A Jam Session With Avery

I Heard From A Friend Today

I'll call her "R".

She is a wonderful person and I worked with her for well over 14 years at Sprint in Atlanta. I miss her smile and warmth and her upbeat attitude.

She reminds me so much of all my sisters rolled up into one person. Her ready laughter, her focus on the task at hand, her humongous heart.

It made me sad to hear that she almost lost her husband a few months ago to high blood pressure but happy to know that he's doing much better now. Always a good thing to never look a second chance at making a life change in the mouth and doing something good for yourself like getting the medication your body craves at a time you really need it.

I looked over at Mike who is happily playing a tank game on his computer (which, oddly enough, sits right next to mine). He's healthy as a horse, as they say, and I'm so glad for that.

I thought about how many hours he has sat in front of a computer playing one game or another and, for a while there, it really annoyed me because he wasn't paying attention to me.

I'm an attention-hog, don't cha know.

As I looked at him, I thought about all the laughter and play-acting we've done with all the games that we've played over the years. We have Nerf-machine guns for our "battles" in the house, we sometimes converse in World of Warcraft speak, and a lot of times, we're laughing at some stupid storyline or a stupid quest that we were required to do to get a stupid prize - like a flying mount or mechanical squirrel.

Life would be dull and lifeless without him in it. I'm sure "R" feels the same way about her man, too. It makes all the difference in the world when you find someone you hardly ever argue with, laugh at just about everything and wake up feeling good about the person you've become because of the person you're with.

Not too many people can say that, can they?

~~~~ Lynita

Dealing With Worry - The Sordid Truth

It was an interesting week. I have been offered a job and am filling out the paperwork now.

I don't have mixed feelings about the offer - it's a good one and I'm blessed to have the opportunity presented to me. Then why do I feel like my heart is missing?

I'll tell you why.

It's because while I have an offer for a full-time, permanent position with a good company, my husband will be out of work in less than a month. This hurts my heart.

Do I feel guilty? Yes. Yes, I do.

Do I want to choose joy instead of this feeling of trepidation like the other shoe is about to drop? Of course, I want to choose joy.

But how? How do I open my heart up to this and accept the goodness God has brought to us? I finally have benefits and can see a doctor. I have a matching 401(k) plan again. I have worked for a year as a contractor with with good people who have supported our search in ways you can't even imagine. Such good people!!!

God has given us brains and opportunities if we just look a bit closer and think about how we can get ahead again.

I honestly believe that so now I just need to learn to let the worry teach me to look for opportunities that work for our benefit.