A lesson learned
As it turns out I am not in control...not in the least! I didn't even think about it as being a problem until this weekend. In which I was taught a valuable lesson, in which I hope that I can tuck away in the back of my mind for later reference. Because what I know now, I have always known, I just didn't believe it!
Lesson #1.....God is in control
Yes, I know that it seems obvious, but how many of you actually go through life ALLOWING Him to be in charge? I didn't. Not that it mattered, He is still in charge. How did I come to this conclusion? Through a couple of very tough life lessons.
Lesson #2...You are responsible for your choices
Yup, that's right! It is no one else's fault your van got towed! Not Walmarts, not the person who said it would be ok, not the towing company....yours. You choose to ignore the sign and choose to pay $240.00 to retrieve it instead of the $15.00 parking fee.
Yes there is a story here....
Recently (last weekend) My husband and I went to a Rangers game in Arlington. I wasn't very excited about because I hadn't slept well due to another life event (lesson #3) and I couldn't seem to find any clothes that would button :( But we went anyways, we needed to get away for a date. We had to borrow $20.00 from our daughter to pay for parking but when we got there we decided to follow anothers advice and park at Wal-mart....I did have a slight reservation about this and quickly dismissed it (bad idea). As you can imagine...the Winivan was not there when we returned. Apparently having out of state plates is a red flag :) I can laugh (a little) about this now! We found the towing company a mile away, where some not very nice ladies worked behind about 4 inches of tinted Plexiglas (a good indication of a bad neighbor hood). They obviously are not subject to the same customer service surveys that nurses are. After some arguing, because they can't take a credit card over the phone and we had no cash with all our emergency money in a bank that wasn't going to open until Mon (it's Sat around 10 pm), there were plenty of tears and inner screaming. Finally we decided that western union would work!
Not so easy to just western union money that late a night! After spending 3 hours in a really bad neighborhood, where English was a secondary language and the thuds sat in their cars drinking waiting for us to have cash so they could have some cash. We walked back to the site of towing, Walmart, where we waited for another hour for our 17 year old daughter to retrieve us.
Lesson #1.....God is in control
Yes, I know that it seems obvious, but how many of you actually go through life ALLOWING Him to be in charge? I didn't. Not that it mattered, He is still in charge. How did I come to this conclusion? Through a couple of very tough life lessons.
Lesson #2...You are responsible for your choices
Yup, that's right! It is no one else's fault your van got towed! Not Walmarts, not the person who said it would be ok, not the towing company....yours. You choose to ignore the sign and choose to pay $240.00 to retrieve it instead of the $15.00 parking fee.
Yes there is a story here....
Recently (last weekend) My husband and I went to a Rangers game in Arlington. I wasn't very excited about because I hadn't slept well due to another life event (lesson #3) and I couldn't seem to find any clothes that would button :( But we went anyways, we needed to get away for a date. We had to borrow $20.00 from our daughter to pay for parking but when we got there we decided to follow anothers advice and park at Wal-mart....I did have a slight reservation about this and quickly dismissed it (bad idea). As you can imagine...the Winivan was not there when we returned. Apparently having out of state plates is a red flag :) I can laugh (a little) about this now! We found the towing company a mile away, where some not very nice ladies worked behind about 4 inches of tinted Plexiglas (a good indication of a bad neighbor hood). They obviously are not subject to the same customer service surveys that nurses are. After some arguing, because they can't take a credit card over the phone and we had no cash with all our emergency money in a bank that wasn't going to open until Mon (it's Sat around 10 pm), there were plenty of tears and inner screaming. Finally we decided that western union would work!
Not so easy to just western union money that late a night! After spending 3 hours in a really bad neighborhood, where English was a secondary language and the thuds sat in their cars drinking waiting for us to have cash so they could have some cash. We walked back to the site of towing, Walmart, where we waited for another hour for our 17 year old daughter to retrieve us.
As we sat thinking how lucky we were to be safely sitting on a bench in Walmart, we talked about how as we were that we didn't get the money.
Did you know western union wasn't open 24 hours?
I thought that's what it was for! I am certain we would have been mugged if we had tried to walk back to the pound lot! Thank God, He protected us from that.
Lesson #3....No matter what kind of parent you are, you kids make their own decisions!
What...I had thought, without a doubt that, if raised with good morals, in a church with youth and support, and a great since of responsibility that my children would grow up without doing the really stupid crap that I see daily.
I WAS SO WRONG...again refer to lesson #1.
What had me up the whole night prior to our towing adventure, was a disturbing website that I found, which is owned by my child.
What...I had thought, without a doubt that, if raised with good morals, in a church with youth and support, and a great since of responsibility that my children would grow up without doing the really stupid crap that I see daily.
I WAS SO WRONG...again refer to lesson #1.
What had me up the whole night prior to our towing adventure, was a disturbing website that I found, which is owned by my child.
A secret website...you know the kind that all the crazy's know about and the parents don't. It's a kind of anorexia, cut myself beautiful support site....WHAT IN THE WORLD!
I dont' understand and I had to restrain myself from confronting this child and raiding the bedroom.
After some cooling off and thought, I decided that I would keep my eyes on the page, and intervene if it starts happening again, and praying, a whole lot of praying.
I don't understand the world of cutting...if you do please inform me. Because I see it as a "I need to be the center of the universe" cry out to the world.
I dont' understand and I had to restrain myself from confronting this child and raiding the bedroom.
After some cooling off and thought, I decided that I would keep my eyes on the page, and intervene if it starts happening again, and praying, a whole lot of praying.
I don't understand the world of cutting...if you do please inform me. Because I see it as a "I need to be the center of the universe" cry out to the world.
Where do they even learn this crap, oh wait....I know...Internet, where there are pages upon pages of ideals on how to do it, and supporting each other by liking the photos posted of them mutilating their bodies.
It's a cry for help, help for this world that we live in today. I really believe in Jeremiah 29:11, but i gotta tell ya, I don't know how God puts up with our shenanigans.
I realized after a couple hours of sleep and an extremely horrific night....that God was there the whole time. He kept us safe, He kept our daughter safe. He provided us with a family that was willing to help us in the middle of the night. He will be there to walk beside my children as they learn their own tough lessons. I am not in control, I can not make my children's decisions....I can only point them in the right direction and be here for them when they need me.
The basic point of this ranting on that I am doing is this. It's not the bad choices we make in life, at least not completely, it's how we handle them when we get caught!
Sad to say, but I did not do very well in my own personal dilemma! The good news is....that I am sure to get a second chance :-)
It's a cry for help, help for this world that we live in today. I really believe in Jeremiah 29:11, but i gotta tell ya, I don't know how God puts up with our shenanigans.
I realized after a couple hours of sleep and an extremely horrific night....that God was there the whole time. He kept us safe, He kept our daughter safe. He provided us with a family that was willing to help us in the middle of the night. He will be there to walk beside my children as they learn their own tough lessons. I am not in control, I can not make my children's decisions....I can only point them in the right direction and be here for them when they need me.
The basic point of this ranting on that I am doing is this. It's not the bad choices we make in life, at least not completely, it's how we handle them when we get caught!
Sad to say, but I did not do very well in my own personal dilemma! The good news is....that I am sure to get a second chance :-)
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