Lessons in Patience

So, it has been FOREVER since I've posted anything on my blog. I definitely lost touch with blogging over the summer. I'm both happy and sad that summer is over. But I just LOVE the fall, and all that his has to offer (the colours, the smells, the food, and Christmas just around the corner!), so I'm welcoming this new season with open arms.

I'm hoping that not only am I going into a new season in terms of weather, but also into a new season of my life. Lately I feel like my entire life is one big lesson in patience. Every way I turn, I feel like God is telling me "just wait." I feel like I'm in a waiting room with a whole bunch of doors I want to go through, but God keeps telling me it's just not time yet.

I'm waiting for a lot of things.

1. We put our house up for sale this summer. So I'm waiting (not so patiently) for it to sell so we can build the beautiful home we've been planning for months. But it's not time yet, and I'm guessing, like all things...there must be a reason. Patience.

2. I'm waiting to see what my career has in store for me. I know my entire career can't be rolled out in front of me right away, but it would be sort of nice to know where I'm headed. A job with more stable hours (no weekends, evenings or holidays) would be a dream come true...but it's not time for that yet either. Patience.

3. The biggest thing I've had to muster up patience about is my recent diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) (google it if you want more info). I kept telling my doctor I had PCOS, but it took him a few months to actually get a clue and realize I was right. It's since been confirmed, and I've begun a lifelong journey of trying to stay healthy by exercising and eating right in order to keep myself from "having a heart attack at 40" as my endocrinologist so delicately put it :) (The good news is, if I do keep myself healthy, that probably won't happen.) Aside from my increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., the diagnosis also means that I struggle with infertility. Again...Patience.

I often wonder how much more difficult this whole patience thing would be if I didn't know for sure that God has a plan. He knows what he's doing, and exactly why and how long I have to wait for all of these situations to become clear. So, Fall is a new season in my life. And if it doesn't bring the answers I want, hopefully it will bring more lessons on the importance of patience and the comfort of faith.

My Temporary Home

I am, and always have been, very self-conscious about my body. I've never liked my size, or shape, and I don't like how hard I have to work to keep weight off compared to other people. My notorious LaPointe sweet tooth (or in my case, several sweet teeth) doesn't help with that either! I know that there are people out there who will disagree with me, but it doesn't matter what you say...I still feel this way! 

But don't worry, I have been working on this over the past few years. As I grow older (key word there...grow older, not get older), I am trying to be more comfortable in my skin. I try to take care of myself, exercise, etc.

Working in a nursing home has really changed my perspective on this too. Recently I read a news story to my residents about a face transplant that was done in the States. We thought about whose face we might like to have if we had to get a face transplant. In the end, we all decided we wanted to keep the face that God gave us. I looked around at my residents, and admired them for coming to that conclusion. I, of course, think they are all beautiful. Each and ever crease in their faces tells a story, and I am fascinated by that each day. (My fascination with life stories is a post for another day!)

A lot of my residents are in late-stage dementia, and many of them can no longer speak, or even move. We do an aromatherapy program with them in which we wash and massage their hands. Each time I do this, I look at their withered hands and think of all the things those hands accomplished during their lifetime...how they must have made meals, caressed babies, cared for sick children... And then I think of all the things my own body can still do. Unlike many of my residents, I can walk, talk, see, hear, smell, taste, get out of bed on my own each day, bathe without help, eat without help, remember who my loved ones are, go out for a drive whenever I want to, complete all my activities of daily living, I can have my own pets in my home...and oh yeah--I can actually go to my own home, rather than just wish I could go home.

So, how fortunate am I?? Really, really, beyond-measure-fortunate.

I went to my great-uncle's funeral today. At the end of his rich life, he was in the same condition many of my residents are. He's home in Heaven with the Lord now. During the funeral the pastor gestured toward Millard's body inside his casket, and said, "Millard used to live there. But not anymore. He lives in Heaven now". I really liked that thought. I know that thought will comfort me when I undoubtedly will lose one of my own grandparents one day. 

This body, the one I sometimes don't like very much, is just my temporary home. And God gave me this temporary home for a reason. Shouldn't I be thankful for it, and all the things it can do? Yes, I should. So, I'm going to keep trying to remember to be thankful for this body, to take care of this temporary home until I don't need it anymore, and use it how I think God would want me to use it. Because, usually when I borrow things, I try really hard to take good care of them...

What brings a little sparkle into your life?

So, here I am...I told myself I would never have a blog. I thought blogging was kind of silly (and I guess I kind of still do!) For one thing, who would want to hear about me?? And for another, I don't really like talking about myself anyway.

And then there's the question of, "What in the heck am I supposed to name a blog??" I pondered this for a little while. Then I thought of a little "slogan" I came up with to label the jewelry I make when I give it away or sell it..."a Little Sparkle." It's a good phrase to sum up my life and myself. Anyone who knows me well knows that I love things that sparkle...not to the point of me wearing blinding sparkles everyday like a Vegas showgirl...no. But if I put on just "a little sparkle", like a pair of earrings, it really gives me a boost.

There are so many things, though, besides jewelry that can give us a little sparkle in our lives: people, feelings, knowing that we have helped someone in some small (or big) way. I have a Christmas decoration that says, "We can't all be shining starts, but we can twinkle a little." I've always liked that thought. Even though I might not be an all-powerful executive, I know that I twinkle, sparkle, at my job as an Activity Director. I can feel it each and every time I make one of my residents smile. That smile, to me, is a real example of "a little sparkle" in my life. 

How are you going to add a little sparkle into someone's life today? I'm going to go make some people smile...and maybe put on a pair of earrings ;)