Happiest Place on Earth

Happiest Place on Earth
Showing posts with label transition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transition. Show all posts

Saturday, September 26, 2015

That's Not Her Door...


... Lessons from Monsters Inc.

Well, we've finally made it to Disney property a full week into our vacation!  We are affectionately referring to the first part of this trip as the vacation before the vacation, which is sort of fun.  Today was all about transitions... 

We often stay at multiple hotels/resorts on our Florida vacations, because it never seems like a good deal to stay on Disney property while going to non-Disney attractions, but it also never seems like a good deal to stay off property while doing Disney.  So, we expect to have a transition day (or two) most of the time.  Today was a good day for this.

We thought we were going to have a few hours to kill between resorts, but as it turned out, since Disney is amazing, we were able to check in several hours early.  This was a huge blessing for multiple reasons, one of which, I will admit, was that I caught a three hour nap this afternoon, which I am pretty sure has never, ever happened on vacation!

The kids spent the day plugged in.  That's fine, since we haven't so much as turned on a TV screen in a week!  This is the only way to "camp", let me tell ya...


I might have enjoyed the Duffy the Disney Bear bedtime story with Miah a little bit more than is probably appropriate at my age...



And then we went to a campfire and watched Monsters U on the big outdoor screen.  Miah thought this was very magical. 


Speaking of Monsters...

Although I would probably rather just blog vacation stuff at this point, I am going to throw this out there, because it eventually needs to be said.  Tonight is as good a time as any, particularly because I expect this post will get very little traffic due to the hour and lack of voluminous vacation pictures.

There is this scene in the first Monsters movie where Sulley and Mike are trying to return Boo to the human world.  Because Mike is just desperate to get out of the mess they're in, he makes a deal with Randall, who agrees to have Boo's door on the scare floor during lunch break.  Sulley and Mike can put Boo back through her door.  The door will be returned to its place.  No one needs to know what happened.  Everyone is happy.  It sounds brilliant, except Randall doesn't keep his end of the deal (villains rarely do), and he has the wrong door waiting for them when they arrive.  And, perhaps, the most endearing moment in the film (although there are a lot) is when Sulley takes one look and says, "Mike, that's not her door," and then refuses to do the only thing that will easily get him off the hook for bringing this toxic, human child into the monster world.

I don't know if there is any real connection here, but every time I have come to the end of an interview process in the past year, I have had that line run through my head, "That's not her door..."  Maybe it's because so many people like to talk about God opening and closing doors.  I honestly don't even know what I think about that anymore.  I keep wishing that someone would open a door.  For a long time I have felt as if I am simply standing at the wrong doors... doors that are steel enforced and locked, dead bolted, and chained...  I am pretty tired of knocking.  Maybe I'm wrong, altogether, and there aren't any doors at all... just walls.  And before anybody even says it, my climbing through windows days are over.

So, in case I've lost you, I took a phone call last night that was the latest in a long line of rejection letters, emails, voicemail, etc.  I am pretty sick of being awesome but not hired, but I guess there are two ways I could go with this disappointment.  I can sit around and cry about it, or I can let it fuel whatever's next.  I needed 24 hours to be frustrated.  I needed that three hour nap.  I needed a day for transition. 

I would imagine I am going to need a little more time to process this, but it is going to have to wait until after our vacation is over, because I am at the happiest place on Earth, and the truth is nothing has changed.  Maybe it would have been harder the other way...

L.     

Pictures Taken Today: 60 (if you count blurry cell phone pics.)

Sunday, February 22, 2015

The Past Two+ Weeks...



...have been a whirlwind of travel.

On Saturday, February 7th, Phil and I left for the M15 conference in Kansas City.  We returned home on the 13th.  On the 14th, Caleb and I went to the EMD February District Quiz.  The 15th, Phil's birthday, we spent together as a family.  The 16th I dropped Grace and Caleb off for their guitar lesson and then picked them up and dropped them off at home, where my teenagers babysat my little people while Phil and I went to a funeral.  The 17th, Phil, Seth, Grace, Caleb, and I took a trip to Indiana for piano lessons and Junior Festival practice.  We returned home on the 18th in time to pick up Ian and Miah and drop all of the kids off at home, while Phil and I went to lead our young adults small group.  On Thursday, February 19th, I stayed in my pajamas all day long and watched movies with Miah and Ian.  Then on the 20th, we dropped them off again, and Phil, Seth, Grace, Caleb, and I (along with our friend Rachel) left for the Sterling Invitational Quiz.  We picked Ian and Miah up, today, Sunday, February 22nd.

In case you don't want to do the math, this means that my youngest two children have spent at least part of 12 of the past 16 days with their grandparents.  Honestly, when I dropped them off this last time I said, "We brought your kids back.  Thanks for letting us have them for a few days."  On two of the other days, I also had to leave them for part or most of the day.  This is not how I do "Mommy".  And the truth is, I've been feeling kind of sorry for myself...

I was going to say that the word for my life for the past two + weeks has been "distracted".  But when I stopped to think about it deeply, that's not quite right.  The word for my life is still, "blessed".  I have certainly been blessed with a lot of friends and family members who have made these days possible.  

I really mean that, but I have been distracted, and I do need to find a better rhythm of life again.  Not that I've ever "arrived", but I had better rhythms than this... in what seems life another lifetime...

I'm not sure what's going to happen next.  No one ever is, really.  What I do know is that something is happening.  May it be what God wants.  May I join God in that work.  Can we ever ask for anything more?

Well... maybe just one more thing...  If you're one of those friends who is dropping your kids off at guitar at the same time as mine tomorrow, if you could just avoid looking through my window and noticing my sweatpants and baseball cap, that would be fabulous...

L. 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

End of an Era...

We spent a lot of hours at this music studio.  This year, we "commuted" once a month to keep some consistency for our kids during this transition in our lives.  This allowed Caleb to finish the keyboard class with his friends that he has been with since he started preschool music at age 4.  It also allowed Ian to finish the early childhood Musikgarten program.  And Miah got one more year in with her friends, as well.  This has been the hardest part of our life to let go.  But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that sometimes you just don't have to.  There is no rule that you have to make a clean break.  I fully believe that God allows our paths to cross with people and places, and sometimes those people and places become a part of us that lasts.  I love that.

Miah's Last Preschool Music Class:

Dancing with Mrs. Spahr:

Mrs. Spahr, Miah, Owen, Rocket, and Felicity:
I have no idea why Miah felt the need
to hold Owen back by the neck!

Ian Waiting for His Last Class:

Mr. Banjo...
My Kids Have a Love-Hate Relationship with this Song:

Caleb's Last Class:


We sure do love these people!  I'm feeling thankful that we live in the digital age and can keep in touch regularly!

L.