When I was younger I had a plan. That plan was to be married by 25 and to have babies soon thereafter. I am 28 and I have no babies.
I do, however, have kids that I call my own and I was thankful to be reminded of that privilege today at church. I was speaking with 2 older ladies and as we were finishing up and one had to leave she turned to me and as she hugged me she said "Happy Mother's Day". I replied "I don't have any kids" and she said back something to the effect of "Yes, but I'm sure some of the kids see you as one". In my confusion I don't remember the exact quote but it reminded me that as a youth leader my teens have become my kids. Things like the times I get a little "mama bear" over them, one boy's odd comment of "You remind me of my grandma" every time he hugs me, and the nickname of "Grangela" that came out of that, make me realise that as much as I'm not their real parents I do have an important role to play as a loving adult in their lives.
I may not have reached my "goals" of being married and having babies in my mid-twenties but I do have kids I get to love and cherish- kids I get to fill with Tang and send home to their parents.... Hmm, maybe I'm more blessed than I thought after all.
Sunday 13 May 2012
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Why does life take so much effort?
The problem with being a pessimist writing an optimistic blog is that it takes effort to find something to write about. Especially when you're drowning in bills, assignments, and responsibilities. The great thing, however, about being a loveable pessimist is that you always have lovely people around to be thankful for.
Take, for instance, my roommate. She's a lovely person- sweet, funny, nice, clean, pays rent on time and she's moving out to live closer to her school. I could be pessimistic about this but being such a lovely person, she's offered to help me find a new roommate who, fingers crossed, will be nearly as good a roommate as she has been. I'm choosing to be optimistic about this.
Unfortunately, life takes effort. It takes effort to find roommates, to scrape up the money to pay the rent, to balance your schedule, to plan for upcoming events, and to be optimistic. The good news though, and here's where we get optimistic, is that people are willing to live with me, the government is decent enough to give good tax returns to us poor people, that I have so many people who desire my time that I need to balance my schedule, that people have entrusted their teens to me to care and plan events for, and that I do actually have lots to be optimistic about!
Life may take effort but at least, most of the time, it's worth it.
Take, for instance, my roommate. She's a lovely person- sweet, funny, nice, clean, pays rent on time and she's moving out to live closer to her school. I could be pessimistic about this but being such a lovely person, she's offered to help me find a new roommate who, fingers crossed, will be nearly as good a roommate as she has been. I'm choosing to be optimistic about this.
Unfortunately, life takes effort. It takes effort to find roommates, to scrape up the money to pay the rent, to balance your schedule, to plan for upcoming events, and to be optimistic. The good news though, and here's where we get optimistic, is that people are willing to live with me, the government is decent enough to give good tax returns to us poor people, that I have so many people who desire my time that I need to balance my schedule, that people have entrusted their teens to me to care and plan events for, and that I do actually have lots to be optimistic about!
Life may take effort but at least, most of the time, it's worth it.
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