who doesn't always follow it."

One of "those" days

Yesterday, Joy said to me, "It's been one of 'those' days." I understood what she meant right away, but this morning I am experiencing it myself. As my boss said after I spilled the mocha all over the keyboard of my computer, "You should just go home." You know it's one of "those" days when...

The dog wakes you up thirty minutes before your alarm goes off because he has to go out.

When you stumble into the bathroom, you discover that the person who just exited used the last of the toilet paper and went back to bed. The nearest toilet paper is in the closet down the hall.

When you at your neighborhood coffee shop to get a "Happy Bosses Day" mocha for your boss, a man loitering at the nearby tobacco shop makes an obscene gesture at you.

You spill the mocha on the way out of the shop.

The man is still there and repeats his gesture.

You spill mocha in the car.

You spill mocha on the way into the building.

Residents are tramatized because the two newest baby birds in the aviary are dying in the bottom.

Your boss is thrilled about the treat until you spill mocha in your keyboard.

You knock everything out of the closet on to the floor trying to find the hot chocolate for Jeremy.

And it goes on...

Life is fun. And funny.