Eyes open to growth

Life lessons can be found in the simplest of ways, especially if you're a parent and you're eyes are open to growth.  Many times people have told me about how God showed them a part of His character through them having to discipline their children.  They also said that they could understand how God might love things about their personality and quarks, because of the way they feel about their own children.  And although I am not a bona fide mommy, I think my time spent as a nanny and aunt of 16 has come with many, "Ah haaaa" moments from God too. 

Last week I watch a friend's two children for four days so that she could celebrate her anniversary with her husband and during that time I had one of those moments.  It all started with a hike and picnic that I had planned to take the kids on.  They were very content to do things at home and didn't think my plan of a hike would be all that fun because they hadn't seen were I was going to be taking them.  As we drove farther and farther from our part of town and got closer to the mountains I think I could sense some excitement building at what might lay ahead of us!

I had planned for us to stop and eat lunch in the picnic area first and then we would drive up to the main attraction.  I hadn't expected the kids to love the picnic area as much as they did.  There was a small river that was quiet tempting to play in and explore so I let them go at it for a bit, until I decided it was time to go.  This is where my life lesson started, because I practically had to drag one of the kids to the car so I could take them "higher".  Try as I might, I just couldn't convince them that as cool as this place was, mini waterfall and all, it wasn't nearly as amazing as where I had planned to let them explore.  After finally getting them in the car I knew I had become the enemy, the thwarter of dreams, crusher of adventures, but I was sure that with every twist in the road that brought us up they would see the bigger river, mammoth rocks to climb and safer paths to walk.

Finally, at the top, when they saw the big waterfall (bigger than the one that had been left behind) everything seemed to make sense.  The possibility were limitless!!  And on the way back down the mountain one of the kids said to the other, "Are you going to admit it?", "Admit what?" the other replied. "You know what.", said her brother. 

So back to the part where I saw a life lesson in this trip.  God showed me that He has all these amazing plans for me, and at times He has had to MAKE me come with Him.  After dragging me to the starting point of some wonderful adventure I have decided that the starting place was my destination and again I fought God, unwilling to be moved.  I felt the humor and irony of  the situation with the kids.  He reminded me that because I don't know the things He knows, because I haven't seen the wonderful places that He wants me to go, I have often made a fool of myself in fighting His leading.  Lovingly He has coxed me into the car and driven me to higher places after which I see how wrong I was as I'm face to face with His limitless possibilities for my life.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." 

Lessons from a dog sitter

One thing about having a less than normal life is that I'm always taking on odd jobs to pay the rent.  From construction clean up to being a nanny I feel like I've done every side job possible.  And this last week I spent a few days watching two very likeable dogs, but in the proses I have learned some "priceless" lessons.
   
     1. A full isn't just the size of the bed I usually stay in while dog sitting, it is the actual description of the bed with me squished between two dogs who don't understand the rules of sharing

    2. Dogs can snore . . . and have dreams that make them fight, run and whimper for help. These dreams usually start just as you begin to drift into REM.  And I thought I was a tough bunk mate!
    3. Cell phone texting will trigger loud barking at the door when you least expect it.

    4. You can't make a small dog "do their business" where they're supposed to if it's cold outside.  I know this to be a fact because every dog I've ever had charge of while there was inclement weather seems to have an aversion to wetting on an already wet area!  And you can forget about them staying out in the cold long enough to poo.  My apologies to the carpet, I just wasn't forceful enough to scare the ___ out of her while she was outside and as a result she pick on you.
    5.Like a kid and candy Dogs never get enough of catch.  I must confess that I have become a fan of this full contact sport because I'm able to root for the "underdog" hoping that they can beat the faster dog to the ball.

Other than these lessons revisited I have enjoyed waking up before the sun to feed and let the dogs out just so they can trick me into thinking they have emptied themselves.  And I found myself able to understand why people love their dogs as much as they do.  I could almost see why people leave money to their prized pooch in the Will.  Dogs love, they don't judge and they are pretty easy to please.  So here's to man's best friend!  You have won me over.

Navigating Life Solo

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re lost while driving to find a place that you’ve never been too?  I hate that feeling!  Navigation to a new destinations can be sort of stressful for me so I do all that I can to make sure that things go smoothly.  It isn’t that I dislike getting lost, it’s that I hate feeling dumb as I wander around failing to find my destination and showing up late for an appointment. 

You should see the careful preparations I take in an effort to not get lost.  Sometimes I joke that my approach to life might be slightly OCD.  My first step to traveling peace of mind is getting onto MapQuest and typing in the address of my destination.  Then I get out a slip of paper and I make my notes to go along with the map.  It isn’t enough for me that the map tells me what street to turn at, I need to know the name of each street that I will pass by just before my turn. 

Is this OCD enough for you?  In my defense I usually don’t have someone in the car looking at a map and telling me where and when to turn so this is my lifeline and when I’m driving 55 mph how the heck am I supposed to see a small street sign in time to get over?  As long as I hold my trusty notes in hand things go very smoothly.  The only time the journey gets bumpy is if I start to worry about missing my turn…when this happens I end up panicking and turning too soon.  I waste time by having to turn around and usually I find out that I had only one block to go before my next turn anyways.  Talk about ridiculous!

I’m pretty sure that I’ve been equally ridiculous when it comes to trusting God with my life these last few months. You know, wasting time because of not believing in my directions.  A while back God showed me the road he wanted me on and that this path would lead me to my future.  I got myself prepared, studied the map thoroughly in prayer, and climbed into the car heading toward my future.  I made the turns at each cue, but as the trip started to drag on I wondered if I missed a turn somewhere.  In the middle of my concerns people began to phone me with worries that I wasn’t going to make it either.  They felt certain that I was off track and tried to fix my life.  Like a fool I listened…even started to talk to myself about how foolish I was for not turning here or missing it there.  After going around in circles for way too long I finally stopped in my tracks pulled over and tried to collect myself. 

Suddenly I looked to my front right passenger seat and saw Jesus just sitting there.  He had been in the car the whole time, but in my panic I forgot that I had made Him my co-pilot from the start.  The moment I saw his face I crumbled: how could I have forgotten that He was there?  At least I knew everything was going to be fine now.  He pointed out that I had been going along just fine until I stopped trusting his direction and started to believe I needed someone else to help me.  My dread of looking foolish had almost made me missed it!

I think these last few weeks God has used this time to get me back on the road I was on before this whole panic attack took over.  I’m feeling confident and clear headed…and somehow I have this feeling that my next turn is only a block away!

Isaiah 30:18-23 (NJKV) Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.  For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.  And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.  Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.  You will also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, "Get away!"  Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures.

The start

I have been asked several times by friends why I haven't created my own blog, I have finally decided it was time to dust off my computer and use it as I had always intended to use it.  I feel a little rusty having only used my skills of communication in short posts on FB.  I guess the hope of others reading my thoughts and sending out an AMEN rather than clicking the thumbs up response to a brief thought has awakened again within me.  I've chosen the name The Single Satisfaction because I'm hoping to write about life as a single woman from my point of view.  It isn't a tragedy to be found manless and I think very few people are encouraging woman to just sit back and enjoy life for what it is right now. 

So I will write about things that I'm learning, thoughts I've been having, funny stories I wanted to share and pictures of beautiful places I've been.  I hope the end result will be a smile left on your face, a warm feeling in your heart or maybe a moment of relief in finding that you're not alone in this struggle of trying to do life.

Of course should I suddenly find myself no longer single I guess I will have to rework the whole idea. Haha.