Stung

On Monday my sister who does Cross Fit (an extreme workout from what I can tell, but you can take a look for yourself) started a new challenge with her class workout with a strict paleio (I have no idea how to spell this thing…they also call it a Hunter Gather diet) diet for thirty days.  So, I jumped on the bandwagon of diets (which I have NEVER done in my life) to see if what it would do.  So far…I hate it.  But, hey, you can do anything for thirty days, right? 

So why the diet?  I am not obese.  I am not even close to fat. And Robert thinks I’m hot, so why bother? For me, it has more to do with how I feel about myself.  I work out five to six days a week every week and have since January.  I have lost some weight, but plateaued out in about March.  Though I continually work out and have a physically demanding job lifting weights eight hour a day on the weekends, I would not say exercise is my problem.  So diet it must be.  After one week, I already hate it. 

On this diet you eat meat, fruits and vegetables.  If it has been processed at all you cannot eat it. I miss milk in my coffee and texture to my food.  I am so ready for the next three weeks to fly by (especially because Robert will be back then). 

In the process of all this, my body has taken a beating in my work outs, but also in the unusual way of insect intervention.  I went for a walk the other day with my sister and her two kids through their orchards.  I am in a green top and leggings, just strolling (not even a brisk walk).  All of a sudden out of nowhere my shoulder is on fire.  I think, perhaps I got caught on a branch or something and quickly go to unhook myself, but as I move my arm begins to radiate pain.  I quickly determine I have unknowingly walked into a hornet’s nest and that either they are threatened by me or I blended in with their home and they thought they landed at home base.  Either way, I am no in some of the worst pain I have been in in who knows how long.

The last time I was stung by anything was a bee and I was five.  I was playing dress up in my mom’s clothes, as most little girls are prone to do and took a seat on the window bench.  Just sitting, all of a sudden my left thigh is on fire and it is quickly determined I was stung by a bee.  Whoever said if you don’t bother them they will not bother you lied.  The only times I have been stung I have done nothing, and the first time that bee was in MY home. 

Anyway, so tears are literally streaming down my face at this point and two babies are trying to figure out what could have happened to cancel our walk so abruptly and why I am crying.  I read once that if you don’t usually curse and are in a lot of pain and your curse, it lessens the pain.  This is the first time I have wanted to try it out and of course there are babies around who can and do talk so I can’t. 

My sister was a medic with the Marines and does all the usual stuff.  I take my shirt off to get the stinger out (it must have fallen off in the fight to get home or never came off the buggar).  And because I have never been stung by a hornet (which we decided this must be because the pain is so intense and comes in waves) we call Urgent Care to make sure we are looking out for the right signs…mostly because my entire arm is going numb at this point.  She puts some lavender on it which immediately soothes the pain a little and I start icing it.  But, here is the tricky thing I learned: mud works wonders!  My brother-in-law put some mud on it and within thirty minutes the pain was significantly less (as long as I didn’t move the arm that much) and the waves it came in lasted only a brief moment.  So, next time your stung – mud is a miracle worker. 

Then last night I am coming home from rehearsal and I am so nauseous I want to pull over to the side of the road and vomit for no reason whatsoever.  I make it home.  Crawl into bed.  And call Robert.  You know you love someone when you feel like crap and only want to be with them, which is exactly how I felt when I was stung and again when I wanted to vomit.  He talked with me for a while.  He thinks he will head back to New Orleans this weekend, so we reminisced about our trip.  It was a great way to go to sleep, even if he did succeed in getting some of my most embarrassing stories out of me…only because he embarrassed me.  That’s love.   Let’s just say he had me on speaker without telling me and I said something for his ears only…that is roommate heard.  It wasn’t anything bad, it was just funny looking back, but in that moment I was mortified. 

Funny how life works, isn’t it?  Pain makes you want to be near someone and in the same instant you want to be in a dark cave hiding out from the embarrassment of a quick decision.  Ah, well, such is the life of this crazy girl.  You just never know what you’re going to get. 

The first Skype date

I had the best and unexpected coffee date with V the other day.  I had worked till midnight the night before and had to be up for work at seven a.m.  I think in all, once everything was said and done, I slept maybe four hours.  So when I got the unexpected text from her with the invitation I was tempted to decline because I was pure exhaustion walking.  But, I said yes.  And thank God I did!!!

She and I talked about everything from being an introvert to relationships to God.  I was encouraged by her testimony, and did not even realize I needed the encouragement.  Although I had four cups of coffee that day to function, she made the rest of the night so much more pleasant.  I could not have asked for a better gift from God at that moment, and I didn’t know I needed it.  V-, I can’t wait to do it again!!!  And the pictures of the house look great! 

I then got to talk with Robert.  He certainly was a sight for sore eyes.  We have been talking via text and phone the pass week because our schedules are so crazy, so it was nice to see him.  Things get lost in communication via technology, but we you see them again you realize how much you needed to. We chatted about everything and nothing and he headed off to bed.  Two hours later, headed to bed myself, I had an epiphany! 

You see I am a quality time kind of girl.  I like going to festivals, and being outside, and trying new things.  I especially like to do them with people I love!  The Smoots can attest to this. Well, lately, I have been doing a lot of that with my sister and her family, which made me want to do them all the more with Robert.  But, being a country away makes that difficult.  So, you can imagine we are in need of a date.  But how do you have a date when you are so far apart?  Conundrum. 

Here’s when I was hit with an epiphany.  Why not play a card game over Skype?  He went out and bought a deck for the occasion and I borrowed one from my sister.  We played Go Fish.  Yes, I know it is a kid’s game, but it was perfect for us!  As each person got a pair we told the other so they could take it out of their own deck.  We played for two hours and talked about the stress in my life and he made me laugh…so hard!!!  It was just what I needed…and I will venture to say what he needed as well.  So, I am now open for ideas on how to have a date with someone over Skype.  Please let me know any that come to mind. 

One of the things we discussed was my frustration and fear that I will never get that coveted “Big Girl” job.  And Robert encouraged me that I would find it, that I would love it, and that there is already something new happening in my life.  He had hope for me last night, which I needed.  This morning, my verse of the day was, “For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?”  (Isaiah 43:19…from one of my favorite books!)  Ok God, I hear you.  Thank you for using V-, Robert and my verse of the day to remind me of this powerful truth. 

And now, with a new light of hope and determination, I am going to attempt to have a date playing the game of Life with him…we’ll see how that goes.  

Divine Appointments

I am in the middle of working three weeks straight, with no weekends.  I am tired.  I have been tired all week, but God continues to call me to His divine appointments. 

Remember Nick?  Well, his situation has gotten worse and God keeps telling me to care.  So, this week I put my actions were my words are.  I had coffee with him.  Now before any of you jump to conclusions (because that is the kind of world we live in) Robert knows all about it and knew about it before it happened and is well aware of the conversations we had.  But, here is what happened. 

When you know someone for twenty years it give you some privileges to do and say certain things that in normal situations you wouldn’t.  It also gives you a boldness you might not otherwise have when calling someone out.  But, there is a fine line between holding someone accountable and helping someone who is hurting.  So, I started at the beginning…where he was.  What did he need from a friend that would help and not hurt him?  First, he needed an ear, which I was more than happy to give.  He was honest about his mistakes and how the mistakes of others have affected him and his family.  I let him vent, without putting in my two cents (which if you know me at all was REALLY difficult).

The second thing he needed was to be held accountable.  Lucky for me I have been his accountability partner for a couple of things, and believe that all our brothers and sisters in Christ should hold each other accountable.  So, I boldly went forward.  I told him he needed to be surrounded by Christian friends, and that meant, he had to go where he knew they and God were, i.e church.  Now, that doesn’t mean he has to come to my church, but he needs to be where God is.  But more importantly, he needs to be listening to God.  Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a time and place to express your frustration at God (like you would with any a friend…he does call us friend you know) and to express your anger at life.  But, if all you do is talk, you are not growing in your relationship.  Just like any other relationship, there must be a dialogue with God.  That means sometimes we have to shut our mouths and listen.  He, at least in my experience, doesn’t usually speak audible, but God will use people, music, books, games, etc. to communicate with us.  We just have to close our mouths and open our ears.  Sometimes, it takes a friend of twenty years who has gone through the ringer with you to remind you of this. 

Now, he did not go to church today, but he at least  is open to the idea of looking beyond himself and moving forward to a brighter future.  But the conversation was good healing for me too.  We both came to a place of good friendship again, forgiving the other of wrongs done.  Forgiving is so big.  It is amazing what it covers and what healing it brings.  If you have never forgiven someone who has really hurt you, honest to goodness deeply, I cannot begin to express how powerful a thing it is in for you personally and for the relationship.  I highly recommend it. 

So, divinely placed coffee date…yep.