Sharing The Hard

Recently, mumbled jumbled thoughts have scattered my brain. Nothing that can seem to form a sentence that would even make sense. Just thoughts.

Let's go back three weeks ago when my older brother Drew was in town. He was visiting from a week leave of deployment before heading off to Afghanistan. It was a time to hang out, love a lot, and daydream of every single thing that we could cram into the hours he was here.

We debated about which patterns and colors we were gonna wear for our family photo shoot. And we sat by the poolside drinking a few brews. Life couldn't get much better than that.

Initially when Drew mentioned to us he was getting deployed we had no idea what that would mean and it scared us sideways to wonder too hard. Our family spent nights on end praying "It's your will God. Do whatever you want." Trusting is hard especially when your brother will be traveling to serve in a war zone.

The months that followed were uncertain and our stomachs turned over and over. But war isn't supposed to feel easy, comfortable, and happy. When he visited he gave a detailed explanation of his job and location of where he would be staying. Not that it was reassuring or comforting but a little more settling than before. I wish that night I was able to record every word he said.

It was beautiful.

His heart overflowed with purpose as to why he has been pushing so hard to serve overseas. It wasn't to gain a stripe or for status, rather for his children, nieces and nephews to see the good he did for our country, that we so take for granted.

Fast forward two weeks. The day he landed overseas the Department of Defense delivered a service flag to our home. The blue star represents a family member serving in a war zone. This flag is to hang in the front window of our home during the period of time that he is serving. It is a special reminder of the sacrifice the men and women give for us to live in a country like we do.

I cannot begin to think of a way to thank these warriors enough for their bravery and sacrifice that they provide for us to live in such a blessed country. As Americans we tend to take for granted the rights that we have. In which we now know aren't rights, but instead priceless gifts given to us by people like you, American soldiers. It is important that we become more aware and that we owe every peaceful moment to you. People like you, Drew, make it so we can be free to work, free to pray, and free to love. You are the reason we Americans can sleep at night. Because you are there, we are here living safe, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Thank you for being you and being my hero. We love you and we are so proud of you. Please let all the other warriors know our appreciation of their sacrifice, being away from families to keep us safe here at home. For they, are also our heroes.

All my honor,
Natalie

Highs & Lows

Oh goodness I'm lovin this coastal weather, are we in the central valley.. seriously? Fantastic is an understatement.

These past two weeks the schools have been underway with state testing. When I was young it was my favorite time of the year. An excuse to chew gum and eat unlimited snacks. Heck yes.

The amount of students I see during this time of year slows down due to testing. However; my older group of students make time to stop by and poke their heads in hoping therapy will take place. Today it did.

I see a group of three students who are all in 6th grade. They come in once a week for 30 minutes of speech and language therapy. At the beginning of the year they were quiet, and I pushed hard to get a word out of them. Homies musta been scared of their 5 foot 123lb blondie speech teacher.

It didn't take long for me to see the hearts in these kids. Genuine and loving, looking for time from someone who would listen and pay attention to them. I started allocating the last 15 minutes of speech to reflect on the good and not so good times in our lives. Which we later called Highs and Lows. You better believe I participate too.

Little did I know how much of an impact this was making. Word quickly got around to the school about our High/Low time and kids were stopping me in the hallways.. "Teacher Natalie, can I come to speech with ______".

Working in an area that has high poverty and hearing deep deep stories from the kids, makes my stomach turn. I take it in and remind myself to exhale. It's not easy and I'm not even living it. I'll be honest, I'm having trouble with the "ins" and "outs". I need more guarantees for these kids to know, actually know, that something greater than their lousy deadbeat parents is out there.

I've never known the struggle of not wanting to go home because of parents fighting, drugs, drama, abuse, going without electricity and water. How can you concentrate in school with all those situations and I'll never know why these young innocent kids were handed a brutal life. Because of that I use speech as a tool to teach life skills. For these kids and myself our High/Low time is beneficial and reminds us of the little things in life to be happy for.

The future for them might seem uncertain and blurry, but in the precious 30 minutes we take once a week, everything that almost existed snaps into focus for a moment. They feel hope peak in with a frown that turns into a smile. If anything... Thats what counts.

The Power of Criticism

"I don't know what the key to success is, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
- Bill Crosby

Ever notice that one person can love a certain type of food, and not the other? Or maybe even the person sitting directly across from you has a completely opposite preference. Taste is subjective and so are a lot of other things. We each have different preferences of food, color, music, fashion, etc because we are all different in our opinions.

Recently at the church I call home, the production department has received some not so favorable reviews. In fact, a few have not been critical but rather scathing.

Let me start off by saying... this church, the church I call home is designed to instill a creative experience of worship with a variety of elements. That is how we've always done it. I truly believe because of it we have grown as a whole.

Having heard the negative feedback it made my head spin. It made me angry, and as a volunteer in this area of ministry it made me want to call several people out. As the week went by I continued to think. It seems as though those people are more concerned about worshiping a list of things they need rather than worshiping the creator himself. Are we more concerned about ourselves or reaching out to a new attendee and turning them towards Christ?

Last week, I read a great article by Doug Fields about dealing with criticism in the church. Here is a quote that really caught my eye on how to reduce criticism called the “10% factor.” It goes like this...

 

“At any given time, 10% of my audience is not going to like me. It doesn’t matter what I do, there are going to be people who don’t know my heart, my motives, my story, etc… They are going to be negative no matter what."

If we continue to go on and seek validation from someone other than ourselves, we put power in that person's hands.  BING!

So lately, I've realized that in life we can either give up on what we are doing or choose to continue with the way we have always done things. We can continue to create and be fired up with the amount of lives changing or get wrapped up in an individuals complaints. Because those rewards far outweigh the criticism.

The rest is out of our control. At the end of the day, the only thing we can control is our response to criticism. It's hard because criticism stings!

Beyond Blessed

So I’m a little bit behind schedule on blogging… obviously, just started yesterday. So much craziness in the air and not enough time to jot it all down.

My great grandma was in town from the state of bead throwers, beignet eaters, & superdome cheerleaders. Can you guess where? At 94 years old she is walking without a crutch, doing her daily calf raises & enjoying her evening margaritas. Can I get an Amen?!

I was lucky enough to have some really good conversations with her during her visit. Those are the moments I will cherish most. Her since of humor, smile, & compliments will forever hold a place in my heart. Not many people are blessed to have a great grandma like me.

Three Generations 

It’s always hard to say goodbye not knowing exactly when I will see her again (Even though all of us believe she will out live us). What I do know is, she has an abounding love for the Lord & will have eternal life. Cool huh? 

A month ago my mom left me an article to read. It really made me think about things & touched me in a spot that I knew needed some work. Spending quality time with our aging loved ones. Regardless of my hectic schedule & busy life, they deserve love, time & respect too.

Four Generations
(well shoot, I sure know who I'm gonna look like)