I have often marveled at the quick pace of change that my grandparents and great-grandparents generation saw. In a matter of just a few years, they went from horses and buggies to automobiles and then space travel. I have often assumed that I would not see such change in my own life... we kind of seemed advanced enough already.
But this week it occurred to me that ten years ago I was living in Alicante, Spain. It was a time pre-facebook and pre-skype. I was paying by the minute at an internet cafe to instant message friends and check my e-mail. I had a film camera. And the only music I had with me were the c.d.s I had brought and bought, whereas the MP3s that I had downloaded on my computer back in the States were kind of just stuck on the computer.
So where my grandparents saw rapid changes and advancements in travel, I have seen rapid advancements in communication and technology. When I was born, computers filled entire rooms, and now I have three in my house, two of which are portable, plus two iPhones which are essentially pocket computers. When I was born, everyone had a landline (which Van and I have never had). I remember when caller i.d. was the new thing, and I know what a busy sound on a phone sounds like (because some people - like my Mom - thought "call waiting" was rude...)
What changes have you seen? I think that so often the changes are so subtle we don't even realize it's happening... maybe we never even consider all the things that have changed around us - and even within us.
One month from today I will be thirty!! Time sure does fly when you're having fun!
What I do not want is to avoid embracing the changes that come... over the last ten years, as one of the "youth" I have accepted all of the changes with patience and enjoyment. I liked having an iPod better than a disc man. I have liked having cell phones, communicating through Facebook, and all of the other small subtle changes that I have seen... but as I pass into another decade, I want to continue to learn... to stay sharp with the advancements, and to not despair the changes that are occurring... because not all changes are bad.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
heaven
Sometimes profound does not equal complex.
There is an old, hispanic man who my parents have become friends with since they moved to Texas. He is a man in his 80s. His ways are simple. His name is "Brother Bustos".
Brother Bustos said that when he was a little boy he loved to play up underneath the porch of his home, despite the fact that it was dirty and full of cobwebs, spiders, and other bugs.
When Brother Bustos was an adult he was praying one day and he said that the Lord spoke to his heart and asked him what was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A lover of the night sky, he prayerfully responded back that the stars were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And then God spoke back to his heart, saying that the stars were underneath His home. Brother Bustos was then reminded of his childhood, and the comparisons of the underneath of his porch and the actual house and thought in amazement, "oh, if the stars are the underneath of His porch... how much more grand is His home!"
What a touching and profound thought.
My cousin Jake (who I wrote about in my last blog) told me that his littlest brother Jeremiah (who is 15) has been having a lot of dreams about their Mom lately. Jake and Jeremiah were talking about heaven one day and Jeremiah started explaining to Jake that he sort of was understanding heaven by these Iron Man previews he'd been seeing... Jeremiah is super excited to see the soon to be released Iron Man, but right now all he can do is anticipate. He loves watching the previews, which sort of give him a taste of what is coming... although they don't totally satisfy the desire. He told Jake that he believed the dreams he had been having were God's previews for his future... while they do not satisfy his desire for heaven or being reunited with his Mom, they do wet his appetite and satisfy the longing even if just a little bit.
Simple and yet profound.
There is an old, hispanic man who my parents have become friends with since they moved to Texas. He is a man in his 80s. His ways are simple. His name is "Brother Bustos".
Brother Bustos said that when he was a little boy he loved to play up underneath the porch of his home, despite the fact that it was dirty and full of cobwebs, spiders, and other bugs.
When Brother Bustos was an adult he was praying one day and he said that the Lord spoke to his heart and asked him what was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A lover of the night sky, he prayerfully responded back that the stars were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And then God spoke back to his heart, saying that the stars were underneath His home. Brother Bustos was then reminded of his childhood, and the comparisons of the underneath of his porch and the actual house and thought in amazement, "oh, if the stars are the underneath of His porch... how much more grand is His home!"
What a touching and profound thought.
My cousin Jake (who I wrote about in my last blog) told me that his littlest brother Jeremiah (who is 15) has been having a lot of dreams about their Mom lately. Jake and Jeremiah were talking about heaven one day and Jeremiah started explaining to Jake that he sort of was understanding heaven by these Iron Man previews he'd been seeing... Jeremiah is super excited to see the soon to be released Iron Man, but right now all he can do is anticipate. He loves watching the previews, which sort of give him a taste of what is coming... although they don't totally satisfy the desire. He told Jake that he believed the dreams he had been having were God's previews for his future... while they do not satisfy his desire for heaven or being reunited with his Mom, they do wet his appetite and satisfy the longing even if just a little bit.
Simple and yet profound.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Four men and a Lady.
The older I get the more of a sentimental sap I am becoming. I use to laugh at my Mom for crying at commercials. But, here I am inching my way towards thirty, and with every day closer to that age, I find myself becoming a little bit softer around the edges. Maybe that is a good thing. I'm kind of thinking so. I use to pride myself on my tough exterior, but I'm beginning to value the ability to sympathize with others more than the pride that it takes to avoid a tear or two.
Today I cried a lot. But it was mostly good tears. My cousin got engaged on Easter Sunday. He told me the story today... which lead to my tears. I think it's as good as anything in a movie, so I'm gonna share it with you.
My Aunt Marietta who was beautiful and very girly was blessed with three sons. Three farm-boy sons. She loved Mary Kay. They loved milking cows. She loved high heels. They loved hauling hay. Sometimes she made comments about how she looked forward to when her boys grew up and got married so that she could finally have a daughter. But two years ago on Easter Sunday, my Aunt Marietta at the young age of 44 died after enduring through the pain of breast cancer. The funeral home said it was the largest crowd they had ever seen at a visitation. People waited in line for more than two hours to give their condolences to the grieving family members and to pay their respects to this God-fearing, life-loving, warm-hearted, devoted-Mother of 3, friend to all.
The past two years have not been easy on the small, grieving family of 4 men that were left behind. Her youngest son was only in the 7th grade. My uncle had depended on her for so much of the domestic responsibilities that in the beginning they rarely knew what or how to make a dinner for themselves. Like any family that has lost a key member, her lack of presence was keenly felt. How do you get past such a tragic loss?
Slowly but surely, life has continued on. Not the same. But on. Jake, the oldest of her sons really stepped up to the plate of responsibility, taking on much of the care-taking of his youngest brother Jeremiah. And so I have worried about him. Not because I did not think that he could not handle the task, but because I feared he would be so busy filling the gap that his Mom's absence had left, that he would be unable to move forward with his life. That maybe he would get stuck being a care-taker until too many years had passed, and he had missed out on finding a wife and having a family.
About a year ago Jake started dating a girl from his hometown. They'd known each other for several years, but one day he stopped by the store where she worked, and he said he just saw her differently. His eyes were opened, and so he walked up to her and asked her to have dinner with him that night. For the last year, she has become a part of these men's lives... four men and a lady. She has cooked for them, doted on them, washed clothes for them, and brought out the best in my cousin. He told me that recently he just couldn't get asking her to marry him off of his mind. So one day, not able to take it any longer, he left his hay in the fields and headed to a jewelry store.
On Saturday night before Easter, Lauren put Easter eggs filled with candy on the table for Jake and his brothers. So the next morning, when she stopped on her way to church and Jake told her there was an Easter egg in the yard for her, she assumed he was giving her a similar gift of chocolates... until he got on one knee. The ring was in the egg. Jake told her that Easter had been a sad day for him for several years, now, but that he felt his Mom would not want it to be that way... that'd she want him to turn it around. But the only way this day could make him happy was if Lauren would agree to be his wife.
My cousin is a farmer. He didn't go to college. Cattle is one of his top five favorite pieces of convo. He thinks that I talk like a "Yankee" because I say "double-you" instead of "dubbya", and he kind of prides himself in being old fashioned and traditional - despite the fact that he is 25. But he has a good heart. And he pulled off one of the sweetest, most heart-felt, meaningful proposals I've ever heard of in real life or in the movies... and I know his Mom would be proud and thrilled. I certainly am!
Today I cried a lot. But it was mostly good tears. My cousin got engaged on Easter Sunday. He told me the story today... which lead to my tears. I think it's as good as anything in a movie, so I'm gonna share it with you.
My Aunt Marietta who was beautiful and very girly was blessed with three sons. Three farm-boy sons. She loved Mary Kay. They loved milking cows. She loved high heels. They loved hauling hay. Sometimes she made comments about how she looked forward to when her boys grew up and got married so that she could finally have a daughter. But two years ago on Easter Sunday, my Aunt Marietta at the young age of 44 died after enduring through the pain of breast cancer. The funeral home said it was the largest crowd they had ever seen at a visitation. People waited in line for more than two hours to give their condolences to the grieving family members and to pay their respects to this God-fearing, life-loving, warm-hearted, devoted-Mother of 3, friend to all.
The past two years have not been easy on the small, grieving family of 4 men that were left behind. Her youngest son was only in the 7th grade. My uncle had depended on her for so much of the domestic responsibilities that in the beginning they rarely knew what or how to make a dinner for themselves. Like any family that has lost a key member, her lack of presence was keenly felt. How do you get past such a tragic loss?
Slowly but surely, life has continued on. Not the same. But on. Jake, the oldest of her sons really stepped up to the plate of responsibility, taking on much of the care-taking of his youngest brother Jeremiah. And so I have worried about him. Not because I did not think that he could not handle the task, but because I feared he would be so busy filling the gap that his Mom's absence had left, that he would be unable to move forward with his life. That maybe he would get stuck being a care-taker until too many years had passed, and he had missed out on finding a wife and having a family.
About a year ago Jake started dating a girl from his hometown. They'd known each other for several years, but one day he stopped by the store where she worked, and he said he just saw her differently. His eyes were opened, and so he walked up to her and asked her to have dinner with him that night. For the last year, she has become a part of these men's lives... four men and a lady. She has cooked for them, doted on them, washed clothes for them, and brought out the best in my cousin. He told me that recently he just couldn't get asking her to marry him off of his mind. So one day, not able to take it any longer, he left his hay in the fields and headed to a jewelry store.
On Saturday night before Easter, Lauren put Easter eggs filled with candy on the table for Jake and his brothers. So the next morning, when she stopped on her way to church and Jake told her there was an Easter egg in the yard for her, she assumed he was giving her a similar gift of chocolates... until he got on one knee. The ring was in the egg. Jake told her that Easter had been a sad day for him for several years, now, but that he felt his Mom would not want it to be that way... that'd she want him to turn it around. But the only way this day could make him happy was if Lauren would agree to be his wife.
My cousin is a farmer. He didn't go to college. Cattle is one of his top five favorite pieces of convo. He thinks that I talk like a "Yankee" because I say "double-you" instead of "dubbya", and he kind of prides himself in being old fashioned and traditional - despite the fact that he is 25. But he has a good heart. And he pulled off one of the sweetest, most heart-felt, meaningful proposals I've ever heard of in real life or in the movies... and I know his Mom would be proud and thrilled. I certainly am!
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