We Fall Down But We Get Up

There's no one that amuses me more, than ME! I'm so glad that I can laugh at my mistakes AND learn from them, because this girl has made a lot of mistakes, blunders AND bloopers, but I just keep on keeping on.

While at Brennan's baseball tournament last weekend, I was holding a tall styrofoam cup of ice and water in my lap. Brennan hit the ball so hard -- 3 runners came in. I was so excited I squeezed the cup so hard it broke and burst all over me and my chair. I jumped up out of that seat like a Jack in the Box. I gave the people behind me a really good laugh. You're welcome!
Needless to say, I looked like I had serious personal "plumbing" issues. But....I dried....and so did my chair!

You may know how Facebook provides "On this day" posts and photos each day of what we posted a year ago, 2 years, 3 years and even more -- forever how long we've been posting. BTW, if you don't know how to check that out and you'd like to see your archives, just type in www.facebook.com/onthisday/ on your own search engine, and it will populate all your Facebook Memories for that day. I make that a priority each day, because I laugh at some of my posts, cherish the photos and I even get inspired enough to repost what I posted, but with a new twist, based on what I've come to know since the last time I posted.

On May 6th (from 2012), a memory popped up from my Half Marathon in Vancouver BC. Sometimes memories remind us also of PAIN! Yes, I finished my run and I beat my best time, but what I read reminded me of how we sometimes fall down.....but we get back up again. I had run my first mile and felt so good, but then, a little lady carrying groceries, stepped out off the curb, right in front of me and I went tumbling. It didn't break her stride at all -- just kept on going across the runners paths. But, me? Scrapes and cuts on elbows, knees, hands. Runners helped me up and pointed me the direction of the medical tent, but I wasn't about to let pain keep me from my "best time" goal. Best laid plans sometimes go awry. What do we do about it? Deal with it. Get back on task. We fall down, but we get up!

Because I drove back to Austin from Frisco (after Brennan's baseball tournament) with the Wuerch's to keep the boys a few days while their mom and dad were in New York, I flew home, yesterday, instead of my usual drive. Everything was going as planned. I even had TSA Pre-Check on my boarding pass. Yay! No need to take off my shoes or deal with other standard class procedures! But, NOT! As it turned out when I checked in at security, all I had was the paper "temporary" Texas Drivers License that I recently received. That isn't good enough for security. He asked if I had my passport, and then I remembered looking at my passport before leaving home and thought "Naw -- I don't need my passport!" That being the case, I had to go through more screening than I've ever seen before, a pat down (like none other), and every single item in my carry on case, purse and computer had to be scanned.... individually! Twenty minutes later, I was cleared and went to my gate. I'm so thankful I was at the airport early enough to deal with this unexpected delay! What do we do about it? Deal with it, then get back on task and target! (When I got home today, in my mail was my permanent Texas Drivers License -- timing is everything! LOL!)

There are just times when we life happens, stuff happens, mistakes and inconveniences happen -- for whatever the reason -- maybe just from a lack of focus and/or simple carelessness and/or from not paying attention to God's Spirit in us -- warning us (i.e., me, not getting my passport). We could really get down on ourselves if we focused on the mistakes rather than the victories. I'm so glad that God forgives us time and time again, and just maybe, we should follow His lead and forgive ourselves for some of those crazy things we get ourselves into! We fall down, but we get back up again and again.

In times of uncertainty and upheaval, let's remember that God is our constant. He doesn't change. No matter what the circumstance, God is above it. When we fall down and we get back up again, we, too, rise above our circumstances and encourage ourselves. Yes, we may fall down, but we get up again and again!

Merry Heart Does Good Like a Medicine

Day 30 of Photo Inspirations --
Loved hanging and shopping with my girl today.  Just like old, old times -- when we shopped till we almost dropped, made a quick stop to eat and laugh a lot -- a whole lot.  Today I had a "blast-from-the-past" moment when we stopped at Chipotle's and I saw the stools at the windows! 

I remembered 25 years ago when we were on a business trip to Vancouver BC Canada.  Meetings were all done.  Now it was time to shop.  And, we did until we stopped to eat and the only place left to sit down was at a window with stools just like the ones we sat at today. It was a very busy, crowded sidewalk outside the window and, as we ate, we were amused to watch people walk by. Our thoughts were "God sure made a wide variety of people: big - little, tall - short, dark - light, and with lots of varieties of dressing styles:  sophisticated - trendsetter - casual - formal - sporty - wild & crazy.  In Staci's spur-of-the-moment quackiness, she said, "Let's each pick a number from 1 to 10."  She chose 5; I chose 8.  Then she said, "The 5th man that comes along is mine and the 8th one will be yours!"  Game on.  We counted 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 and 5 (and her guy was not the dreamboat she had hoped for). Then we counted on 6 - 7 - 8 -- and to our utter laugh-out-loud, side-splitting and hilarious amazement.....number 8 was literally a crowd of short, Asian elderly men shuffling along, side by side in a group. It was the "merry-heart-does-good-like-medicine" moment.  We could hardly hold ourselves together from laughing so hard -- laughter about that moment that we were reminded of today.
 
I know this story doesn't have my usual inspirational impact to it, but I share it today as one of the most precious mother/daughter times that we had together -- where we laughed about the silliest things, shared life and all the beauty it has for us.  I cherish the memories.  We were "best buds" then.  But, time makes the sweetness even richer and better than it was before.  Today was one of those "sweeter than honey" times -- we just didn't get to count the men walking by!  ;-) 
#Friends4Ever #LoveMyGirl #LaughterIsGoodMedicine