There are many areas in my life where I have burned hot and fast. There are friendships like Spring, Dianne, Tammy and Marty. My professional life from college, to working in the factories, to Domino's to working for the Kenosha School Bus Drivers Union is full of fast hot burning tinder. My love life only really has two relationships that lasted more than a couple weeks. I love to start a diet and exercise program and when I do, I am usually pretty successful at it. Eventually, I stop being consistent and go back to my normal not so healthy routines. Currently in the most important areas in my life I have cord wood to keep me burning.
My most trusted cord wood is my husband, Mike. I may be the reason our fire started, but he is the reason it is still burning. He guided us through a long distance relationship, a move 2000 miles away from our families, and the rough spots in our marriage. Mike helps me in other areas of my life too, like diet and exercise and relationships. I love Mike with all my heart and I am blessed he is slow and long burning.
In my professional life my cord wood is the children on my bus. Even in this area, I choose to keep things short and hot. I usually make it a point to drive different students/routes each year. It isn't that I don't enjoy the kids or the schools I drive, but it is very important to me to have change in my life. There is one student in particular that I drove many years in a row. Justin and I got so dependent on each other that he almost wouldn't get on a bus unless I was driving it. I got so close to him, I took him for ice cream and gave him pictures of me (with his parents permission of course.) I started driving him in preschool and he is now in 8th grade. I haven't driven him for a few years, but I still see him. He still makes my heart skip a beat and he always gives me a big hug. I am happy to be able to watch him grow up, even though it is at a distance. I can't let my fire for Justin or for driving the bus burn out. They are both integral to my happiness.
In my friendships, my greatest piece of cord wood is Shiela. She has a way of seeing the way I feel about things and reflecting them back to me before I let them burn out. Shiela and her family moved to Georgia a year ago....1000 miles away. It sucks! I miss her regular presence in my life. I miss the way she could touch my skin or my heart with just a slight stroke or a quick glance. I miss her as my walking partner, my conscience and my reality check. I don't miss her friendship though, 1000 miles can't take that away. She came to visit in September and it was as if she never left. I felt immediate calm and normalcy. In order to keep close to each other she and I have started a plan to walk to talk to each other. She knew she needed me to get her fire started to exercise and I knew I needed her to calm my fire down before I burned out. Thank God we figured it out!
A few weeks ago Mike and I went to dinner with my parents. The conversation got around to religion and my dad asked me how far I was going to go with it. At first I thought he asked it because he wants me to fulfill some grand potential in my life. When I worked at Domino's he was so happy when I became a manager. When I worked for the union, he kept saying how he wished I would go into politics. So I wonder if he thinks I should become a minister. Well, that is probably not going to happen. My answer to him is that my ministry is my kids on my bus, and the kids at church. My ministry is my boys and their friends. My ministry is all the people I come into contact with that watch the way I live my life, not perfect, but with a purpose. My ministry is this blog. I don't need to stand before a congregation on Sunday morning. I do it daily. By the way, Jesus is my cord wood for my spirituality. I pray He doesn't let that fire burn out.
No comments:
Post a Comment