Randoms to end the week <3

Randoms to end the week 

Random #1

I didn’t factor in time yesterday to post and I usually do some kind of remembrance of 9-11. I still am trying to wrap my mind around it being 24 years ago. 

Last night John called to say hi and Russ asked if he remembered where he was that day when he heard about it. He said he was home. I said there was no way. It happened in the morning and he would have been at school when our neighbor friend called to tell me to turn on the news. 

Nope, mom, I was home. You were crying and praying and I went back up to room to give you some space. 

Turns out his school started at 9 so yes, he was home. He said he walked to school. It was a straight shot through the backyards behind us and across the playground. He would have been 11 years old. 

I know I went to the junior high to check on Sarah and see if she wanted to come home. Rachel was a senior in high school. She had already been through her high school making national news for a gun at a football game. 

I can’t believe he was home and I don’t remember. I can’t believe I let him walk to school. I can’t believe at that young age he understood about me needing space to pray and process.

But I can believe why their generation struggles with anxiety and depression. 

We have to do better. 

Random #2

There are a lot of words flying around out there on social media and the media. 

Remember to never say something to a faceless crowd that you would not be able to say to any person standing in front of you. 

Random #3

I am going to the Declare Conference again this coming week. 

This will be my third visit to this sweet little gathering in the Dallas area. 

It is my sixth conference over this Journey. The first one was a She Speaks conference in North Carolina. I went with the goal of starting a blog and thus this space was born that fall. The circumstances surrounding attending are bubbling into a post that I hope to settle into words soon. 

Each conference I attended, I set a goal to add something new to what I do here. To be honest, I am a bit flat heading to this one. 

I don’t know what to expect and I am finding it difficult to leave Russ, home and our life here. 

While I am looking forward to reconnecting with my friend Shelly, who co-wrote the Christmas book with me, I feel adrift in what God might still have for this little Journey we have shared. 

So I am going with listening ears and a heart set on being “Restored” which is the theme of the conference. I am looking forward to a pretty table set where I will meet some new people, listening to creatives and what they are doing and perhaps penning some new ideas in the journal I will most assuredly receive as part of the SWAG. 

Random #4

I found myself in a conversation with two younger-than-me moms yesterday. 

They were talking about perimenopause. I kept my head down in my knitting as they chatted and tried not to hear anything I shouldn’t be privy to since they appeared to be close friends. 

Finally one of them drew me into the conversation by asking why no one (meaning those who have been through it) talk about it. 

I stammered that I had the same question at her age, but once on the other side, you really don’t want to talk about. Like veterans of a war, you offer input when asked but its not like you think about it or feel equipped to give advice to anyone because each woman experiences it differently. 

I finally said it’s kind of a niche conversation and I am always willing to answer specifics, but don’t think to chat about it randomly. I also mentioned that I am also slightly in shock that these women who I think are still babes are actually going through that. 

So I went back to knitting, but there were so many things I wanted to say. 

Like I wanted to tell them that they are so beautiful. Their jawlines and necks are firm, they don’t have funny lines around their mouths and hair sprouting everywhere except on the top of the head. 

I wanted to remind them to uncross their legs or they would find veins like roadmaps that are the reason I was wearing jeans instead of shorts. I wanted to tell them that unless genetics or consistent workouts are in their favor, they will find the midsection of their bodies scrunching down and pushing out in the most alarming ways. I wanted to sound like my own mom and tell them to make sure to keep good posture.

I wanted the tell them that medicare doesn’t cover hormone therapy and when you reach a certain age, young people will be so very nice to you, but you will feel irrelevant a lot of the time. 

I wanted to tell them that we don’t feel the age we look and we love all the ages and stages so far so we have great expectations for this next season. For God has blessed us with wonderful people all along the way and the Journey is best walked together. 

Blessings friends, 

I am out of randoms and time

You are loved.