Category Archives: Encouragement

Summer V-A-C-A

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Every summer we go on a vacation of some kind. Some years we’ve gone with extended family and others it has just been us.  We drive on our vacation taking our time, seeing and doing what we want and enjoying each other.  We load the car with snacks and summer vacationthings to do on the drive and we take off.  While there is plenty of video game playing and movie watching, we also play those tried and true games of GHOST, count the cows, “I see something you don’t see” and “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking…” alphabet memory game. Oh, and not to forget the license plate game!

Our vacation plans unfold as soon as we have our baseball and marching band camp schedules.  We should have all of that this week, so where should we go?

Where are you going? Do you take “busy” active vacations or do you like to totally downshift and just escape and relax?

All the best,

KK

 

 

 

It’s Friday, today is not where we find hope, Sunday’s coming

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Good Friday.  For the believer this represents the day our savior was brutally murdered; but he let it happen willingly.  No doubt his human side and his Godly side did battle all day. He could have stopped the scourging.  He could have destroyed those who thought they were destroying him.  But he didn’t.  As mean and painful as it got, he stuck to the plan.  The plan that he knew from the beginning of creation would come to this day, these hours of complete distress.  His Father had prepared him as much as possible.  Just as he tries to prepare us for the storms.  But we don’t listen always the way Jesus did.  In the midst of every human friend turning on him — the emotional pain; in the midst of being spit on and fists waved — the humiliation; in the midst of having is Father turning from him — the spiritual loneliness; our Jesus still fulfilled his purpose, he willingly gave up his life as the ultimate sacrifice. The world thought they won, but they didn’t remember, that Sunday was comin’…

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByT6wfdhJs (Don Buck P Creacy)

Every time we find ourselves feeling lonely, betrayed, and hopeless, remember, Sunday is coming, again.

Blessings to you,

KK

Travelin’

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winter windGloves – check; hand warmers – check; swim suit – check; sun screen – check; rain coat and umbrella – check; baseball “mom” t-shirt – check; team spirit wear – check; sweatshirt – check; sweats for under wind pants – check; Gatorade – check; travel snacks (something sweet, something salty) – check; stadium seats – check; cooler – check. Is the hotel one we get points at? It must be baseball season. We travel and we prepare for whatever season decides to show up. We could have a little bit of spring and a little bit of winter. Images of the parent/fans in the bleachers could easily be mistaken for football season with scarves, gloves and blankets.spring image 2 Late in the season the image is more like survivors in the desert. It must be baseball season.

The parents spend the first few games trying to remember each other’s name, memorizing the names and numbers of the players they don’t know and always encouraging all the players on and off the field. Sometimes it’s the encouraging words of another player’s parent the really helps lift spirits.

The coach does his best to get the team ready for the season inaugural tournament. He reminds everyone that none of the teams will have had a lot of field time practice. “Let’s have fun and learn something. We can have more fun if we get some hits. So, go be aggressive at the plate.”

While outsiders think we are crazy, those of us on the inside know that baseball season with our middle schooler’s travel team is all about the memories being made. There will be button-busting victories and there will be dirt-kicking defeats. One will be celebrated with food and fun at the hotel indoor pool and the other will be quickly forgotten with food and fun at the hotel indoor pool.

Traveling home is usually quiet. Everyone is tired in the best way. At home laundry is separated. The white baseball baseball equipmentpants are the key player in a laundry chemistry project including pre-treatment spray and Fels Naptha. After a 30 minute soak, the uniform is the first to get washed. The result will be somewhere between “like-new clean” and “ready to hit the field.”

 Yes, in a few days we will be back on the field ready to take on the next team and the new challenge. Batter up!

All the best,
KK

Snow!

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Typically in Kentucky January and February are dreary, cloudy and cold months.  They are long and like walking through taffy to get to spring.  This year a winter polar blast has come to visit.  We are in the midst of very cold days and snow!  True to form, people are starting to grouse and wish this six-week visitor would pack its ice cycles and go home.

Beyond the initial mess these winter storms bring, the road crews have done well to get the streets cleared so being out and about lends an opportunity to experience the winter wonder land.  It’s amazing to see the sleeves of ice icy2coating each little limb and stem of the trees and shrubs.  I feel for our old pine tree with the burden of ice that pulls the branches downward from its 60 feet height.  But the sun is out today and is helping to melt away some of that load.  No doubt the strength of 20 plus years will sustain our wooden friend.  The sunshine is probably the great redeemer in this long winter visitor.  If you followed our dog around all day you would know the places in the house that the beams of light invade and remind us that warmth is available.

Yes, warmth is available and more is on its way.  In the next few weeks, whether Mr. Winter has departed or not, the early spring flowers will begin their reign and the seasonal tug-of-war will begin.  I like to think that right icynow beneath inches of snow and ice, my flowers are sleeping and building their strength.  Their time will come and when it does those beautiful and graceful buds will burst through whatever lays above.

Weather is wonderfully unpredictable.  But we can count on the seasons to change.  We can count on the snow and ice to melt and spring to arrive.  It will show up in all its color and glory.  Keep watching for it, but don’t miss the beauty that has beaten the winter doldrums.

All the best,

KK

Farewell 2013

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It’s half past three in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve.  I’ve spent some time in the office taking care of a few things – organizing.  The January calendar is set up and ready for the appointments I have in the first two weeks.  The whiteboard has project priorities.  There is order to my work space.

On a personal note, the checkbook is balanced (yes, I do this at least once a month and recommend it for others).  The big home projects for the coming year have been discussed and prioritized.  To close 2013, I feel the completion of 365 full and rich days. Even those with tears and challenges brought something.

It was a good year personally and professionally.  I am so proud of my son and husband for their accomplishments and letting me be on their journey just as they have rooted me on during mine.

There were goals achieved and others still undone.  Will I recommit to the unfinished?  We will see.

I have grown personally in knowledge and wisdom.  Sometimes I feel my age and sometimes my life experience. One truth is that I will never stop learning.

As we turn the last page of the calendar, may we do so with all of the optimism a new year brings.  May we breathe in the freshness of 365 blank days and look forward to all of the activities and people who will fill them.  God bless you and carry you through each one of them.

All the best,

KK

Spaghetti Christmas

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It was December 27th.  We took down the tree, cleaned up the needles and began to put away our gifts.  With all three of us at home we took advantage of the time to move some furniture around and complete some “honey-do” items.  One thing led to another and before I knew it our upstairs hallway looked like the bedrooms had puked up every extra piece of furniture.  To pick up, sort, throw away, and put away was like eating spaghetti.Spaghetti_spiral_splayed

Opening the closet to put something away opened another opportunity to organize and create space.  The best approach I’ve found is to “one touch” stuff.  Pick something up, find it a home and put it there – don’t go down rabbit trails of new projects, just make note of them and move on.   Just keep working it and eventually you’ll find the floor (or the top of your desk – this method works well at the office).

Give it a try and let me know.

All the best,

KK

Rushing Retail

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Fair_volleyball_wingsDecember 26th I passed a Valentine display at Wal-Mart.  It gave me a frustrated pause.  We live in this world of being never satisfied, wanting instant gratification, and rushing to the next thing.  Any chance those in retail encourage and promote this mindset?  There are entire Seasonal sections of big box stores.   These sections are the gateway to the buyer not being happy in the moment.  What’s coming up next?

It is our responsibility to control how much we let outside forces like advertising, email and other social media control our time.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about planning when it’s pertinent to my priorities and not because Hallmark thinks I need to purchase cards and candy six weeks early.  What do you do to not let these outside messages take over your time and day-planner?

All the best,

KK

Gifting

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So it’s December 29th, time for true confessions.  How many of your gifts did you return or exchange?  Did any gift make it to the re-gift closet?  You know the obscure gift that you can’t return because there is no telling where it came from; probably a re-giftJ.

Let’s just establish that re-gifting is perfectly acceptable.  Why waste a perfectly good item just because it’s not useful to you?  You have to be careful though, to re-gift to the original giver of the gift can be disastrous!  Not to mention embarrassing for both.  Here are a few thoughts on re-gifting.  When you place the item in the re-gift closet put a post-it on it with who gave it to you and when.  Additionally, don’t break the seal or “factory” wrapping.  Before re-gifting, be sure to dust it off well and be sure there aren’t remnants of wrapping paper or a card stuck to it.gifts

I did not receive anything that needed returning or exchanging this year.  What is really great is that those who gave me gifts did so based on what they know and love about me.  This to me is the number one rule in choosing a gift – know your recipient.  There is as much excitement in choosing the perfect gift for someone as there is in receiving the perfect gift.  While I don’t mind when someone gives me ideas, it is also a blast to choose something that I know the recipient will love, but may not have thought to ask for it.

Many of us have everything we need.  When we have the opportunity to choose gifts for those we love, why not take a few minutes to really think about the other person.  What could you give them that they would enjoy and might not otherwise buy for themselves?  The gifts I received this year were all very thoughtful; obviously those giving me gifts thought about me and what I would like.

The art of gift giving is one that I think is fading to that which is easy – the gift card.  The gift card is good because you are thinking about the other person, but we have to be careful to not let this be our default.  Take some time.  Make your gift meaningful.

The art of packaging or wrapping gifts went down a slippery slope with the advent of the gift bag.  For some, the gift bag was their salvation and a relief in the pressure of giving a gift.  My mother makes wrapping a gift and the bow on top an art form.  She pulls the color-coordinated ribbon around the package and then ties a big pretty bow on top.  Then she spends a few more minutes making small adjustments to the bow to be sure it’s perfect.  No doubt a beautiful package shows the recipient that love and care was taken not only in choosing the gift but in preparing it for giving.

In full disclosure, I did purchase a couple of gift cards this year because I didn’t plan well and ran out of time.  This just gives me a head start on these two gifts for next year.

Happy gift-giving,

KK

Are you up for the test?

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When I have meetings at the Kentucky Shakespeare office in downtown Louisville (Kentucky), I like to park in the open-air pay lot across the street. First of all, I don’t like parking garages and secondly, the man who runs it is friendly. It’s obvious he’s an ordinary guy, doing his best to make a living.

Recently, I pulled in and there was another gentleman in the booth. This time my meeting was the Fund for the Arts board meeting. After the meeting, I was pulling up to the booth to pay I pulled out my wallet to find that I had a large bill. Please note that I don’t make a habit of carrying large denominations. So I pulled forward and the gentleman checks my ticket and tells me it will be $4.50. And so begins my inquiry as to whether he could “break” a large bill.parking booth

He immediately said “no”. All I had on me in change was two dollars. So I implored him to let me just run to the bank and I would come back with money to pay him. He hesitated. I promised. I gave him the two dollars I had and emphatically promised to be back in 10 minutes. He relented. I went to the bank and was back in the time frame.

When I pulled in the same gentleman opened the metal booth door and smiled. “You are an honest person,” he said. I handed him a $10 dollar bill. “I didn’t believe you would come back.” With that he handed me change as if I’d given him $20. After quickly checking my bank envelope, I handed the money back explaining his error. He chuckled, “I was just testin’ ya.”

Enough tests for one day. I drove away thinking that in reality, he was probably a little challenged by the money math. I was also glad to be the honest example for the day.

Have you found yourself in situations like this? Has your character been tested?

All the best,
KK

Santa Claus – The Man the Legend…

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The Legend of St. Nicholas
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland. (ref. http://www.history.com)

Throughout the years and across cultures, St. Nicholas has taken on new looks. After the American Revolution, the term Santa Claus was adopted by Americans from the Dutch. Artists and poets began to paint the picture of a jolly giving man with a red suit.

My favorite image of Santa is the praying Santa. This for me encompasses the truth and the fantasy we find at Christmas. Please praying santaunderstand that the MOST important reason for any celebration at Christmas is the miraculous birth of the Lord; that being made the priority, consider how Santa can fold into this time and celebration.

As stated above, the man of Saint Nicholas was a faithful, giving man who looked out for “the least of these.” He gave up his wealth in caring for others. Sounds like characteristics he modeled from Christ.

As far as allowing our children to believe in the “jolly elf” who comes down the chimney, ask yourself this: in our world there is so much joy-robbing, negative, fast-paced, cynical information and attitudes why not allow our children the magic and fun of Santa Claus coming to bring gifts? We allow our children to have imaginary friends and pretend tea parties; why not allow them to enjoy the fun of Santa? As our children mature they outgrow those wonders of childhood anyway. With the right guidance there will be the appropriate shift from the fantasy of Santa to the forgiveness of Christ.

I do believe in all that Saint Nicholas lived for and the Savior he followed. I have learned to manage the hustle and bustle of this season to make room to remember the wonder of Christ’s birth; to truly take in the profoundness of His birth that set motion a new destiny for eternity.

Think about it,
KK