Sister U Matter!

It was recently shared with me that a woman in her 50’s is pregnant with her third child and desires to have another child after the birth of the child she is currently carrying. (Oh yeah, did I mention that her second child is in the mid-20s.) The person sharing the news with me was just amazed and I joined in with my own version of “Oh no! ...Can't be...Really?!?! ”.

As the day went on, it dawned on me that just maybe the pregnancy of baby #3 may be a long-awaited desire of this woman’s heart. Just maybe she had been waiting on this opportunity and now it has finally arrived and she’s embracing it with open arms. So who am I to question it or complain about it?

You see, my opportunity may be viewed as someone else’s loss and my loss maybe someone else’s gain. Sisters, can we start celebrating with each other even when we don’t understand or maybe their choice would not have been our choice…just maybe that’s their good news!

Spread the word…Sister U Matter!®

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Life is good for the most part. Those not so good days can hit so hard though. Sometimes, those days almost choke the very life out of us. But I’m learning that when we go through those days, we are (and/or will be) an encouragement to others. Others will be able to get through what they are going through because they saw us get through those days. I’m also learning that although those days are designed to prepare, equip, stretch and grow us, they are also giving others a real life example of getting through those days.

Those days are temporary. I promise it gets better! We’ve got new opportunities, fresh ideas and new beginnings on the other side of those days. Never forget, especially during those days, you were created on purpose for a purpose.

Remember...Sister U Matter!®

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So back to my son’s football team’s Spring Game. We, the fans, tailgated prior to the game. It was a hot day, too. But we brought tents and even managed to find some shade. Our game was scheduled to begin at 2:30p. So we packed everything up and entered the stadium at about 2:00p. Only then did we find out that the games were off schedule and there was at least a two hour wait before our team played. So what do we do? Search for shade and we found it, too. We were so satisfied that we were not directly in the sun and there was even a light breeze every once and a while. Perfect! Right? Who could ask for anything better?

Well, guess what? If we had walked a few more steps, we could have spent our two hour wait in an air conditioned area with comfortable seating; literally, the absolute best seats and view in the entire stadium....at no additional cost!

Have you ever been in a situation where you settled for less because that’s all you knew to expect? You see, I had never had the privilege to seat in the “luxury” seating section of a football stadium before so it never crossed my mind that the luxury seating was even an option for me. My own expectations (and limited thinking) kept me hot, sweaty and uncomfortable.

My question for you: Are you limited or limitless? Check your expectations and see where you are. You may be settling for far less than the best and for some of us, the best more than we could have ever imagine. I challenge you to transition to limitless thinking and expectations and watch what comes your way.

Remember…Sister U Matter!®

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I recently attended my son’s football team’s spring game. It was played on a college campus and we were playing a team from another state with a higher classification than our team’s classification. We are a 4A school and we were told prior to the game that the opponent was a 5A school. No big deal. We had a similar scenario with last year’s spring game and we walked away with a win.

Well (sigh)…this game was definitely different. My son’s initial response regarding the game’s outcome, “I felt so disrespected. I have never felt that disrespected in my [football] life”. I must admit that as a fan, it was an embarrassing loss. Our team just seemed to be overpowered in every aspect of the game…and they were, so we learned after the game. Our coach explained to us (fans gather with the team after each game to pray with the team) that the opposing team was actually equivalent to a 6A-8A team and we were equivalent to a 3A when playing against this team. So why did the Coach schedule a game like this one? To expose our team’s deficiencies. You see, now we can work on those areas all summer and perfect (or at least improve) on them before our first game of the season in August.

Life lesson: Sometimes the things we go through in life are designed to expose the “weaknesses” in our lives. They aren’t necessarily meant to hurt, harm or break us but to show us the areas of correction or those areas that need perfecting.

As my son continued to process the game through the week, he said, “I’m glad we lost that game. Had we won, we would think we were unbeatable for the entire season and would not think we needed to learn anything. We would not have prepared as hard [for the coming season].”

I challenge you to begin to see those “losses” (those so disrespectful and embarrassing experiences) as opportunities for learning the areas where we may need growth.

Always remember…Sister U Matter!®

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I have really been struggling with this week’s post. I wanted to address the suicide issue because we have been bombarded with this topic in the last few weeks but am hesitant because it can be a touchy subject.

Yes, mental illness is real. Yes, depression is real. Yes, suicidal thoughts are real. I encourage anyone dealing with these issues to seek healthy help immediately.

You know, we are taught to present a brave and courageous public face although our insides are shattered and crumbling. We walk around with big smiles and made up faces but our hearts are broken and our souls are shaken. Sometimes we have such an internal conflict that is raging inside of us but no one knows. The thoughts seem so intrusive and we are encouraged (by our inner self talk) to not talk about all that’s going on with us. We remain silent out of fear of being misunderstood, labeled and sometimes ostracized by the very people that we thought would never betray us. Trust me, I understand.

But the real truth…anytime a life is taken prematurely, all of the promise and purpose connected to that person is also taken prematurely. No one gets to see how the story ends. We no longer have the opportunity to help the next person through their struggle based on own experiences gained while making it through our own struggles.

The real truth…no one wins when lives are taken prematurely. It leaves the surviving family members and friends with so many unanswered questions. It leaves a void, an emptiness, in the world that only you can uniquely fill.

The real truth…the world needs you. Someone is depending on you to make it so they can make it. There is an issue affecting others that only you can resolve. There are inventions needed that only you can make happen because of your unique experience.

The real truth…Sister U Matter!®

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