Looking for Peace at the Seashore

Yesterday, my mind swirled with all kind of thoughts and emotions...you know the kind that make you question everything.  Even though I don't make the mark often, I am still trying to be the change and not add negativety into our world, but some days seem to push you further than you expect; maybe it is a day when you had plans with someone and they decided to do something else with someone else (and you aren't included) or maybe it is an unexpected bit of news from work or family.  Those days really don't make you want to play nice or cooperate with anything or anyone.  They are draining and disappointing. 

So, to relieve the stress and not just sit at home alone, I got in my car and started driving.  Where?  I didn't know, I just went.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I let the roads lead me.  It isn't hard to figure out, though, like a magnet it took me through some areas I had never seen before and I ended up at the seashore.  Fortunately, it was a reasonably quiet spot of sand and I was able to just sit and watch the water come in, pray and think.  I have a lot to pray about....my family relations, my future, a job, etc. and I have a lot to be thankful for as well. 

This is a season of change for my family and now our little household is down to only 2 plus the 2 furbabies.  With that comes adjustment...not necessarily bad adjustment, just adjustment.  My greatest love has been to be a Mom and I am sad to see that season ending. Although, I will always be their Mom....it isn't the same.  I have 36 months before my baby flies and when you put it in those terms it almost overwhelms me.  My other children now live hours away and it is going to take some time to wrap my mind around what used to be and what is. I struggle because I don't know how to hold us together in this season.  I thought I had it all clear in my head and now I get to start over.  Oh, joy!

What a week....

This week has not be the easiest of weeks.  My oldest son is moving out to find life on his own and heading to a new college, several hours away, in a week or so. He has been staying with friends this week and the last of his stuff will be gone on Sunday. He is actually moving out and not just to college. It is a change of season. He is going to be fine. I love him and know he wants to take on life on his own terms but as a Mom my emotions have been all over the place due to many issues.  At the very least, I can say  it is has been rocky.

Also, I am not sure if I  mentioned it, but my company phased out all Field Management within the organization at the end of June, so for the last month I have been on the roller coaster ride of unemployment.  It has meant countless hours of looking for a job, sending resumes, contacting everyone I know and fortunately interviews. It has also meant a huge weight of stress and fighting fear about the future.  This is not my favorite part of doing life alone!  I was sad to see my job go (not just for the obvious reasons!) but because I truly loved what I did and loved the people I worked with and for. I miss working with all of the sweet souls I met, but at least now I can count them as friends and not co-workers.  Either way, you can imagine this month/week has been a challenge to my sense of equilibrium and peace. 

Losing my job sent me into a real tailspin emotionally, especially since I was unaware of how invested I was in my job.  So, without it, I lost some traction, direction and a great deal of security.  Trust me when I say I have had to pray over this one.  I am praying God places me where HE wants me and that I don't run ahead of him out of fear (something I am particularly good at!) 

Strangely enough, being unemployed also has taken a toll on my school focus. Being a full time college student and working full time was not easy but somehow it worked; maybe it was the firmer schedule?  Originally I thought, "Wow, I will be able to take some time and really focus on school and just buzz through this class!" Not so, actually it has been harder to get school work done because every time I sit down at the computer I feel the need to look for a job, send a resume,  etc.  So, tonight, on this exciting and beautiful Friday night...I am writing a paper.  Whooohooo....I can feel the jealously through the screen here. 

So, I guess this is my whiny....#betransparent post of the week.  I would appreciate prayers, if you are so inclined, for my family as we transition into our new season and that what ever God is trying to teach me I will learn and it will grow me into a better person.

My love of Magazines and one I have fallen for....

Some of you may know my dirty little secret....I am a little bit of a devoted Southern Belle and a little bit of  magazine addict and if you can mix the two....well, I am just falling off the wagon and getting run over by it!  Just  the last few months I found this amazing gem and with a name like Shrimp, Collards & Grits, how can you not love it?  This is one of the magazines that truly showcases the wonderful stew that has been created by the old and the new South.  There is beauty in this place and a drive of artistry rivaled by no other region and I am so thrilled to find a publication just full of Southerness in all its glory!  Ok, now run on over to the bookstore and get your own copy because I know you want to and, though it is bad manners, I am not sharing mine!

 

Shrimp, Collards & Grits Magazine





 



Monday Mess GET REAL Challange

I know what experts we are at getting just the right photo to share on Social Media.  What lighting works best? What angle makes you look just so?  How to smile so you look "picture perfect?"  I know all the tricks....but this weekend, when I thought I had the perfect back drop, perfect outfit and perfect dog... the picture taking didn't turn out  quite like I wanted!   I was shooting for a glam and adorable shot of me with my sweet Miss Macy, sort of like this:

 

Really cute, huh? The reality is it probably took a gazillion shots to get this semi-decent one, that vaguely looks like the photo I had in my mind.  The rest pretty much looked like this:



So, leave a comment with a link to your Monday Mess GET REAL Challenge and share your less than "picture perfect" not Pinterest worthy photo shots so we can remember life is REAL....a real mess!

Sometimes you are just thankful!

 

If you have read my blog for the short time it has been "this" blog, you know how much I love my little brick cottage.  If you are a house/home person, you understand this huge attachment; if not, you probably think I am a bit loony...but that is OK, too! My little house isn't perfect, but as I like to say, it is perfectly imperfect! It makes me feel safe and secure. I am thankful for the cocoon it continues to be.

 

As of late we have had some really hot days (it is South Caroline, right?) but also plenty of rain to keep everything green, as well.  One day this week I came home and just smiled because things felt so welcoming.  I guess with all the craziness going on in real life, my little home just felt right.  Maybe it is silly to wax poetic about a house but I believe home is where the heart is and for now...this is home.  I hope for a long time to come I can call it home.  I hope to make memories and watch things grow in this little brick cottage I call home.

#LiveThankful





Bright Spots for Summer

I have always loved holidays and the changes of seasons.  It is fun to change a few things up in my home for each season or holiday just to make me (and hopefully my friends and family) smile just a little bit. This week I finally took my Patriotic Décor down, which I usually leave up from Memorial Day through the 4th.  Yes, I was very late I getting it down, but I still wanted to put up a pop or two of Summer and was surprised when I went shopping that all the stores have already been taken over by Fall and CHRISTMAS!!!  The one positive thing about this whole season surprise was that what I did find  was on sale big time ( as in 90%off!)

My unexpected joy was that I found was the piece I want to use in moving forward to create the look of "MY" house and I couldn't be happier  It will be my anchor piece! My decorating style has been evolving in the last few years, and as finances allowed, I have been able to make changes...small changes, but still moving towards my vision of what I want my home to look like and be a place where I can be replenished, revived and also be a place that is open and makes others feel the same.  So today, I am feeling the Summer heat and enjoying a few little pops of summer around the house!  What do you do to change your home up from time to time?

Robby Ott

I feel at a loss as to whether to write this post or not.   I can never make the words do justice to a Godly man and his amazing wife; but I feel the need to share how honored I am to have known Robby Ott and count he and his family as friends.  The kind of love Robby and his family shared was amazing, it wasn't perfect, but it was unfailing.  Robby was like that with most people, really.  He wasn't one to give up on someone. I know, because I saw it in his ministry to my own family.  He stood in the gap for me and my family on more than one occasion, even when he literally didn't have the strength to do so....and his precious wife, she shared him when they were pulled for time in their own family. 

 

Robby's passing a few days ago has me joyous that he is no longer in pain and struggling physically but hurting for those left behind. Our eternal perspective and our earthly hearts don't always walk hand in hand.  I was awed on Sunday,  as his stronger than me wife, spoke of who Robby was...and to watch the poise in which she shared what Robby truly would have wanted us to focus on....Jesus. 

"How can I glorify you today, God?"

~Robby Ott....everyday.

An excerpt from his obituary....

 

Robert Eugene Ott FLORENCE, SC - Rev. Robert Eugene Ott, 40, of Florence, SC, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Friday, July 14, 2017, at 6:28 a.m. at the McLeod Hospice House. He fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith after a five-year journey with colon cancer. He entered into his eternal reward surrounded by family. Robby was born April 3, 1977, in North Charleston, SC. He was a graduate of Goose Creek High School, where he was a drum major, and developed a passion for the tuba. He graduated from Charleston Southern University with a degree in Youth Ministry. During college, he surrendered his life to full-time ministry and was ordained on July 7, 1998. Robby loved Jesus, his family, the Gamecocks, music, and golf. He was the pastor at The Garden Church of Florence. Robby was a gifted preacher of God's word, and he ministered and brought glory to Christ throughout his life. Robby and his wife, April, were married for 18 years, but he claimed to have loved her his entire life....