Making Promises

Promises, promises…Did you ever say that in your head when you were a kid? You know, when someone would promise something, but they’d already let you down so many times that you just couldn’t believe them, but you just didn’t want to not believe them?

How many times…do you think your kids, or someone else in your life has said that after you’ve promised something?

As a mom, it’s really hard for me when i see my kid’s being let down because of promises broken or unmet expectations.  I guess one of my biggest lessons learned through hurt feelings is: “follow through with promises.”

I mean, there are times when I absolutely can’t follow through with certain things, but mostly I can. There are times when I’m exhausted beyond belief. There are even times when I simply don’t want to, but once I’ve given them my word, that becomes a pledge I need to keep.

Why this thought now? I dunno… I want people to know that I’m a girl of  my word…whether it’s a child or an adult. There are enough flighty people in our lives…I’d like to be the one of the few…ya know, the exception to the rule kind of person that others know is dependable…I’m just sayin’…

Photo By:  discoodoni

Chad Arnold Blog

My friend Chad has started a blog…This is my friend who recently went through a liver transplant. The back story is heartbreaking, but even in the sadness, there is hope.
Would you please visit, read, join the conversation and allow your life to be changed?

I feel like I’m a walking contradiction sometimes.

One day I wanna see an action movie, but then the next day I want to watch something to make me weep.

I usually love my stilettos, but wow I love sliding into my flip flops.

I love dressing professional but then again, I can’t get enough of casual Fridays.

I am super super affectionate with my kids, but not usually super affectionate with other people.

I love screaming my lungs out at ball games, but then again, I really do like the theater.

Isn’t that just funny how we are? Full of contradictions and oppositions. Think how boring we’d be if we never had variations in our taste and desires.

What’s a big contradiction in your life?

Don't need NO more lip

Since I’m the queen of random today…here you have it, my randomness.

I had a cavity(eek, shriek, horror of all horrors) which I had filled today which means I had to get a little anesthetic for one portion of my mouth which means I have done this pretty much all morning.

I worked at a Pottery Barn for a few months a while back. It was such an interesting experience. I realized that people spend lots of money to make their homes look just like a magazine.

I remember one specific customer who would come in weekly to purchase something. Another customer told me that their house is all “Pottery Barn.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, so when I asked, they told me that their entire home is completely furnished from with Pottery Barn products.

I like Pottery Barn and all and I think they have great stuff and I can understand getting a table here a rug there, maybe some frames or something that you adore, but seriously, every piece of furniture from there? For what? To say that you bought it from there? I guess what really threw me for a loop was that so many folks want to set their homes and interiors apart but all they really end up doing is copying somebody else. Pretty, yes, functional, yes, but real life? I’m not so sure. Sadly, most of us will never see the homes of the folks who have the “perfect”  home because more than likely, one of us would mess it up for them.

My real life is more barn than Pottery Barn. It’s messy and dirty and things break and kids spill and dogs pee. My real life is not a page out of a magazine. Real life is letting in the people who come knocking on my door asking for a cup of sugar, or selling a magazine subscription. Real life is knowing that my less than perfect home is always perfectly welcoming to anyone. Whether its a group of loud teen age girls or just a couple of boys wanting to play WII…they know that the stuff in the house is just “stuff” and the people in the house mean much more than any specific thing in the house.

Sometimes I wish I had a perfectly put together clean house, maybe even with some Pottery Barn schwag,  but in reality…I’d rather have a house that’s well-lived in, rather then a house that’s well put together.

We had another crazy storm here in Colorado last night. I don’t know if you guys have these where you live, but you can stand at the doorway and watch the rain come pouring straight down…Literally in sheets, then, next thing you know, there’s hail falling all over the place. For a minute you try to think of how you can possibly save your garden from the damage of the hail, or if you have a car laying outside, you sacrifice your noggin to get your car in and away from the hail damage.

Soon enough the storm passes and you’re left standing there staring at the newly vibrant looking grass, trees and flowers. The air is immediately cooler and you can sense that everything is clean.  I love walking outside after the rain. I am able to breathe just a little easier and drink in the freshness of everything around me.

I’m thankful for  Colorado rains… just like the earth, my soul is refreshed after a good rain.

I’m not an “Englishman in New York,” but am an Indian-woman in Colorado.

Mountain Creek

I’m in the mountains today…I love the mountains.

When I’m in need of a break from the harshness of life…I run to the mountains.

As soon as I had my first car…I drove myself in that little old beat up car straight to “my” mountains.

When I need to think…I escape to the silence that I can only find in high altitude and pine trees.

I think it’s a funny thing…a girl from coastal south India who finds strength, peace and balance in the mountains.

So…where do you go to find peace and balance?

There are two people in my life who make me laugh every single day of my life: MY KIDS!!!

I feel like you should know this about them…they are HI-larious.

They make faces, they crack jokes. They know when to be funny and when to make others laugh. Most of all they know how to make me laugh.

Today, I am so thankful for my silly, funny kiddies…my sweet babies.

My sweet kids

Do you ever ask the, “Why God?” questions?

It’s been a week filled with those for me. Really, it’s not even me personally that’s going through this difficult time, but I’m still asking the questions. I would really appreciate it if you would go to this link and read about my friend Chad, and his brother Ryan to better understand the situation and why I’m asking why.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ryanandchadarnold/journal

So, you see, a brother did an amazing and heroic thing. He laid down his life for his friend/brother…he sacrificed all he had.

And yet, here I sit asking Why God, Why?I don’t have answers, but I know that God is big enough to hear my frustrations and my questions and still be God. I’m trying to sort things out in brain that make no logical sense to me. I like to put things in groups and columns and sections, but I can’t…everything’s just a big jumble of emotions; however,  I maintain that God is sovereign and even through something like this, He draws us to Himself.

Right now, my heart aches with my friend’s family, but I am praying for peace, strength and ultimately joy for all of the Arnold family. Also asking you to join me in praying for Chad to make a full recovery in body, mind and spirit as well.

Psalm 143: 4, 5, 8

So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.

I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.



There’s this place that we pseudo athletic types (and real athletic types too) in Colorado Springs like to go called the “Incline.” It’s the remains of an old roadbed from a scenic railway. It’s not that long of a climb…just a little under a mile of straight climb…actually, it’s got an average grade of a little over 40%, but the steepest section is at a 68% grade. So, when you stand at the bottom and look up, you think how hard can it be? Well, when you realize that you will gain over 2000 ft in elevation in less than a mile…well, lemme just say, it gets your heart pumping!

Bottom of the Incline

So, the other day I “did” the incline and as I was climbing it, I was really seeking God’s wisdom for my life. I was in a mode of climbing in every sense. There were moments where everything in my body was burning from exertion, but I felt like I had to keep going. Since I’ve done this little hike a few times, I know that there’s a false peak that you see from the bottom. I also know that there are people doing this climb for the first time just trying to summit the false peak thinking they’ll reach the top.

Looking down from the false peak

I’ve been on a steady uphill climb in my life for a while now, so often when I’m in the mountains, God really uses those times to show me the life analogy . It hit me hard that day that God allows me to climb each step, sometimes with excruciating pain so that I will appreciate the true peak when I finally reach it. There have been lots of false summits in my life in the past few weeks…actually the past few years. Some of these false peaks have shown up in my life through family, work, finances, personal, even spiritual issues. Along with the false peaks have been false truths. Stuff I’ve told myself, sometimes stuff others have said about me or to me…those things have become the stumbling blocks as I’ve been trying to climb…getting in my way, setting me back, making me question why I’m climbing in the first place. Sometimes I catch myself wishing to get to the false peak so that I can then give up and quit by selling myself short and saying, “well, at least I tried.”

I’m telling you, I’m in a strange place in my life because that last climb showed me so clearly how the false summits and false truths set me back for a time and possibly even for a season, but the reality is that God is still God. The same one who created the mountains is making the way for me by allowing me to take my direction from him one step at a time. People may offer explanation or discounts or even blame, but the reality in my life is that God controls my life. I will make it to the top, I have that assurance because God’s truth will always prevail, and when I get there…the view will be so worth it!

View from the top

“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.”
Psalm 36:6

“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,”
Psalm 46:2