Cleaning the Windshield!

It's been a pretty rough week. But then, since 1996 when Mom died, that's just how Mother's Day weeks have been for me. It's not just that I miss her on Mother's Day, but her birthday is that week, too! DOUBLE WHAMMY! And as if that were not enough, eight years ago, my sweet Daddy, after a VERY short, but valiant battle with brain cancer, died that week, too! Wow, wish he could have selected his time to go, 'cause I know he would have picked a time that was not so jam-packed with emotion. But, we don't get to make those kinds of decisions. When it rains, it pours, I guess! Let's add just a pinch more to this "Mother's Day Week Disaster" recipe--shall we? As desperately as I wanted a family of my own with my wonderful husband, for reasons beyond my control, that just was not to be. So, each year now as I am missing my mom, and dad, I also hear the echos of all those sweet little voices I'd hoped for in my mind and try not to wonder what would have been. Yep, it's been a rough week, indeed!

I can get lost in some pretty serious discouragement during Mothers Day weeks and do it pretty dang fast! But then, I'm guessing you just may know what I mean here. I do not have the corner on the market where hard times or discouragement are concerned. I'm not the only one who's had sadness, loss, or even despair creep into her life. Life is just full of both good and bad times. Sometimes, it's hard to keep from slipping into a negative outlook when we've been a faced with an onslaught of tough circumstances. Although I realize some cases are far more serious than others, for some of us, the way out of the "negativity cave" may be as simple as where we place our focus. For example:


Old Focus Number One: I miss my mom! She died FAR too young. I have no one to share those special "mother-daughter" moments. Poor, pitiful me!

NEW Focus Number One: My incredibly fun, loving, gifted mother was part of my life for almost 37 years! She taught me so much and I am now building on what I learned from her. I am using those gifts, and talents to bring beauty and grace and love into the lives of others! What a wonderful legacy! (Happy Birthday & Happy Mother's Day, once again! Though I miss you still after all these years, I am so thankful to God that you were a part of my life! Thank you so much! I love you!)

Old Focus Number Two: I Miss My Daddy! (Again) Poor Pitiful Me!!

NEW Focus Number Two: My dad was the best!! He was brilliant and healthy right up to the moment we found out he had a fast growing brain cancer. What a blessing that if he had to have that horrible disease, at least it was a fast growing kind!! He taught me how to live, and he taught me how to die! The day he quietly slipped into a coma 5 1/2 months after he was diagnosed with cancer, as we sat with him in the hospital, people we’d never heard of called and stopped by to see him. When they could not speak with him directly, they insisted on talking to us. They told us wonderful things he’d done that had changed their lives, sometimes in dramatic ways. I was amazed. Dad had done so much for so many, yet never uttered so much as one word about it to another soul! After a long afternoon of waiting and watching together, my dad quietly went home to be with the Lord. That is exactly how I want to live my life. Go around helping people, and doing good. Then, quietly slip away. (Daddy, I miss you so much it hurts, even 8 years later! I've been a "Daddy's Girl" from the start, guess I always will be! I love you! Thank you, for being such a wonderful role model for me!)

Old Focus Number Three: I didn't have the family I hoped and dreamed I'd have. (Again--) Poor, pitiful me!

NEW Focus Number Three: Even though I'll never know the sound of "my own little ones" saying the words "Happy Mother's Day" or "I love you, Mom", and even though I believe that motherhood is among the highest of callings, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my steps are ordered by the Lord. He has a purpose, a plan and a calling on my life. How? The Bible tells me so. "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew and approved you [as my chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you..." God's word to Jeremiah (Chapter 1 verse 5) and to all those of us today who turn to Jesus as our assurance. That means, me. . and I hope, you! And, I also have the promise from God found in Jeremiah 29:11 "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."

Yes, my focus was a little "blurry" last week. I was looking back, which is not all bad, but I began to "wallow" in the past, bemoaning things that hadn't worked out the way I had hoped they would. The truth is, I am a promise, living a promise! And God has plans for me, GOOD plans! Even now (at my "advanced age"!) there is hope and and a future for me. . no matter what has gone before! So, today, I am readjusting my focus. I'm thankful for what has gone before. I am thankful for the time I had with both my parents, for the wonderful legacies they left me to pass on to others. And even if I do not have children of my own, there are so many in this world with whom I can share God's love--now I just have more time to do it!!

Remembering, with great love, those who have sacrificed to help make me who I am today, I'm going to move forward again now, toward...as Paul put it in Philippians 3:14 "the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward." I am a promise! Have been all my life, just like you! No matter what has gone before in our lives, the promise God placed within us at birth still holds!

If you've had a rough day, week, month, wow do I understand! Let's take a minute or two to change our focus. It's a bit like cleaning off a horribly muddy car windshield when we change our focus and begin to look at the positives in our lives! And once that's done, we can start moving forward again!

Ready? Cool! Let's GO!!!