Worth Celebrating

Today is a day worth celebrating. Today is the birthday of a strong woman who has always been an amazing influence in my life. Today checks off one more year to her amazing story. Another year of growth and strength. Another year of her being a role model for me. Another year of her being herself. She is a person worth celebrating for me. She has been incredibly instrumental in being who I am today. Beyond the obvious, she has been over and over again the person I look to for strength, wisdom, and encouragement. She has been a servant her whole life and there is nothing more I could ever ask from her as she has always gone above and beyond to take care of me. She is an amazing woman.

Today I get to celebrate my mom. And I couldn’t be happier to be celebrating her unless I had the opportunity to celebrate with her. 

I love you mom.

Love,

–JT

From the Outside, Looking In

I love the community I get to be a part of. I’m a part of a group of people who love each other. They want the best for one another and they genuinely want everyone to succeed. They have their priorities in order and they aren’t bent on silly things. This community is far from perfect I assure you; but, we are all more focussed on the well being of one another than we are each others’ flaws and flukes. I can say all this because their actions align with their words, especially in my life. However, I’m beginning to see how different the community I get to be a part of is different from so many other communities. This is not a statement that my community is better, it is a statement that my community goes about things differently. I’m so glad we’re different too. 

Our methods work well in our area, better than they would someplace else. The methods of other communities works better in their areas, better than they would in my area.

The striking part of my observations is, when I am visiting a different community, it is better for me to take part in their methods and processes and encourage them to pursue their goals than it is for me to insert, discuss, or force my own ‘tried and true’ methods. I am excited about this realization. 

I now see that the guilt and weight I’ve always carried when visiting people who do things differently than I do was as unnecessary as I felt it was, even though I could never put my finger on why it was unnecessary. I’m can celebrate the differences wholeheartedly. 

How will you celebrate the differences between you and whoever and wherever you spend time this holiday season?

Excitedly,

–JT