Five Minute Friday: Last

This school year has started out with a series of lasts...

My son's last first day of school.

Last first day of school!

My last PTA curriculum night.

The last 18 years have totally flown by. I wish the little boy days had lasted longer. Now my sons are all nearly grown. I can't believe it's time to be searching for colleges for the last one.

But they cannot; it's not the natural order of things. Our love and relationships last, but childhood has a stopping point--for us, it's time to move on. And, really, that's ok...he's ready (I am not). He knows this. He knows I do not want him going far away for college. He also knows my love for him has me putting aside what I want and looking toward what he wants. He knows I'll help navigate the college journey. I am there for him...through all of his lasts (and my lasts).

My sons bring me such joy. I am a blessed mom.

Childhood doesn't last though. So, I cling now to something that does. The word of God: The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God lasts forever.”

So, as I bundle up my child for all the lasts he faces this year, I cling to a promise of God: "Train up a child in  the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."


If you are facing some "lasts," with your sons (and daughters), I hope you can share in the joys they are feeling. It's sad for us moms...we have been their suns and they, our planets...but this is the natural order of things...and the joy and love we've created in our little universe will last.

Five minute Friday--lonely

On Fridays, I participate in a group blogging experience called "Five Minute Fridays." Come join us some Friday!

Today's topic is lonely. I think we've all felt lonely at one time or another. I'm so thankful for friends I can call when loneliness creeps up on me. Have you ever felt lonely when you're surrounded by a crowd? I've been thinking about our service men and women.

What must it be like, on the other side of the world, when you are in a crowd, but all alone? Some have access to computers, but all don't. Some get letters, but all don't. Some get packages, but all don't. How lonely they must be!

One of the most fulfilling groups I participate in is called West Point Moms Bake. This is an off-shoot of the West Point Moms group on facebook that I started five years ago (we have over 2000 moms!). Our baking group is much smaller. We have about 330 moms. We are in groups of 10...so 33 baking "teams." Each team gets the name of a soldier/sailor/airman and sends a big box of home-baked goodies, magazines, movies, personal items, holiday decor, etc.... So, 10 moms mail to the same person. Ten personalities, 10X the mom-love. Then, the recipient gets to share the love...he or she shares the goods with his/her unit/squad.


We get the best letters back! "Thank you, thank you," "You have no idea....," "We are so lonely...." Sometimes we don't hear back, and sometimes our boxes go to someone we don't know and we get letters like, "you don't know me, but I got this box...."

I love being a part of this group of moms. We can't fix "lonely," but we think of our own sons and daughters and we pay it forward. Each of us in her own way...just as our grandmothers knit socks, finds a way to support the war effort. Sometimes as we sit and contemplate how lonely we are for our own sons and daughters in the military, we can draw comfort as we help fix the "lonely" someone else's child is feeling, so far away from home.

What's your story-Five Minute Friday

I was recently asked, "Hogwarts or Narnia?" Easy: Narnia, hands down.

“Child" said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”
―C.S. Lewis, The Horse and his Boy.

Why do things happen? What is the reason in this?? Sometimes life is so frustrating...we tend to forget we live with a promise from the creator of the universe: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Please note: it says "I know the plans." It does not say "I know the plans and if I gripe loud enough, God will tell me why." What I've found in my brief 50 years is that there's always a why. Why do we struggle with unemployment? To trust God's provision and to help others in the same boat. Why did this one get cancer? Does God hate her? No, but look at all those who were blessed by her during treatment....look at how many she is helping now that she is cancer free. Look at how God is glorified in her healing...or sometimes, look how many saw the love of God in her before she passed away. We don't get to know why...not when it's not our story.

Ten years ago I could hear. Totally.normal.hearing. Now I am profoundly deaf. It was a gradual, progressive loss. Most of it occurred in the last five years. In March, my ENT suggested I see a specialist for a cochlear implant. First I called the insurance company and they said not covered. Then I saw the specialist. His office called the insurance company and was told "not covered." They submitted for pre-authorization anyway, and it was approved. I had the surgery in early July and in late July I was activated (please read prior blogs for specifics on all of this...this is the short story!). Most activations are jumbled, garbled, outer-space chipmunky sounds. So was mine...for about 5 minutes. Then I heard voices (that sounded helium infused). The next day voices were nearly normal. A week post-activation, I am back to school (where I teach 8th grade language arts), and am having conversations with peers and attending (and hearing) meetings. This doesn't happen often in the world of implants...people get to this point after months or years. I am still profoundly deaf, but I hear using a cochlear implant.

Why did this happen to me? I don't know. Here is what I do know: as an 18 year old college freshman I decided to major in deaf education. I learned sign language and how to read an audiogram. I understand the ear and how it works and its dysfunctions. These tools were beyond valuable to me 32 years later as a deaf adult struggling to understand what was going on and how to communicate. Life is not a series of coincidences, where "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." NO! Our life is our story. I refuse to buy into the randomness theory. Will my story make a difference for someone else? I certainly hope so; that is why I tell it as opposed to hiding it. I'm excited to see the next chapter unfold because I am pretty sure I'm early in the book...and it's only going to get better.

What is your story? It's going to be good...because that's the promise: "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Thanks for listening to just a small piece of mine! I look forward to hearing yours!

Join us every Friday for worldwide blogging at Five Minute Fridays!