An Opportunity Lost

I met up with a girl I had met about 10 years ago just this past Friday night. We had worked together and I really liked her and considered her like the younger sister I never had. Over the past 6 years we have not been in touch until Friday night. The path she has chosen for her life is anything but the one that God planned for her. We were talking and she looked at me and asked me, " do you believe people are brought into your life for a reason?". I said, "absolutely!!!". She looked at me in the eyes and asked, " why do you think God brought YOU into MY life?!!". WOW. That hit me hard and here is the reason.....about 5 years ago and event took place in my life that was weird to me at the time. I had known Richard for many years thru his daughter and my kids. I guess we have known him and his family for about 12 years. One day I went to his house to visit with his wife. She was not home at the time so Richard said just to sit at the pool with him until she got home. At the pool was this guy I had known from our old church. I had not seen him in years and was quiet surprised to see him at Richards house too. Come to find out they had known each other for years. They would go bars together, but then Mr. Z (that's what we called him) got saved and did not go to bars anymore, but Richard and Mr. Z still maintained their friendship. So the 3 of us sat there and talked...not much about anything, but just chatted. I left when Richard's wife came home and that was the end of that...or so I thought. Richard was killed in a car accident about a week later. It was not until many, many months later I realized that God had brought possibly the two people together He thought could witness to Richard. I can only speak for myself, but that opportunity was lost. It weighs on my heart still very heavy today....because I can't say where Richard is spending his eternity. So, with the question my friend Lori asked me Friday night, hit me right where it hurts (in my heart) and made me think....what am I going to do with this opportunity with her? I have started back praying for her and asking God what He would have me do for/with her. I will try to be more aware of the people brought into my life and not take situations so lightly. Missed opportunities are one of the things in life you can NEVER get back, but very possibly the greatest loss will be to the person that was brought into YOUR life.

Everybody Likes Me!!?

I came upon a thought or discovery today while I was walking my 2 miles at lunch time. I try to go to this lake by my work and walk 2-3 miles during my lunch hour a few times each week. It is a great way to escape the office and get some exercise. Well, how does this tie into the title of my posting? It all started back in middle school, to the best of my memory, that I thought and truly believed, everybody liked me. I was just a very happy-go-lucky person, thought the best of people, believed EVERYONE and since I liked EVERYONE, I thought....and believed it was reciprocated. This went well into high school (I have vivid memories of this being so in high school) and in college. It has since flowed through into my work world. Well, when I went back to my 25th High School reunion I was soooo excited. I just KNEW they would all be just as excited to see me. So I took my name tag off, just positive that they would all remember me, and I very excitedly entered into the room where the pre-reunion was the night before. It was the third person I encounterd, no wait, the third person I hugged (Cindy Jordan....we had been in school together since 3rd grade) and I said, "HI, CINDY!" (if I was a dog, my tail up to my hips would have been wagging) and waited for the same response. It was the same as the first two people, "hi, and who are you, and where is your name tag?" Of course I am not easily discouraged so I said, "HA, I don't need one because I know YOU know ME!". I quickly discovered that was not the case. So now, back to the lake. I have been walking there for about a year off and on. I take my CD player with me with some earplugs. You know the big round thing? Well, many, many people are always smiling at me. So I think, yes....Everybody Likes Me. I have been so pleased at the lake with this great old feeling.....until this Christmas I got an iPod. The last week I have not received any smiles. The discovery today was, is it because they were smiling/laughing(?) at me because I had a huge, bulky CD player!!!! Oh, it hurt, I can't deny that. But I had to smile at myself because, well, that is just the way I am. Not narcissistic or anything like that, just simple hearted (not minded but hearted). But wait, the second lap into my walk, someone smiled at me.....it was coming back,that old wonderful feeling that , YES, THEY LIKE ME!!!"....or was it because I was singing along with my new pink iPod....did they hear me singing that great song with Elton John,.....rolling like thunder under the covers.....hmmmm......for the sake of my happiness (which directly affects others happiness) I will BELIEVE.....THEY LIKE ME!!!! EVERYBODY LIKES ME!!!

First Timer for an Old Timer

Well, this is my first post and I could very well be blogging just to myself! But that will be ok because just writing things down is good therapy.

Just a little bit of info on me, I am married with 3 children, I work in an industry that has sales goals. We have 3 dogs and I have lived in South Carolina for 17 years now, originally born and raised in WA state (the Great Pacific Northwest).

Now, I will blog.....I am burned out! I have been doing sales for the past 6 years (in the same industry for about 20 years) and with the beginning of 2009 brings a whole new set of sales goals, referral goals, not to mention my constant goal to loose weight and reduce the size of my upper arms ( a wonderful genetic "feature" my mom passed on to me and my 3 sisters). It is Monday, and what is worse is it is Monday MORNING!!! I wish I could not work, maybe a part time job where I have no responsibilities. I would like to volunteer and help others, visit nursing homes, and the dog pound. I can only put one foot in front of the other and plug thru this Monday MORNING because then there will be Monday AFTERNOON and then thank goodness for Monday NIGHT when I can crawl into my own bed, pull the covers over my head and not have to do anything, think of anything (unless God wakes me up with a burden of someone, usually one of my children, to pray for) for a while. I think about going to bed and sleeping alot. Infact that is one of things I can say I look forward to. Hmmm, not much excitement here. But with my blogging you will see I have a deep faith in God and He is very real and lives in my heart. I look to Him daily and I trust Him completely. So here I go, stepping into this Monday MORNING and starting my new year.
RoChellE