Patterns of Success: part 2

I took my son to the airport today. I left him there.  He's only 12-years-old.  I did leave him in capable hands, but I left him just the same. Today he left for his big trip. 

My little man left with 17 classmates and 3 adults to fly across country to visit our nation's capital and New York City.  If you don't recall, we lived in small town Colorado. I could tell he was a little nervous when he got rather upset with me about taking a selfie with him in the airport.  He's not usually a huge fan of selfies, but this response was a bit more emphatic. 

"Mom. I hate selfies!" ...as he glared into my camera.  I won't embarrass him by posting it, as my goal of this blog is not to humiliate my children.  I tried not to cry in front of him as he walked into the security check point with his brave face on.  I succeeded by only getting a bit forklempt as my baby (because he'll always be my baby) left on the plane to the big, big city.

The part I'm most excited about with this trip is the precedent this sets for him: work hard, earn money, get rewarded with an amazing trip.  He did this as an 11-12 year old kid.  That is super awesome!  No free handouts here.  He worked really hard to make this happen.  There were a few times when he honestly wanted to quit, but he didn't.  He pushed through, with some help and support from his crazy parents,  and now he is really enjoying himself.

I'm excited for this because it sets him up to succeed in bigger and bigger things in his life.  It's the beginning of his pattern of success, like I talked about a couple weeks ago.  I know that God has big plans for this little man, and if he can fly across the country away from his parents for a week at the age of 12...well, this kid can do anything.

What area of your life are you learning to think big?  Are you beginning to create a pattern of success?  Please comment below.

Enjoy Your Life

Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids. Of course they were excited, and they wasted no time in telling me what grades they will be in next year. They are growing too fast, as we all know. That's what kids do. But sometimes...sometimes I still catch a glimpse of the little babies I cuddled so long ago. 

My daughter just turned 10 couple weeks ago. But she still has to hold my hand. She holds my hand when we're singing in church. She holds my hand from the car to the grocery store. I can't even get my keys in my purse before she grabs my hand.  She holds my hand when I sit with her at lunch at school on those days when I visit her.  My little girl has always been a physical touch kind of baby. That is her love language. She rode in a sling until she was 15 month old when she decided to walk. She liked to be close to mommy. When she would sleep with mommy and daddy at night she had to touch both of us. She would make the crosswise line of a capital h between us. Who knew the baby could take up most of the bed? But these times are fleeting. She is growing so fast and she is very independent in a lot ways. I feel like she's comfortable with her independence because she knows she is loved.  She knows she can always come back and cuddle. 

My son is leaving on a trip this weekend and will be gone for 5 days. At 12-years-old, he will be traveling across country with a group from school to go to Washington D.C. and New York City. I am so proud of him for working for the money to do this. He has worked hard for the last year and a half.  I think he's excited to go, but at the same time a little nervous to be away from mom and dad for that long and so far away. I know he'll have a blast!  I'll admit I'm a little nervous for him to be so far away without me. However, the truth of the matter is that we really don't have any control over what happens to our kids. The only thing we can control is our response. And for that we are completely responsible.  

These times when our kids are young are precious.  They are so precious. Those moments are our lives.  Remember to enjoy them.

I would ask for your prayers for my son and his classmates as they travel.  These precious kids have all worked hard to earn their money for their trip, and it will be fantastic.  It's a great learning experience!

What experiences and moments stand out with your kids that stand out in your memory?  Please comment below.

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What Do You Want to Be?

A couple Sundays ago, it was Mother's Day.  It's always a lovely day of feeling a bit of the appreciation from my kiddos that they sometimes forget to express.  The same goes for me and my mom, too.  I often forget the sacrifices she made for me, the unwavering support, and encouragement to do whatever I wanted.  To celebrate Mother's Day this year, we decided to keep the celebration simple and just enjoy each others' company.  In other words, we went out to eat so someone else could clean up after us.

During the course of the meal, my mom got an excited look on her face and asked a question of my children,

"I haven't asked you guys in a while...what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Without missing a beat my beautiful girl piped up immediately with her response,

"I want to be a beautician, an ice skater, a teacher, a principal, a musician, a fashion designer, a dentist, a mommy, and a model."

Of course she does!  My mommy heart just beamed.  My sweet girl just struggles sometimes with her school work.  We've done all sorts of different testing to make sure nothing is "wrong" with her, but honestly, she's just perfect (aside from a stubborn streak a mile wide--that I have no clue where it came from...).  I really think she just looks at things differently than most people do, and that's not a bad thing.  In fact, it's an awesome thing.  I think most people get stuck in the sad land called average, where the cream of the crap is the norm.

My girl doesn't want to be one thing when she "grows up"--she wants to be 9 things.  And I believe she can do it, if she wants to.  Being stubborn is also called tenacious when it's used for something positive.  I'm sure eventually she'll whittle her list down, but it's not going to be from me telling her she can't do it.  She can do all things through Christ who strengthens her.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?  Are you anything close to that now?  If not, would you like to?  Or are you glad you chose a different direction?  I'm starting to head back toward what I thought I wanted to do as a child: interior design.  While I'm not an interior designer, I am a Color and Inspiration Consultant.  Please comment below with your answers to my questions.

Some Gave All

Memorial Day and Veteran's Day are often confused, and I completely guilty of doing it.  Therefore, I wanted to share a little history so we can all be more educated about it and honor the people the days are meant to honor.

Memorial Day is meant to specifically honor those soldiers that have died in battle, any battle. Originally, it began in the Civil War as a way to honor soldiers that had died in that war, it was later expanded to include any war.  Click the link below for a little more history on Memorial Day.

MEMORIAL DAY HISTORY

Veterans Day on the other hand is meant to honor veterans living and alive in both peacetime and wartime.  It's origins are more recent beginning at the end of WWI, and being redefined after WWII. Click the link below for more history on Veterans Day.

VETERANS DAY HISTORY

I hope it's been helpful to re-hear about the distinction between these two holidays.  It was a good reminder for me.  

In looking up the history of Memorial Day and Veterans Day holidays, I noticed a trend to not elevate soldiers to hero status as they have enough of a hard time adjusting to "regular" life when they come home from a war.  I don't believe the people that feel this way are being haters for the most part and are honestly trying to help soldiers.  Here's my two cents on the matter: Soldiers/veterans are regular people, but they are regular people that have chosen to intentionally put themselves in harms way for me and everyone else back at home.  For that, they should be thanked and supported.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Please comment below.  

The Results Are In!

I had a whole different post planned for today, but it got pushed back until another day. This girl just found out she passed her black belt test. Yep. That's right. I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So for now, I'll keep it short. It's a bit surreal at this point.  I'll just sign off for now by asking you this: what dreams are you working toward today?  Never, never, never give up.

New Friends

I have great friends.  Not just great friends, but beautiful, wonderful, caring, genuine, sincere, funny, amazing friends.  I don't feel like I need to go find new ones.  They truly are awesome friends.

In all my activities, I meet a lot of people.  Some people I click with right away, and others it takes a little while, but that's usually 1 or 2 new to me people at a time.  I don't often walk into a room and not already know several people there.  It's a small town where I live, and I just know a lot of people.

Every now and again, I have opportunity to go someplace where I don't know everyone.  This past weekend I had one of those times.  My family and I were invited to a BBQ at a relatively new friend's house.  We have mutual interests, but hadn't really hung out together yet.  When we got there, I actually didn't know anyone except our hostess and her family.  It was quite a shock to me, and a lot of fun!  I'm not sure why I was surprised to meet new friends, but I honestly was.  It was lovely and refreshing, and I couldn't wait to meet these people again...to introduce them to my favorite friends (I don't like to say best friend because I have a circle of best friends--they're my "favorite" people).

I have to give credit to my beautiful friend, Lorretta, for inviting my family to this fun filled, friend time.  Without her friendly invitation, we wouldn't have been able to enjoy this lovely day.  I just want to remind you that sometimes it's okay to venture out from your circle of friends.  It doesn't mean you love them any less.  I hope that you have beautiful, genuine friends like I do.  They are such a huge blessing in my life!  But don't forget to share that blessing with others by bringing new friends into the blessing circle.

Please comment below.  I'd love to hear if you've had a similar instance of discovering a new friend or two when you weren't looking.  How'd that turn out in the long run?

Be a Nice Ninja

The point of karate is to not have to use it. Really. I knows that sounds like an oxymoron. On the outside it looks like karate is just a study of how to punch, kick, take people down to the ground, etc. But it's so much more than that. 

There's the discipline of practicing on a regular basis for starters. With regularly scheduled classes, it does make it simple to practice.  Simple is not the same as easy, though. I still have to make the choice and the commitment to go. I decide ahead of time and then I go.

Its not a team sport all the time where I can rely on other people to cover for my shortcomings. (There is nothing wrong with team sports, but I feel like people benefit from doing a solo-type sport, too.) If someone were to attack me, I would be the only one there, more than likely, to defend myself. I can't say, "Hold on, attacker. I need to go get my friends to protect me." It doesn't work that way.  I need to know my skills and be confident in my ability to use them, and be able and willing to use them at the drop of a hat.  Confidence is another bi-product of karate and I believe that comes directly from having the ability to protect oneself, but also having the ability to hurt another human being...and yet not doing it.

Pay attention.  That's something I've learned.  It's not that I didn't pay attention before, and it's not that I'm always on alert, but I do pay attention to what is happening around me.  Environmental awareness is what we call it.  You saw someone that made the hackles go up on the back of your neck?  Ok.  So what was he wearing?  You're going to a parade this upcoming weekend with our kids?  How tall are they now?  What color clothes do they have on?  Pay attention.  It's all little stuff, but it adds up to make big stuff.

Discipline, practice, self-discipline, fitness, respect, self-control, awareness, commitment: all things I've learned in my martial arts studies.  What are you doing to help make yourself stronger, more confident, and benefit others?  Comment below.

--Jennille the Nice Ninja