For the first 3½ years of my illustrious blogging {coughcough} career, I posted daily. NaBloPoMo was nothing to me; if I remember correctly, I m i g h t have even suffered from an ever-so-slight superiority complex, what, with those poor souls having to work to publish every day.
Those were the writerly-proficient days, weren't they?
More recently I've found it problematic to post even three days a week. This is due in part to writing for other sites and projects, coupled with a part time job; it leaves me longing for and craving creativity and expression.
One day, lovies...one day. At least that's what I tell myself.
When Nester mentioned she was going to be hosting "31 Days" again (along with Emily Freeman, Jessica, Jen, Sandy, Melissa, Darcy & Emily), I was drawn to the challenge of writing daily. Nester explained the genesis of the 31 Days Challenge, and eventually invited others--and the entire frackin' internet!--to join her.
How could I say no?
So...for the month of October I plan to post daily about a subject I might not be an expert on, but one for which I can speak to from experience and from the heart.
I have three teenagers, two in high school, one now (gulp) in college (tears happy, tears sad), so I think that qualifies me. I remember being scared to death when these years were ahead of me...but I want you to know you don't have to fear them. In fact, the teenage years can be a wonderful season!
While I plan to post daily on a topic related to parenting teens and tweens, I'll also continue writing typical PENSIEVE fare for those of you who have no interest in this theme. I've drafted a series of topics, but if there's something you'd like to see me address, I'll do my best if you leave a note in comments or drop me an email at pensieve dot me at gmail dot com.
If you have friends with elementary aged children or older, I'd be honored if you'd let them know about the series. Also, if you haven't subscribed to PENSIEVE already, might you do so in a reader or by email?
I can't wait for this month to get underway! I'm sure this will be a learning process for all of us!
Chattanooga is sweet cream rising; the days it reigned as Most Polluted City in the Nation are (thankfully) but a vapor. Capturing national and global attention, Chattanooga ~
was named Best Town Ever by readers of Outside Magazine (announced in August for its October 2011 issue)
Last week I received an email from the team at Collective Bias asking me if I would be interested in attending the September 24th ribbon cutting for Murphy USA's EV Level III Charging Station, serving as their eyes and ears. I jumped at the chance, thrilled to be a part of this important event to learn first-hand what this would mean for Chattanooga and the entire country!
{l-r Carol Berz - Councilwoman District 6/Chattanooga City Council; Congressman Chuck Fleischmann - 3rd District Tennessee; Tom McKinlay, President, Murphy USA Inc.; Jeff Goodwin, Vice President Retail Operations, Murphy USA Inc.; Alex Alexandrou, Senior Manager Retail Programs & Business Development, Murphy USA Inc.; John Wirtz, Head Electric Transportation Infrastructure, Eaton Corporation; Angelos Lambis, Vice President Operations & Support Services, Murphy USA Inc.}
--
The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce delivered a picture-perfect Fall morning--clear and crisp and barely a cloud in sight. It was under blue skies and sunshine that Murphy USA president Tom McKinlay offered warm opening remarks--
Murphy USA selected Chattanooga as the site for its first Level 3 Charger because of its close proximity to Smyrna, TN, Nissan's site for 2012 production of their all-electric vehicle, the Leaf. Interestingly, Murphy USA opened its first retail store back in December 1996, just a few miles down the road near the Sam’s Club parking lot. In 15 years, Murphy USA has grown to 1,100 stores in 23 states across the country.
Initially, I was confused because 2 North Shore downtown announced just two days earlier it had installed five charging stations with its solar photovoltaic parking structure system. The difference--and it's substantial--is the length of time it takes to complete a charge. The Ecotality unit downtown will charge an electric vehicle in four-six hours; the Eaton Corporation's Level 3 Charger can accomplish full charge in 20-30 minutes!
"We want to be our customers' complete energy provider," declared Murphy USA president Tom McKinlay. "This is the first step in truly understanding just how influential this equipment might be and how likely it is for us to take it to scale across our network."
I agree with Congressman Chuck Fleischmann who repeatedly proclaimed Chattanooga "the best mid-size city in the world." Sure, some would say that's just political speak, but when you hear him say it, you know he means it. "Chattanooga is leading the nation in innovation," he asserts, "This is the place to be!" Living here I'd say there's plenty of evidence to support such bold statements.
Councilwoman Carol Berz, District 6, just as enthusiastic, lauded Murphy USA's investment in Chattanooga and admitted she was "very impressed with [Murphy USA's] research methods...that is, to go to the people, don't tell them what they want, ask them what they want and let them try it out."
It's an understatement to say I was impressed with all in attendance. The intimate gathering allowed for real conversation, and every one of my countless questions was answered, respectfully and thoroughly. Officials joining Murphy USA included Eaton Corporation's John Wirtz (Head Electric Transportation Infrastructure), Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and his wife, Brenda, John Wayne (President and CEO of The Enterprise Center), Jim Hill (East Coast Director Trivalle Communications for Mitsubishi Motors North America) and Kevin Pierce (our local Nissan dealer's internet sales manager); Tom McKinlay brought key personnel from Murphy USA: Angelos Lambis~Vice President Operations & Support Services, Jeff Goodwin~Vice President Retail Operations and Sam Sharma~Division Manager.
My favorite part might have been test-driving Mitsubishi's i MIEV, my first time driving a vehicle with the steering wheel on the right. It's surprisingly quiet (I didn't even realize when the engine was running) and roomy for its compact size.
My only complaint (and shortcoming) is that because I was taking photographs with my Nikon and cell phone, and videoing with my Flip--and then spending time talking with everyone--I wasn't able to upload pics to Facebook and Twitter during the event! Hopefully, having everything here in one place will make up for it.
Thanks to Collective Bias for hiring me and trusting me with this job! I'm much more informed as a result.
And Bah! Humbug!--coffee giant Starbucks is either Scrooge or just forgetful; they aren't offering anything free in conjunction with National Coffee Day this year.
If you know of any other local or national venues offering free coffee or other incentives, be sure to let me know in comments!
Also, my sweet friend Nicole wrote about National Coffee Day today and she has some of the funniest pictures/signs to commemorate. My favorite is the kitty... :).
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants. ~ Psalm 116:15 NIV
After sharing Sara's nearing-end-of-life-story with you, it seemed right to let you know I received word early this morning she died peacefully last night, her mother and brother by her side. Anguish and relief inhabit my heart, such paradox on the surface. It is only in deep places they coexist.
I wonder if it is because of my own mother's death when I was a little girl that I see death's mercy. Mama battled cancer in the early 70s when treatments were much more barbaric and pain managment was in its infancy; my father suffered a 14-month end-of-life 4 1/2 years ago, excruciating to witness. Dementia tangled his mind and feebled his body, and my siblings and I learned to care for him in a way I wish no child ever again would have to experience.
Death was a mercy to my parents.
Under the weight of great loss I tenderly offer: death is mercy for Sara.
At the funeral of a friend's father years ago, my pastor offered beautiful words of encouragment, kind companion when I've since walked through the valley of death's shadow--
"Even if [he] had the choice to come back fully healthy, to be with the people he loved more than anyone in the world, he'd choose not to leave the presence of God."
Sara's legacy is a gift of eternal love and life well lived until the end. For her, home wasn't a place bound by geography or construction, it was in the hearts of those she loves and who love her...her family, her friends and her King.
Left to my own construction, Sara's life would've been much different; God would have healed her body. She would still tell His story of glory and grace, but from the perspective of miracle, not suffering.
But then I can't help but think about how in dying she taught others how to live, truly live! She planted seeds of joy in thousands of hearts--thousands!--and by example demonstrated what that looks like when life is hard, when it hurts.
Confined to her apartment for years, and more recently from her bed, Sara mined the precious and priceless from Ancient Words. She testified to God's goodness in spite of her illness, she praised His faithfulness as He allowed her to see how His best was better than her best.
Her life became a vessel of God's truth, resulting in the transformation of others; not because of her but because of Christ--His power--in her, working through her! Talk about joy...!
* * * * * * *
It is an odd thing to explain, this grieving a friend I've never met. I admitted that to Jessica recently--on the inside the tears flow freely but on the outside I don't know how to share. When I've begun to try, my family and friends don't know quite what to say, so I say little and let the storm run its course on the inside.
But I've got this space and it's often where I process "out loud."
Mainly I just wanted to share how others have encouraged me at these saddest of times...and to offer you the Great Hope that enabled Sara to choose joy in life and in death.
I'm convinced it's his Super Power...or at a minimum, an exquisite gifting.
The kid knows how to play.
"But wait," you protest, incredulous I'd make such a ridiculous assertion. "Don't all kids instinctivelyknow how to play?" What's so special about your kid? I hear you thinking...tsking, like I'm one of those, the mother who thinks her kid is advanced for walking and talking by the time he's in grade school.
He's been doing his best to defy gravity for as long as I can remember.
It used to be a concern of mine that he'd lose his playfulness as he got older; now a teenager three years strong, a high schooler even, I needn't have worried--though he loves electronics, his summer goal was to learn how to juggle. On a RipStik. Mission Impossible? accomplished. Thankfully, he hasn't yet practiced with machetes or chainsaws, but he mentioned how neat it'd be to juggle knives.
And you thought child safety locks on drawers were just for toddlers...!
Anyways...I couldn't help but write about my son at play after learning about this wonderful initiative by Story Bleed and GoGo Squeeze, manufacturer of squeezable apple sauce--
A celebration of the World Wide Day of Play; they're asking that we commemorate it with picture uploads to GoGo Squeeze's Facebook GoGo Gang page. For every 100,000 "play" photos uploaded, they'll build a playground for a neighborhood in need! (new or old photos of you/your children at play)
Details are here, but please take a few minutes to make a difference:
Then, click the GoGo Gang tab in the left sidebar.
Upload a picture that captures "play." (You can upload as many as you want new or old!!)
Be sure to tag picture(s) with #GoGoDayofPlay.
If you're a blogger, post your favorite "play" camera capture (twitpic, instagram, picplz, etc.) in a post and link it back to Story Bleed's Carnival. Two submissions will be featured on Story Bleed's main page!
Be sure to tweet that picture with the hashtag #GoGoDayofPlay, too.
When I began looking through pictures to post (I wanna do my part to get a playground built!), I was genuinely surprised to see how many were of my youngest airborne. I'm rethinking "play" as his super power...because maybe it really is flying!
Do tell: What are your children's "play" Super Powers? Sculpting Play-doh? Lego masterpieces? Fashion design for Barbie/American Girls/Bratz/etc.? Jump roping? Or death-defying acts like my 14 year old?
This post is sponsored by Story Bleed on behalf of GoGo squeeZ as part of the #GoGoDayOfPlay photo carnival.
“Every girl needs a Princess Dress.” ~ Robin Dance
Through a dress shop’s plate glass window, I fell in love. The object of my affection was basic, black and beautiful--
On a whim and for fun, my husband encouraged me to try it on…but this only deepened my desire to have it. Married with two (at the time) children, it made no sense to buy an expensive formal dress with no reason to wear it!
The happy ending to this silly love story is, after pining for it for months, I snatched it on clearance for under $50. Never mind that at the time it was two sizes too big, it was the only one they had left. I didn’t care–it was still wearable and I at long last had my Princess Dress! (Fifteen years later, I’d be thankful for buying it large…!)
What I didn’t know then was I was making an investment in future fun…unforgettable memories and moments.
Please finish reading "When big girls play dress up" at Therapon's The Skinny; there's a special invitation for YOU at the end!!! To encourage conversation, I'll send one lucky commenter a 2 oz size of NuPeel Natural Enzyme Peel, one of my favorite Therapon products!
Check out Leigh's other designs at Curly Girl...and while you're there, please tell her I'm her biggest stalker fan! Then buy lots of her stuff; you'll thank me for making the introduction if you aren't already familiar with her work. With Leigh's wonderful wit and whimsy, she might've topped my fizzy affections for Mary Engelbreit.
Since I'm gushing over my favorite creative genuis du jour, DO TELL me about your favorite artist and why you've got mad love for 'em!
p.s. This is not a sponsored post. The opinions are still my own. {wink}
This post will be most complete if you add your own favorites ~ Inspiring quotes or favorite scriptures that esteem joy. Please share your voice in comments.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.~ 3 John 1:4
Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called "The rejoicing of hope." ~ William Gurnall
I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.~ 2 Corinthians 7:4b
When large numbers of people share their joy in common, the happiness of each is greater because each adds fuel to the other's flame.~ Augustine
You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence. ~ Acts 2:28
You will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.~ Helen Keller
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.James 1:2-4
But my joy has truly come from Him finding His joy in me rather than me finding my joy in what I desire. It doesn't mean I don't long for different, it just means I find peace in fulfilling rather than understanding.~ Sara Frankl, @gitzengirl
Photo credits: Photo around the laptop & of Sara with Elias, lifted from Jessica's blog; photo of (in)courage team jumping on the beach, courtesy of Dawn Camp from our Flickr pool.
Sara is dying. Knowing this keeps her present in my mind and prayerful in my heart.
For as long as I can remember, my husband and I have played this little game; well, less a game and more a practice: Whenever anything happened to someone we know--and by anything I mean typically a bad thing--we'd try to imagine how we'd hope to respond to the circumstance.
When friends walked the trek of infertility, what would we do if I couldn't get pregnant? Would we adopt? Would we invest in treatments that might change the mind of my womb?
When my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer (after both my mother and grandmother died from the disease), what would we do if the same lot fell to me?
When our dear friend Cindy suffered permanent brain damage as a result of an accident and her husband left her, would we have remained committed to our marriage when personalities changed?
How would our lives under fire reflect Christ?
Our logic, I suppose, was to think through how we wanted to behave to live out the pre-eminence of God in our lives. Talking about and thinking out loud before we were walking through unexpected tragedy--before feelings and emotions stirred reaction--was our way of orienting our minds and preparing in advance to make good decisions, tough choices, when life got hard.
Because life gets hard.
So we'd watch how others responded in their difficult circumstances, and talk through and imagine how we'd hope to respond if we were in their shoes. Sometimes we'd find ourselves hoping we'd respond the same way; in other instances we'd pray that out response would be vastly different.
Because of Sara's illness, she has been confined to her apartment for years...years...pain, her body's often-companion. The past several weeks have been the worst, which is saying a lot.
Sara's response to her debilitating, life-ravaging illness? Joy.
I met Sara through our writing team at incourage. For the past two years, she has been a consistent voice of encouragement to me--through her words on her blog, comments to my posts, emails or skype conversation, and most recently, text messages. Telling someone they're consistent is one of the highest compliments you'll ever receive from me--in every instance she has ~
been completely candid and honest, admitting her struggle or physical pain, yet remaining faithful
luminously reflected Christ in her, great hope of glory
acknowledged God's sovereignty and conceded that even her illness is part of His redemptive plan, to bring...to live...the Gospel, in a way not possible in perfect health.
Sara realized this week her death was imminent; on Tuesday she admitted through a heartbreaking-to-me-text that she felt different, that she thought it would happen soon. And she was ready.
Jessica, a precious friend of mine and a best friend of Sara's, has been in close contact with Sara and her family over the past several days. Everything that Jess shares demonstrate's Sara's consistent voice of praise to God, and love and consideration of others, concerned about how everyone else is doing.
She's worried about us and how her death will affect those who know and care about her!
She's not fearful. She is ready. She's wants you to know Christ.
Last week at our incourage writers retreat in Hilton Head Island, SC, we Skyped with Sara. Thanks to technology, we showed her the beach and our beautiful setting. As best we could, we hid the tears. The moment--pure joy...broken beauty; we sensed its importance and captured it.
Later, she told me it was the highlight of her year.
Through her illness and suffering, Sara is sharing and living the Gospel in a way not possible had she enjoyed perfect health. Left to me, she would have been healed right away and avoided this painful road; but in God's mysterious ways, He has deemed Sara worthy to tell a much different story.
Her faithfulness and beauty in the telling has changed lives, not through her own power but from the power that lives in and through her.
Sara had a decision to make so she chose joy and invited all of us to do the same.
Sara is dying well.
Sara has modeled how I'd hope to respond if I ever found myself in a similar circumstance...I'd want to respond just like her.
That is the highest compliment I'll ever give.
* * * * * *
Matthew Paul Turner (Jessica's husband) has written an achingly beautiful tribute for sweet Sara Frankl (aka @gitzengirl) I hope you'll take time to read. (Jessica's post today also has links to others who are sharing their thoughts about Sara's impact in their lives; her family is reading every account out loud to Sara.)
Steven Curtis Chapman's song With Hope has been incredible blessing this week; listen below, read the heart-lifting lyrics, and I think you'll be greatly encouraged. When you have hope, don't you have everything you need?
With much love,
~ Robin
This is not at all how We thought it was supposed to be We had so many plans for you We had so many dreams And now you've gone away And left us with the memories of your smile And nothing we can say And nothing we can do Can take away the pain The pain of losing you, but ...
We can cry with hope We can say goodbye with hope 'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no And we can grieve with hope 'Cause we believe with hope (There's a place by God's grace) There's a place where we'll see your face again We'll see your face again
And never have I known Anything so hard to understand And never have I questioned more The wisdom of God's plan But through the cloud of tears I see the Father's smile and say well done And I imagine you Where you wanted most to be Seeing all your dreams come true 'Cause now you're home And now you're free, and ...
We have this hope as an anchor 'Cause we believe that everything God promised us is true, so ...
So we can cry with hope And say goodbye with hope
We wait with hope And we ache with hope We hold on with hope We let go with hope
the assassination attempt was made on President Reagan's life (my 18th birthday, I was at the mall when I heard about it from a Belk's employee)...
The Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean (January 28, 1986--my brother's birthday--I was at work in Atlanta)...
John F. Kennedy was assassinated(okay, I don't really remember this because I was a baby, but it was on my sister's birthday and I just realized that major U.S. tragedies have occurred on mine and my siblings' birthdays...!)
--like you, I remember what I was doing when I learned about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001. Sitting in my office, a co-worker walked in and announced "A plane just crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York." When she told us a second had crashed, I walked down the hall to find a group standing around a television, watching live coverage, confused and disbelieving.
Shortly afterwards, I left to visit a friend whose birthday is September 11; I remember ducking as I looked up at a beautiful blue sky, wary pieces would begin to fall from nowhere.
Like you, we were glued to television for days, ravenous for news that would make sense of it all. Though information poured in, explanation defied logic.
Our nation rallied, and for a season it really did feel like "...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all."
Today, America collectively remembers while 10,000 stories are being told and retold. This poignant song by Alan Jackson manages to capture the essence of what we were feeling on that world-changing day ten years ago.
Beautifully and significantly Jackson's lyrics reminds us that some things never change--
"But I know Jesus and I talk to God And I remember this from when I was young Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us And the greatest is love...."
The stunning painting at the top of my post is "Twin Towers" by the creatively and wonderfully talented Chattanooga artist, Brent Sanders. Commissioned by the Times Free Press for its cover today, "Twin Towers" is available for purchase (100% of the proceeds for the original piece benefit Chattanooga's Red Cross).
