Where Are These Guys?

I'm listening to the song "Stand by my Woman" by Lenny Kravitz. If you've never heard it, please give it a listen at your earliest convenience.

Where are the guys like the one in song, guys that resolve to stand by their woman? Any help here?

Do Opposites REALLY Attract?

My parents are complete opposites. My Dad is very reserved and soft-spoken. He is a logical and objective thinker who doesn't get overly emotional about, well, anything. Mom is a different story. She is emotional, creative, and intuitive. And she's loud.

My parents are a perfect example of opposites attracting. But I have to ask, just HOW opposite can two people be and still make it work?

I think that differences in demeanor and ways of approaching situations are great, and, I think, important to have in a complementary relationship. But what about spiritual opposites? Or priorities that are at two totally different ends of the spectrum? What about opposite definitions of success and opposite levels of ambition?

I guess I'm still trying to figure this one out. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Weekend

This weekend I went with my parents to visit my younger sister in Fayetteville. We didn't stay as long as we usually do, but this ended up being a good thing (I'll get to that in a minute). My sister's 21st birthday was last week and one of the gifts she received was the game Catchphrase. I am now addicted. We played non-stop, and Mom brought the game for the ride home and we played until my Dad had finally had enough of me and my Mom's antics.

I also got to see my brother-in-law who is in Iraq via Skype. It was so cool! My sister and her husband both have webcams so I was able to talk to and see my brother-in-law. It was great to get to see him. I'm so super proud of him.

On the way home my Dad got a call from my sister (who'd been called my cousin who just built a house right next to my parents) saying that my parents' house had flooded while we were out of town. Apparantly a really bad storm hit my hometown and since my parents live at the foot of a hill it was just too much rain in a short period of time for the drainage ditches to handle. When we got home there was a lot of mud on the floors and the power was out. I think the power is finally back on, but it's gonna take a while to get all the mud cleared out. Poor parents :(

Sunday morning I tried a new church. This was the first time I've ever gone to a church, other than my own, by myself. It was kind of weird. The sermon was phenomenal; since it was Father's Day the sermon was about being an "Understanding Man." The pastor used a scripture in 1 Peter as the basis of the sermon and it was very, very good. The worship was a little too slow and traditional for me, but apparantly the church has a contemporary service so I'm sure I'll check that out.

Then back to my house. It felt so good to be home. I missed my precious cat Mayer who ended up being extraordinarily hyper this weekend. I did some cleaning here and there.

Went to bed last night and slept without the TV on for the first time in a very long time. It's such a habit, and I know I need to break it. I was about to start snoozing when a good friend called. It was a welcome interruption, though. When I sleep without the TV, I just lay there and think about the most random and ridiculous things. This makes it somewhat difficult to fall asleep, but I'm working on it.

So, that was my weekend in a nutshell.

Life Is Good.

Life is good. That's all.

Single AND Settled, Imagine That...

So my wonderful old-fashioned Grandma called me last week after she heard I broke it off with my now ex-boyfriend. She first suggested that we seek counseling. Seriously. I told her that counseling isn't an option, then she proceeded to ask in every conceivable way if this means that I am utterly and completely alone ("So you're alone?" "You don't have anyone?"). So I answer her and say that yes, I am alone at the moment and that's just fine with me. Then she made what she thought was a joke, but in my fragile and sensitive state, I wasn't laughing. She said "Well I guess you're just going to be an old spinster then aren't you?"

I know that she never meant that statement in a cruel or hurtful way, but it definitely wasn't what I needed to hear at the time. She ended up apologizing profusely and sending me housewarming money (thanks Grandma).

I was explaining this story to a lady that I work with, who I thought would just be mortified at what my Grandma said to me. But no, she said "I just think that she wants to see you settled." So being single automatically means you can't be settled? What?

Right now I feel the most settled that I have in a good while, and yes, I'm single. And I know too many married couples who are anything but settled. I know my Grandma is from a completely different time (she had been married, widowed, and remarried with 2 kids by the time she was the age I am now), but I think we need to lose the stigma that you have to be married to be "settled." It's craziness.

Divine Distractions

During the hard times in our lives, I think that God brings us divine distractions.

These divine distractions can take many forms: a person, a project, a pet, or even a perfect book to read. I think God understands that during the not-so-great times of our lives, sometimes we just need something or someone to distract us from the hurt, otherwise we might wallow in our sadness and gain 20 pounds from drowning our sorrows in Ben and Jerry's (or in my case, Little Caesar's Hot and Ready cheese pizza).

During this particular hard time in my life, God has supplied me with several divine distractions that enable me to focus my energy on something positive, rather than dwell on the past. For this, I am very grateful and very glad that I am a child of God. I think He knows us so much better than we even realize.

Mysterious Ways

God works in mysterious ways. That's one of the reasons I like Him so much.

Sometimes the thing you thought would never happen in a million years does, and it works out. It's unfathomable and unachievable by human hands, and is in every sense of the word, a "God thing."