From Epic Games to the Greatest of Love Songs

It's hatch week round 2.  And the chicks are STILL ALIVE (so far) and have grown BIG!!

Excuse me while I don't care about anything else...

This is Lou. (no relation) That is my Aunt and Uncle's workshed, where I spent a GREAT DEAL of my happy days with my Dad as a child.  Ask me about this freaky divine experience sometime. Please. 😱

"There's something happening here.  What it is ain't exactly clear."

I really meant to post this 2 weeks ago, but then...so much life has happened, and I have had to re-adjust, re-adapt, re-group, re-plan and re-organize.

I mean, for one thing, I am NOT trying to compete for attention with the Chiefs.  We are having a good day here in Kansas City, for the next week and (hopefully) beyond.  (Plus, my birthday is right around the corner, so probably beyond...)

I'm not saying I CAN'T compete with the Chiefs.  You can ask any one of my students, and I think they would agree...

I pretty much shined in the sports arena this week.

Also...ask me how I still KNOW I am BOSS.  Please!! 🙏

My "supervisor" put a little pressure on me to involve myself in the big 8th grade versus EVERYONE volleyball tournament at the boys' school where I counsel part-time.

While, initially, I balked at the "opportunity" - I feel I am getting so old and so tired, my friends - once the seriousness of my eminence (no exaggeration, I promise 🤞) occurred to me, I could do nothing but assume my role in the most grandiose sense of the word.  

I think you would be amazed at how fully I BECAME the volleyball queen.  (Note...I have not played volleyball since somewhere around Jr. High, and I am about to turn 45, but...do YOU think that stopped me???)

Instead, I took on the role of enthusiast, encourager, some might say, team leader. 💁

I was a little concerned at how no one seemed to notice anything odd when I showed up in my sports pants and a bandana devised as a sweat band around my head.  Have I become THAT unpredictably odd???  Turns out, it was a dress-up day themed "throw back" or something along the lines, and I am going to hold on to hope that people had just temporarily suspended surprise at EVERYONE's appearance that day.

It's not just me.  It's not just me.  It's not just me.

Jesse "fink" it's ALL about just me.

I have to admit I was coming in injured.  (Apparently leaning on my elbows is a little too much for me these days, and I strained my something or other in my upper left quadrant.)  However, I made it very clear that, like Patrick Mahomes, I would not let my injury hold me back.

There was this one amazing moment, when the ball was coming at me a little higher than I anticipated and I was forced to use my shoulder to project it gracefully to the other side of the court.  (The good thing about recreational sports is you don't have to be so irritatingly rules oriented.)

Otherwise, suffice to say, ON the court...I really stunk it up.  (Like my ONE opportunity to serve that I completely and utterly botched...or the time I decided to punch the ball that didn't quite work out as planned.)

However, I quote (the words of one endearing young teacher) they "NEEDED my energy out there."  I'm pretty sure it was the turning point (at least) for my teacher team (because...yeah...I got to play as a parent, too, but we lost.  So...I don't really feel like talking about that one.) 

We ALL know I can be a little overly-enthusiastic at times. 💁 It has its perks.  (And its dilemmas.) Overall, I have found myself ENTIRELY more successful when I acknowledge them both and be realistic about my tendencies.  (It allows me to allow others to help me "reign it in" when necessary.)

I found myself ridiculing the students I so faithfully counsel - even reveling in their errors (selectively, of course, I would never add insult to the injured - on purpose, at least - I promise I am a genuine counselor.  😬 but...).  At one point, I found myself rallying the entire student body against the 8th grade by (rather enthusiastically) cheerleading them to chant for my own team.  If that's not encouraging...I just don't know what is.

Who knew I needed that experience so desperately.  This moment happened to be exactly the balance I needed in a particularly stressful stretch.  Sometimes, I get so caught up in "what relaxes me," or "brings me peace" that I get stuck in a rut of a select group of coping skills.

Listen, it's not a lie that there are MANY a days I have "crafted myself into a better mood."  I do LOVE alone-time and quite contemplation.  However, I don't ALWAYS know exactly what I need, and sometimes, I need to just listen to the cues around me.  (This time, it was my sister's guidance, but...life is not as structured and routine as some of us would like to make it.  Next time, it may be some other outlet crying out for me to flex my plans.)

Unfortunately, there tends to be a great big chasm between my head and my heart, and sometimes I just don't "get" the things I know.

There is much to learn from the people around us!  We are ALL a piece of the puzzle...and have you ever  seen a puzzle missing a piece???  Disappointing is an understatement!

I will leave you with this one moment I had recently, what I call a "revelation" or my little moment with God.  I prayed a simple prayer from the heart.  It's one of the paradigms based on a goal I've held since I sought to become the person I truly want to be: be genuine and be honest - with myself, with God and with people. 

So, I was feeling a little down, and I needed something.  But I wasn't sure exactly what I needed.  So, I asked God, to just "show me, again, how much you love me."

And, of course, this vision started to come to my mind, but (typical of me) I argued:

"No!  Don't show me the cross.  (It's traumatic. -I'd had enough trauma to fill my week.  It's depressing. -I'm naturally inclined.  It's heart-breaking. -See above!  But also...it's the obvious answer.  The one we all know.  The "Even I could come up with that" vision).  

Fortunately for me, He refused to withdraw the image.  Instead, I heard the quiet voice within speak, "Your name was on my lips." 

Well, that was just too much.  (I would be arrogant if I thought it was only intended for me.  Grasp that, my friends.  If you can't comprehend the stars in the universe, the grains of sand on the beaches of earth, or the number of people created since the beginning of time...He can.)

Oh God, my God...you ARE the greatest love song.  

No greater love has man than this...Ok, I am a tad-bit facetious...but that IS a lot of love going on up there.  💕

Doubt my validity?  I beg you to read Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) with a new perspective.  Shout out to JP who taught me to see that book beyond the human perspective and hear the love song that was divinely written for me.  💖

I have nothing to add that will add anything.  Good night, my friends.  I am looking forward to chicks and a birthday/Super Bowl party next weekend.  Perhaps they will win it all, and I can claim it was all for me. (At least I am very clear about my irrationally, arrogant humanity.) 😉 😂 

Nighty Night!

After all, how do you choose the greatest love song?!!  To tell the truth…I had a strict debate over this and Willy Nelson’s Always On My Mind.  But…then they all came rolling in, and I am tired of editing.  So let’s all just Dream a Little Dream.  (I didn’t even know this version existed until Stranger Things!  Ella always wins in my book.)

Kristen