Timed Rhythm

Junior high is a tumultuous time full of weird people, weird feelings, weird hormones, chaos and confusion.  It's also an epic time to learn and grow! What you wear says a lot about who you are.   Take care of yourself.  Mix up your wardrobe and above all else don't wear the same sweater everyday, as this isn't socially appropriate and might embarrass your sister. Don't push people away when you are struggling.  Communicate your hurt and your needs. Good friends and family truly do care.  The battles you face you don't have to face alone. You are loved by the God of the universe.   Even if the world crumbles around you, the most important person in the universe desires to wrap arms around you and snuggle you close in a tender and gentle hug.  Nothing can beat that love, and NOTHING can break it.  Amazing! Speak with grace.   Even if you think a person is making a huge mistake, there are better ways of confronting them then saying, "tha...

Upper elementary school was a time of settling into a new home, new city and new culture.  I moved from a big (relatively large) city to a very small country town with a one pump gas station and a single blinking yellow light.  There was, and still is, much to be learned from this small town and these youth-filled ages. 4:20 is not the right time to meet friends to go to the movies (or to do anything else for that matter).  And yes, the fact that it is written everywhere around school should give you a clue that it doesn't have the finest connotation.  Pay attention to your surroundings . The wind will hold you up if you wait for the strongest gusts and throw your jacket open to catch it's strength.   It will also drop you after the gust has passed, but if you are standing on top of a grassy hill, you can roll down and live large twice in one moment.  Embrace the wind . There may be a bully who hoards the swings, but that means you will get reall...

You'll not be young forever my darling You will grow old and grey. When your years have peaked and the mountaintops become your place may you look at the stars and seas and say "I have missed nothing. I've lived my dreams!"

We moved from my childhood home the summer after my 3rd grade year.  It was like leaving a good friend, and standing out in a field with wild animals.  You know no one, you are completely uncomfortable, AND you don't feel safe.... Looking back now, I realize that the wild animal eyes I saw were all small harmless critters (like turtles and chipmunks) and there was nothing but adventure to be had in the field.  Perhaps the greatest lesson learned is that old is never lost, new is opportunity, and home is where you plant it .  However, there were many more... In life there are people who love you, and never say it.  Sometimes separation makes the love finally spills out, but sometimes it remains silently held and cherished forever.  Never shared, but never forgotten.  Trust that you are loved in secret. Never be afraid to share your appreciation of someone.   It might seem small to you, but for them it may mean the world.   S...

Sometimes in life I get these pictures in my head that carry a massive amount of meaning.  They are similar to compressed dreams while awake.  It is as if the picture in my head explains a whole complete picture of what is happening that is contrary to what I have been seeing. Usually these pictures come at moments when I reflect, seek understanding or am simply telling God that I don't understand.  I see them as God's gracious way of dropping truth in front of me, a gentle way of opening my eyes to a bigger picture, and a kind way of communicating that He cares, He hears and He sees. So, what was my picture this morning?  It was a little girl asking God, "Where did you go?" however, God was right beside her.  Picture a giant of a being, with a little girl who can't find the giant beside her because of a cardboard box she had taped on her head to form a tunnel in front of her face.  The girl was stuck on narrow focuses and completely missed the f...

Yup, it's that time of year again when everyone starts anew.  Students graduate, upgrade their class options, reach for goals far into the future, plan for what is to come, go wedding dress shopping, write their vows, change jobs, move houses, start making baby plans...   IT's SPRING afterall!

The truth is that ALL people are priceless.  They cannot be ranked in value because each falls into its own category: you!  The uniqueness of each individual promises that there will never be another who is equipped with the same values, weaknesses, strengths, learnings, experiences, etc. There are not two yous.  There are not two mes.  We are unique and this... is beautiful! However, the unfortunate truth is that we often forget that there is value which is invisible.  Most people are, to us, invisible.  We have never met them, we have never had the chance to get to know them, and we never will.  We live on islands in this life.  We let in whoever we choose.  Everyone else is an outsider. Although I want to now write about the importance of letting others in, I will refrain, for that isn’t my purpose in sitting here in the airport with my keyboard.  My purpose is to write about the Jackies of life. Do you remember that best friend...

Elementary school started for me at Abernathy Elementary in Portland, Oregon.  A school surrounded by rose bush round-a-bouts, a large covered play area, a fairly busy road in the distance and a play ground with an epic tire swing and bark dust where Clark once peed during recess.  Which brings me to the learnings of this age of life... Boys are gross.  Sometimes they try to be sweet by attending the school carnival and using all the tickets they earn to buy you a small hello kitty pencil set.  This IS sweet.  Boys are gross, but super sweet. Boys make the heart flutter.  I've had crushes since AT LEAST first grade.  Usually the flutter of the heart made me run away and hide.    I am an excellent hider.  This is not actually good.  I need to remember to 'unhide' myself too. Problems are not only an adult thing.  On the playground I used to solve all the problems of the world.  My role was to brainstorm solutions for ...

There isn't much that I remember from preschool years and below, but there are a couple that stand out.  Some are solid life-long learnings, others true but not exactly wise... When you want to join the Puddle Splashing preschool class, but you choose the other class because they go on a field trip to pick berries and you love berries, but the class itself is not that fun...you will survive.  The berries will be delicious and you can go puddle splashing any day.  After all you live in Portland, the land of rain.  Choose to enjoy! Always ask 'why?'  Ask yourself, and if you don't know the answer, ask others. Asking is how you learn.  Ask, reflect and grow! Be confident as you encounter challenges.  When you embrace fear instead, you will fall. (But, maybe don't ride your bike down the basement stairs) Ask the neighbor for fruit when your parents say, "no."  He will be impressed that you are asking for a healthy treat, feel bad fo...

I was inspired by a friend today to reflect on my life and what I have learned from the timeline I have already lived out.  I broke down my life into the following 35 sections. Life Chunks: Preschool and below Lower Elementary School Moving Upper elementary School Junior High Sports and Clubs High School College Prep College Summers between college years Working abroad (in Korea) Missions Trip (short Term) Backpacking around Asia Coming home Learning to forgive  First local teaching job Grad School Friendships with boys Dating Beginnings Dating Long Term   Applying for jobs (and working during the recession) Teaching at a Private School Traveling for the summers Deciding to grow up (no backup plans) New everything (job, home, car, location) YD Embracing a new job and community Teaching in a public middle school Dating to learn  Choosing who to give time to Learning to stand up for / look after myself Learning to truly love Fri...

If you are just starting your life, just old enough to read, or in your 30s and still not sure where life will lead you, this was written just for you .  It is not a direction or a necessity, just a word of wisdom:  Set a goal and GO! Goals don't have to be daunting.   A wise person once told me that the best goal is one that you can accomplish.   Make goals that you can attain.   It is an AMAZING feeling to reach a goal.  It is an accomplishment!  It is success!  There is joy in knowing that you have mastered something, and reached an end and WON!  Goal setting is a beautiful thing masterfully designed by the individual setting it.    The best thing about goal setting is that you are in control.  This is also the hardest thing.   If your goal is too big, you set yourself up for failure; too small and you find it boring to reach for. Life Lesson #103:  Name your purpose by setting goals and seei...

Today there is no school because it snowed an inch and everyone in the Portland Metro area panics when there are white flakes on the ground.   It becomes chaos; shops close; roads are empty; traffic stops; schools all shut down; even the snowman go into hiding (mainly because they were never made in the first place because there isn't enough snow.)  If anyone ever has bad dandruff, and enters a coffee shop, the music stops, and everyone runs to their car.   Mind you, this is not because of the dandruff (that would be no big deal; dandruff happens).  It is the deep FEAR of snow that creates the mass exodus. Okay...the truth is that when it snows the temperature usually hovers around freezing, bouncing the ground back and forth between melting and frozen...which does give reason for concern.  Chaos, no.  Concern...okay. As I sit her in my slippers, watching the snowman I made stare at me (yes I made a snowman; it took seriously ALL the snow in t...

It's funny how life moves.   It rolls and flows, ripples and drips, meanders and races.  There is no predicting its motion except knowing that it will continue.  We expect, and are surprised to find MORE; we want and then receive only to find that our desire is not what is good or even truly wanted.   We think, but do not conclude; laugh but do not know why; we dance without steps and swim in circles without direction.  We are free after all!  However, with freedom comes choice.  (my least favorite part). I am that person who stands in the toothpaste aisle for 20 minutes considering which toothpaste to buy.  Maybe the one I've been using isn't the best?  Maybe a new one would be better for my teeth?  Maybe my parents innocently lead me astray by giving me a poor toothpaste as a child?  Considering they are all in the same aisle...doesn't one have to be better than the next?  If that is the case, isn't another better...

I love writing, and always have.   Mostly my writing is personal and kept private, or not personal and kept private, or shared with select few, privately, of course.  Recently I stumbled upon 4 blogs (surprise!) that I had started at different times in my life, and I have filtered out the OVERLY private, and left the personal me, combined them into one simple blog, and labeled it "Meeting Amy."   There is no perfection here or even specific structure.  It is just a bit of the random musings of an imperfect soul who desires to be organized, and sometimes makes that happen!   (side note:  when I am organized I rock at it...or rather impress myself later in hind sight.   Perhaps this is because my personal norm is not very impressive?  Or perhaps I actually rock at it!  So much in life is up to interpretation ;)