3 Cuss Words in 1 Sentence....

I read this Beth Keck quote earlier today. I thought about quoting it in my blog, but I've decided that I am kind of lame for always stealing other people's quotes, especially when anybody could link to Joe Boyd, link to Kevin Rains, link to anybody that I usually quote.............BUT then, I read Doug's blog with all the "bad words" and it reminded me of this blog. (It is a long story- sorry- and I only made a brief comment at the end. Read. Relate. Ponder. Respond.)

While Eric was away ....

Todd came and picked Eric up at 5:30 Tuesday morning to leave for Oregon... I went back to bed with my 3 year old who seemed to have a cold starting ... and was saying she needed cuddles ...Yes - the fever had started ...

At 6:50 I woke up to screaming from the kitchen .."FIRE - Get Mom " I raced outta bed to find a "teachable moment" raging on my stove ...Breakfast in Bed had begun ...

After I showed my oldest how to extinguish a stove fire, and made sure everyone's nerves were calmed and checked for damage, they sent me back to bed so I could collect on the breakfast part , sans the omlette...

I "woke" 20 minutes later to My 11 year old's famous Hot Belgian Waffles with fresh fruit and homemade whipped cream (made by my six year old - his specialty) , and espresso ....I am a fortunate woman ...

I am a fortunate woman ...But it took a week like this past one to drill a point home - loud and clear ... I am still hungry for something I deeply need...

Now that Eric is back - and the kids are on the upswing, I have had time to re-evaluate it ...

My kids got sick - really sick - stay up most of the night sick - and it dawned on me - there was no one I really felt I could call to help ... Now something is wrong here. And I know that is a two way street ... so it is doubly troubling...

Now, granted - A couple people we gather with were out of town , and some are VERY busy- So - when your kids are sick and you are exausted, it limits who can help, as well...You could make someone else sick - biggest problem - (so a sitter is out of the question, really, too)- so that makes you crave family - or those relationships that are 'like family'...Close enough that "we are all ok with risking getting each other sick so we can all get better" kind of relationships ...

So after the kids have been sleepless for a few nights, and I needed to tear my hair out - it made me think...Who am I in deep relationship with like that? Are our local connections two way with people - or not?

I have recognized the truth - again (and that is a two way truth - so I confess it too) - that they are mostly not ...and that is a profound problem...




I think many people who do and most (or all) the people that DID, attend Apex feel this way too. It IS a profound problem.

Maybe we should
1) Ask for help when we need it- this is an especially hard one for people like me.
2) Actually step up and help people when they muster the courage to ask.
3) Act on hunches and offer to help people when they act like they need it but don't ask. Even if they refuse, there is probably still something we can do.

This was long, and I'm sorry, but I know that I've felt like Beth before (as recent as Sunday night- if you were there and saw me, you know what I'm talking about) and I am sure that other people have felt it too.