Do you really have to?

So I'm on vacation.  What's on my list of things I HAVE to do?  not much.  nothing at all that I can think of, actually.  But somehow i belabor myself with a whole list.  It turns into I have to go kayaking, and I have to go out to dinner with my friends.  Last I checked, these things were "get to", not "have to".  Where does this list of things that must be done come from?  I have to go to the grocery store...I have to run...I have to be in bed by 11... I have to call ___... I have to write on my blog....

Basically this "have to" takes the fun things and puts them on a list of chores.  Totally taking away the get to idea.   I get to relax by the pool.  I get to see my friends and hang out with my parents.  I get to go out to eat.   I get to kayak and run.  These are privileges - things I enjoy!  but I find myself putting them on the have to list and rushing to check them off instead of savoring the moments I'm doing them.   I'm always looking to get to the next have to, inventing them if necessary.  Does checking them off make me a more accomplished person?  Is seeing a list of todo's completed more satisfying than spending a day enjoying what I do?  The more things I check off, the faster I qualify for the next stage and the next day and the next to-do list.  Hmmm... not sure I want to get there. 

Being.  Much better than doing.  Being is all that's required.  

New Name?

Guess I'm no longer a Florida Girl in Michigan.  I'm currently a Florida girl in Florida, soon to be a Florida girl in North Carolina, which just isn't as unique.  There will probably be quite a few of us.  So...looking for a new name.  I'm thinking something with alliteration.  Maybe Experiencing Everything or Floridian Following or something clever.  hmmm...

Reflections on 25 years

"Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination" Jhumpa Lahiri

Just thinking about what I have. What I've done, and what I want to do. Pretty amazing all of these things. More than I could have planned, and that's saying something - I plan every detail. But the details of life - can't be planned by us with such a small view of the picture. To look back and see that it was better than I could have imagined. Planned and purposed all along - to grow me and refine me and shape me into who I'm becoming. Not their yet, but moving forward.

Last night went to a friend's house to make these "Treasure Maps" - poster boards of things we see ourselves or want to see ourselves doing in the next day or week or lifetime. Not my idea - but what better way could there be to look at the quarter century mark?
We had quite a variety of magazines - Self and Glamour, National Geo, In style, Science, Shape, Cosmo, US News, and a few O&P magazines I brought along.
I found some great stuff. The 2 O&P magazines I randomly picked out from the pile that come every other week were both featuring O&P missions, bringing me to actual pictures of the students I met at the Cambodian school of O&P and the team which I hope to go to Ghana with next summer. I have a lot of pictures of various exotic beaches, including a surfer (my North Carolina endeavour?). I have a hottie and a lovely diamond ring along with a picture of a man and woman running with the quote "(Sound Mind) x (Sound Body) x two = Happily Ever After"
I have tons of great career stuff, even more than the abroad - "Creating a future prosthesis", "Meeting the Challenge for Your Patients" and a huge quote "Providing the very BEST O&P". I have a whole section on letting go - picture of some feet up, "Finds Calm: When life gets busy, what's urgent can overshadow what's truly important", "Hey, it's OK...", "Let your goodness blossom".
Lots of good stuff. Lots of things I hope to accomplish and be a part of. But - the center of my map is pretty much empty. Maybe it was my subject material, although as I mentioned, I thought we had quite a variety of magazines. I found only a 1" by 1/4" word - Christian - to represent the most important aspect of my life - living for God! Growing closer to Jesus! Loving Him and His people, fixing my eyes and mind on eternal matters, completely surrendering my hopes and dreams to follow His prompting. I know that He will lead me where my life can be most useful. I've seen already that this can look ridiculously different from how I think it should, how I plan for it to look. However, I've also seen that He always knows what He's doing. Some things He'll show me the purpose of later on in life, some I won't understand till I meet Him face to face. But I chose to follow and trust. I want to paste a huge cross over this whole poster because without that, none of this matters anyways.
and for people who make these maps hoping to direct their future (the power of positive thinking? Oprah?), my heart aches for them! God has much greater plans than can be thought up in our minds or cut out of a magazine! And that is the amazing thing.

How Ya'll Doin'?

Been a while since I blogged anything! Not sure why. Just stopped. Anyways, got to spend some time thinking on vacation in the Keys. Came up with some good stuff. One is I think I've been a little too Northern/Midwestern. Being with the greatest family ever made me really think about where I've come from and truthfully it's someplace I want to be obvious. My family is awesome - Dad who give good advice, most selfless mother ever, Sister who I'm super tight with, and brother who there's still hope for. Just kidding great brother. I forget sometimes how much he's persevered through. Middle school is tough enough with bad skin, much less a different and less cooperative body.

I grew up in the Gulf! I belong on the bow of a boat, jarred and flying all around but surrounded by people I love and in awe of the beauty of God's creation. There is such a connection for me with the water. God speaks to me there - He tells me of His amazing power and He uses the beauty of clouds and waves and sand to woo me to Him.

So in conclusion, I'm going to incorporate the word ya'll back in to my vocab. Gotta be true to my PC, Redneck Riviera roots. I couldn't have asked for more.

He Washed It White as Snow

New Year's Eve! Well, day now. I left my house at 7:30 and it was a pleasant 30 something degrees. Now, at nearly 4 am, there is almost 6 inches of snow! This snow is completely different than the last snow, which was very light and fluffy. This snow is wet and sticky and very packable, as the Michiganders tell me. So after the countdown and toast, we went outside (in our New Year's finest) to make 2 huge snowmen! Over 6 feet tall, each! Turns out that the idea of pushing snow around to make a snowball is not just something of fictional movies and illustrated books - it actually works!! You just start with a little ball and start rolling and minutes later it's so big it takes 4 people to lift it! Crazy. And if you can make a snowman, it only follows that you can make some pretty big snowballs. So after the snowman mission was accomplished, the snowball fight began!
Soaking wet, we headed back inside and then I had to drive here in all that snow! But turns out - it's not as scary as I thought. And the 4-wheel drive makes a huge difference.
While I was driving, I got to see Ann Arbor pure and clean and covered in a huge, unblemished blanket. Wow. Now I have to believe God had some analogies in mind when He thought up snow. Snow = Grace! Everything is messy and kind of winter brown/dirt grey and then the snow falls and everything is covered. No matter what's underneath, all you see is the pure whiteness of the snow. Not long enough after it falls, it starts getting grey and messy again. But then again, the snow falls and everything is fresh and clean again! and this happens again and again until finally - Spring! Green, fresh and beautiful in a new way!
No matter what we are messy with, God offers to cover it with His grace - making us pure and clean! And He does it again and again until finally His work is finished and we can have the ultimate, unending cleanliness.
Jesus paid it all - all to Him I owe.
My sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.