I have to warn you, if you’ve headed over here for a laugh, you might be disappointed, but I encourage you stay anyway. What I have to say has been on my heart for a while and was reaffirmed this morning while I was reading from my Bible and journaling. I just felt the need to share.
I’ve seen a lot of posts on facebook and twitter and have been hearing a lot of people say that basically if someone isn’t “adding value” to their life, they don’t need them in it and will lose nothing by “dropping them.” I’m paraphrasing slightly, but you get the idea. I am also not excluding myself. I have often felt “justified” in cutting people out of my life because I found them too negative, selfish, boastful, or maybe they’ve even really wronged me.
This tendency doesn’t make any of us bad people, it makes us human. But here’s the thing, we have the capability to be better than that. God says so! In those moments when I feel I’ve been wronged and I think to myself, “they’ll get what’s coming to them,” God reminds me of the cross. What defines being wronged, more than a man who was brutally killed for crimes He didn’t commit, a man who was tortured beyond what we can fathom, for people who not only “didn’t add value” to His life, but took His life away?
We would all be in a whole heap of trouble if Jesus thought to Himself, “I don’t think I’m really going to go through with this, these people don’t add anything to my life, their absence in Eternity won’t really bother me.” Could you imagine if God didn't send Jesus and we really did get what was coming to us?
God’s greatest commandment is for us to love one another. I think sometimes we misinterpret that as love those who love you back, love those who make it easy to love them. What about loving those who don't deserve it, the same way we are loved by God?
Believe me, I know it’s not easy and we’ll continue to fail at this, but I just thought it might help to shift our perspective a little bit. The next time we feel justified in not being kind towards someone, who hasn’t been kind to us, or not going that extra mile because they wouldn’t do the same, we need to remind ourselves that we can love like Jesus loves.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
~Matthew 5:43-48
Xo,
Lauren
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Calling All Baby Daddies
I love surprises. Love, love, love them! This is especially true when I am the one doing the surprising. I try to do this every so often. My idea of a good surprise is flying back home to the East coast without anyone knowing. I’ve managed to pull this off a lot. The best time was when neither of my parents knew.
Usually my mom is in on the surprise, but this time I literally knocked her off her feet :)
One such trip home, I went to see my grandma. I never quite know if its a good idea to surprise her this much. She’s getting on in years and I’m pretty sure being responsible for a heart attack would kind of overshadow my whole surprise thing. It turned out okay and she was excited to see me, but she couldn’t just leave it at that.
Generally people with CSS (Chronic Singlehood Syndrome) are mostly immune to the kinds of comments my grandma was about to make and are generally able to laugh them off. You may not have guessed (bless your little heart if you didn’t) but I am a part of the aforementioned people.
I spent the next hour convincing her that, “No Grandma, I didn’t come home to surprise you because I got engaged.” “Yes, Grandma I’m still single.” “You’re right Grandma, it COULD happen someday.”
We finally moved on to others kinds of chit chat but only after I had convinced her I would try my best to have children while she was still on this earth. I think I still have a bit of time before I start placing adds in the personals for a baby daddy.
So back to present day. I’m sitting in my apartment, hard at work, being a studious.. well... student and definitely not thinking about the above memory when my phone rings. As I get ready to answer the phone and chew out the solicitor on the other end for interrupting my devout study time, I sighed and decided to just be nice for once.
Well it paid off... almost. After establishing I lived locally in the San Francisco area, I was told my number had been selected to win two free round-trip tickets to anywhere in the country. (I know what you’re thinking, I was skeptical too.)
“Do I have to buy anything?”
“No.”
“Do I have to sign up for anything?”
“No.”
“Well what do I have to do?”
“All you have to do is answer a couple demographic questions and come to our Travel Agency office in the city and pick up the tickets in person.”
I figured what could it hurt to hear the questions? If they got weird I didn’t have to answer, right? I needn’t have worried.
“Okay, go a head.”
“Are you married?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Oh? What do you mean oh? Do you know my grandma??
“Nope, not married.”
“Well, this promotion is only for married people.” Okay seriously, how much did she pay you to call me?
“Um okay.”
“Do you know any married people you could pass this on to?”
“Yes.” Just because I have CSS doesn’t mean everyone I know does!
“Okay.”
“You’re sure they don’t have to sign up for anything or buy anything though?” I wasn’t about to join the ring of solicitors. Call me crazy, but I’ve kind of grown used to not being hated by society.
“All they have to do is come to the office in person to pick up the tickets.”
“Well, could I pick them up for them?”
“No.”
“Well I don’t have any local married friends.”
“That’s too bad.” I guess? Hasn’t bothered me thus far...
“Well thanks anyway.”
“I’ll tell you what, since you were so nice to me, I’ll keep your number on file and if we have any future promotions for single women, we’ll call you.”
“Thanks very much, have a good night.” Click.
Riiing, Riiing, Riiing, “Thank you for calling Comcast, may I help you?”
“Yes, I’d like to see about changing my phone number.”
I think I might still need some time to process the “moral of the story.” But what I do know is that next time I read “Single Woman Seeking Married Couples” in the personals, I won’t be so fast to jump to conclusions.
Xo,
Lauren
Usually my mom is in on the surprise, but this time I literally knocked her off her feet :)
One such trip home, I went to see my grandma. I never quite know if its a good idea to surprise her this much. She’s getting on in years and I’m pretty sure being responsible for a heart attack would kind of overshadow my whole surprise thing. It turned out okay and she was excited to see me, but she couldn’t just leave it at that.
Generally people with CSS (Chronic Singlehood Syndrome) are mostly immune to the kinds of comments my grandma was about to make and are generally able to laugh them off. You may not have guessed (bless your little heart if you didn’t) but I am a part of the aforementioned people.
I spent the next hour convincing her that, “No Grandma, I didn’t come home to surprise you because I got engaged.” “Yes, Grandma I’m still single.” “You’re right Grandma, it COULD happen someday.”
We finally moved on to others kinds of chit chat but only after I had convinced her I would try my best to have children while she was still on this earth. I think I still have a bit of time before I start placing adds in the personals for a baby daddy.
So back to present day. I’m sitting in my apartment, hard at work, being a studious.. well... student and definitely not thinking about the above memory when my phone rings. As I get ready to answer the phone and chew out the solicitor on the other end for interrupting my devout study time, I sighed and decided to just be nice for once.
Well it paid off... almost. After establishing I lived locally in the San Francisco area, I was told my number had been selected to win two free round-trip tickets to anywhere in the country. (I know what you’re thinking, I was skeptical too.)
“Do I have to buy anything?”
“No.”
“Do I have to sign up for anything?”
“No.”
“Well what do I have to do?”
“All you have to do is answer a couple demographic questions and come to our Travel Agency office in the city and pick up the tickets in person.”
I figured what could it hurt to hear the questions? If they got weird I didn’t have to answer, right? I needn’t have worried.
“Okay, go a head.”
“Are you married?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Oh? What do you mean oh? Do you know my grandma??
“Nope, not married.”
“Well, this promotion is only for married people.” Okay seriously, how much did she pay you to call me?
“Um okay.”
“Do you know any married people you could pass this on to?”
“Yes.” Just because I have CSS doesn’t mean everyone I know does!
“Okay.”
“You’re sure they don’t have to sign up for anything or buy anything though?” I wasn’t about to join the ring of solicitors. Call me crazy, but I’ve kind of grown used to not being hated by society.
“All they have to do is come to the office in person to pick up the tickets.”
“Well, could I pick them up for them?”
“No.”
“Well I don’t have any local married friends.”
“That’s too bad.” I guess? Hasn’t bothered me thus far...
“Well thanks anyway.”
“I’ll tell you what, since you were so nice to me, I’ll keep your number on file and if we have any future promotions for single women, we’ll call you.”
“Thanks very much, have a good night.” Click.
Riiing, Riiing, Riiing, “Thank you for calling Comcast, may I help you?”
“Yes, I’d like to see about changing my phone number.”
I think I might still need some time to process the “moral of the story.” But what I do know is that next time I read “Single Woman Seeking Married Couples” in the personals, I won’t be so fast to jump to conclusions.
Xo,
Lauren
Thursday, October 6, 2011
What Happens in Walmart & The Kindness of Strangers (Part II of ‘Returning Nora to Ohio’)
I’m going back in time… well only by a month & a half… to finish chronicling my journey to and from Ohio to take my sister back to school. The night we arrived we decided to get up early the next morning to get a lot accomplished, so unsurprisingly, we slept in. I guess we now know one downside to not having the responsible parentals present.
I’ll cut out the details about getting ready, going back over to her apartment, checking in, getting her key so she could move her suitcases from the apartment hall into her actual room, and making a list of what NEEDED to come back with us from Walmart later that day. (Dad put us on a strict budget, which we almost successfully stuck to.)
So we arrived at Walmart without incident… almost. There was a slight second in the parking lot where I may or may not have come close to not yielding to pedestrians. Okay, there was, but it was good that I did end up yielding because the pedestrians turned out to be my sister’s roommate and her family. That could have been an awkward semester.
There we were, in Walmart, minding our business as we snaked through the aisles, picking up ONLY what was necessary. (just in case you’re reading this, Dad) Out of no where our eyes were irrevocably assaulted. It is still painful to talk about so I’ll ask you to just see the photo below.
There was no sand, I didn't hear waves, this is NOT okay to wear... even to Walmart! I’ll just say this… a major strike 3 for humanity (see post Part I).
After hitting up the drive-through therapy center, ok not really, but wouldn’t that be a good idea? I’d imagine it would improve the over all mood the of the general public on any given day. We made it back to my sister’s apartment unloaded and put away groceries and other purchased supplies and hung out with her roommies.
I even got to meet a “little.” Now you either know what this is… or you don’t. I did not. It is what the “little sisters” of a sorority are refereed to. Those that take these little sisters under their wing are called “bigs.” So yes, there are people roaming around out there constantly asking where their “bigs” and “littles” are. But I digress.
Later that night I was wiped… On the plus side, I now know what goes into and will be prepared for taking my child to college. I decided to stay in and head to bed early while my sister went out to catch up with her friends. Upon making this decision however, I did not know there was a frat house behind the hotel. Ergo I forwent any notion I had of sleeping and stayed up and read. A little while later, the police came and broke up the party. No, I am not the one who called, but I did take minor pleasure at the site below.
The next day we learned from our mistake and woke up early enough to catch the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. Since I would be staying my last night with my sister, we packed up, checked out, and headed to her apartment. We ended the afternoon with a second, less traumatic, trip to (a different) Walmart.
Now pay attention because this is where it gets good and all of our faith in humanity can be restored. We went to PF Changs for dinner and ended up sitting next to a really sweet couple. After a few random ice breakers, curtesy of our waitress, we actually engaged in a nice conversation with the couple. We chatted, we laughed, we even shared tofu.
It turned out their son had graduated from my sisters school and the couple lived near where my grandparents lived in Florida for the winter. When it was time to pay the bill, my sister put in cash and I threw in my debit card. When it came back, everything was still there with a note, “Your bill is paid in full, thank the couple next to you.”
Nora and I were both in shock and couldn’t say enough “thank you’s” to our knew friends. They had paid for our dinner and didn’t even know our names! As they stood to leave, we introduced ourselves, and then they headed out of the restaurant.
Once we left and were in the car we realized we didn’t even know their last name or how to contact them and probably wouldn't see them again. So we just contented ourselves in being thankful for the random kindness of strangers that is not shown often enough in the world we live in.
The next morning I said goodbye to Nora as I dropped her off at class. It probably would have been a more emotional goodbye if I hadn’t been desperately trying to avoid hitting the thousands of students I was surrounded by. I only came close once, when I was backing out of Starbucks, with my Iced Caramel Macchiato for the road. Thank goodness for the King Ranch and those little back-up beeps!
Xo,
Lauren
I’ll cut out the details about getting ready, going back over to her apartment, checking in, getting her key so she could move her suitcases from the apartment hall into her actual room, and making a list of what NEEDED to come back with us from Walmart later that day. (Dad put us on a strict budget, which we almost successfully stuck to.)
So we arrived at Walmart without incident… almost. There was a slight second in the parking lot where I may or may not have come close to not yielding to pedestrians. Okay, there was, but it was good that I did end up yielding because the pedestrians turned out to be my sister’s roommate and her family. That could have been an awkward semester.
There we were, in Walmart, minding our business as we snaked through the aisles, picking up ONLY what was necessary. (just in case you’re reading this, Dad) Out of no where our eyes were irrevocably assaulted. It is still painful to talk about so I’ll ask you to just see the photo below.
There was no sand, I didn't hear waves, this is NOT okay to wear... even to Walmart! I’ll just say this… a major strike 3 for humanity (see post Part I).
After hitting up the drive-through therapy center, ok not really, but wouldn’t that be a good idea? I’d imagine it would improve the over all mood the of the general public on any given day. We made it back to my sister’s apartment unloaded and put away groceries and other purchased supplies and hung out with her roommies.
I even got to meet a “little.” Now you either know what this is… or you don’t. I did not. It is what the “little sisters” of a sorority are refereed to. Those that take these little sisters under their wing are called “bigs.” So yes, there are people roaming around out there constantly asking where their “bigs” and “littles” are. But I digress.
Later that night I was wiped… On the plus side, I now know what goes into and will be prepared for taking my child to college. I decided to stay in and head to bed early while my sister went out to catch up with her friends. Upon making this decision however, I did not know there was a frat house behind the hotel. Ergo I forwent any notion I had of sleeping and stayed up and read. A little while later, the police came and broke up the party. No, I am not the one who called, but I did take minor pleasure at the site below.
The next day we learned from our mistake and woke up early enough to catch the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. Since I would be staying my last night with my sister, we packed up, checked out, and headed to her apartment. We ended the afternoon with a second, less traumatic, trip to (a different) Walmart.
Now pay attention because this is where it gets good and all of our faith in humanity can be restored. We went to PF Changs for dinner and ended up sitting next to a really sweet couple. After a few random ice breakers, curtesy of our waitress, we actually engaged in a nice conversation with the couple. We chatted, we laughed, we even shared tofu.
It turned out their son had graduated from my sisters school and the couple lived near where my grandparents lived in Florida for the winter. When it was time to pay the bill, my sister put in cash and I threw in my debit card. When it came back, everything was still there with a note, “Your bill is paid in full, thank the couple next to you.”
Nora and I were both in shock and couldn’t say enough “thank you’s” to our knew friends. They had paid for our dinner and didn’t even know our names! As they stood to leave, we introduced ourselves, and then they headed out of the restaurant.
Once we left and were in the car we realized we didn’t even know their last name or how to contact them and probably wouldn't see them again. So we just contented ourselves in being thankful for the random kindness of strangers that is not shown often enough in the world we live in.
The next morning I said goodbye to Nora as I dropped her off at class. It probably would have been a more emotional goodbye if I hadn’t been desperately trying to avoid hitting the thousands of students I was surrounded by. I only came close once, when I was backing out of Starbucks, with my Iced Caramel Macchiato for the road. Thank goodness for the King Ranch and those little back-up beeps!
Xo,
Lauren
Monday, September 19, 2011
today, I was inspired by a pigeon...
Back to school leaves very little time for blogging.... I still owe you a little more of the Ohio trip.... in the interim this will have to tide you over....
So after a bit of a long and unusually hot day, I found myself on the way back to my apartment. Class had gone well, but I had intended to stop at the Urgent Care to see if they could do something about my sinuses. It took three unsuccessful trips up and down on the elevator for me to realize the Urgent Care was no longer where it had been before I went home for the summer. Well actually it took someone watching as I pushed Floor 3 several times with nothing happening to ask if I was lost, then direct me to the front desk with the new location of the Urgent Care... Turns out it had moved several blocks.
As that plan went up in smoke, I gave up, went back to school to fill out some paper work, grabbed a few necessities from Walgreens along with some take out from New Mings, and made my way to the school shuttle stop. Yesss, I could have walked... but it was another ten blocks and it was hotttt, so I succumbed to the air conditioning of the shuttle. Well... I thought I was succumbing to the air conditioning of the shuttle, but once I actually got on and made my way to the only available seat way way way in the back, and sat down, I realized there was no air conditioning.
I finally made it to my stop and was quite eager to get home, when I came across a one footed pigeon hopping along on the sidewalk. Believe it or not, this pigeon appeared happy. I know how crazy that sounds, but it was with other pigeons doing pigeon things and it wasn't letting the fact that he or she only had one foot get it down. I'd like to say I stopped and helped it out, but I was partly in shock and partly fascinated. I did stop myself from taking a picture because I felt that would be crossing some sort of line and definitely not respecting the pigeon.
I know we all get annoyed by pigeons. I have this one particular memory of being in Disney with my family. Although the details are hazy, I can picture my grandmother's ice cream bar suddenly missing a large portion in the shape of an upside down triangle. So that was traumatic for everyone involved. However when you really think about it, I mean really, really think about it, we have it way better than pigeons and we shouldn't be so harsh with them.
And like my pigeon friend, who I've since decided was a male and have named Gus, it is important to not let the big things or the little things stop us from enjoying our lives. The minute you start thinking about how you're having a bad day, remember there is someone out there having a worse one but making the best of it anyway.
I said before, I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of Gus, but I have since googled a picture of a footless pigeon (well technically this one is missing a leg too), just so you can get an idea of what the little guy was dealing with on the sidewalks of San Francisco.
Xo,
Lauren
So after a bit of a long and unusually hot day, I found myself on the way back to my apartment. Class had gone well, but I had intended to stop at the Urgent Care to see if they could do something about my sinuses. It took three unsuccessful trips up and down on the elevator for me to realize the Urgent Care was no longer where it had been before I went home for the summer. Well actually it took someone watching as I pushed Floor 3 several times with nothing happening to ask if I was lost, then direct me to the front desk with the new location of the Urgent Care... Turns out it had moved several blocks.
As that plan went up in smoke, I gave up, went back to school to fill out some paper work, grabbed a few necessities from Walgreens along with some take out from New Mings, and made my way to the school shuttle stop. Yesss, I could have walked... but it was another ten blocks and it was hotttt, so I succumbed to the air conditioning of the shuttle. Well... I thought I was succumbing to the air conditioning of the shuttle, but once I actually got on and made my way to the only available seat way way way in the back, and sat down, I realized there was no air conditioning.
I finally made it to my stop and was quite eager to get home, when I came across a one footed pigeon hopping along on the sidewalk. Believe it or not, this pigeon appeared happy. I know how crazy that sounds, but it was with other pigeons doing pigeon things and it wasn't letting the fact that he or she only had one foot get it down. I'd like to say I stopped and helped it out, but I was partly in shock and partly fascinated. I did stop myself from taking a picture because I felt that would be crossing some sort of line and definitely not respecting the pigeon.
I know we all get annoyed by pigeons. I have this one particular memory of being in Disney with my family. Although the details are hazy, I can picture my grandmother's ice cream bar suddenly missing a large portion in the shape of an upside down triangle. So that was traumatic for everyone involved. However when you really think about it, I mean really, really think about it, we have it way better than pigeons and we shouldn't be so harsh with them.
And like my pigeon friend, who I've since decided was a male and have named Gus, it is important to not let the big things or the little things stop us from enjoying our lives. The minute you start thinking about how you're having a bad day, remember there is someone out there having a worse one but making the best of it anyway.
I said before, I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of Gus, but I have since googled a picture of a footless pigeon (well technically this one is missing a leg too), just so you can get an idea of what the little guy was dealing with on the sidewalks of San Francisco.
Xo,
Lauren
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