A Story Told Here…

I realize it has been more than a week since my last post. A pox upon me. Except that I literally make the rules, seeing as I am the queen of this blog. Still, though…I hate falling below my own standard. So I am invoking the “better-late-than-never” clause & moving right along. I hope you (my phantom readers) are doing well. I surely am. Let’s do some catching up.

The last few weeks have seen me checking off many New Year’s goals. I am feeling uber-productive, successful, & rather accomplished. I am a goals freak. I am also an Enneagram 2, with an amazingly strong 3 wing, so just get outta the way. Please. And thank you. Also, can I get anything for you while I am up?

One of my 2021 goals was getting a terribly invasive physical & lots of expensive labwork. That process has taken quite a bit of time, involves 2 doctors (because the first did not listen so well), & has cost me only God knows what, as I have yet to get a bill. But the results are in: I may possibly be the healthiest I have ever been, or at least in a very long time. I am 56 yrs. old, so that is fairly astonishing to me. I have been making many changes, tweaking existing regimens, & the results are staggering to me. I plan to write about all of this soon…there is a crazy backstory that is sure to amaze.

I am reading a new book, “The Truth About Covid-19”. Just started it so the jury is out, but I will do a review once I am finished. I finished my tax year here at work in April, & am proud to have lived to tell about it. It actually gets easier every year, but it is a tremendous amount of work & I am happy to call it done. My husband & I have started leading a small group of young couples at church. They are a great bunch & we are loving it. Feels good to be serving in some capacity after such a long, dry spell. More stuff for another story. I am currently preparing for a beach trip with my girls (2 daughters, 1 daughter-in-law), & my 7 grandchildren. We leave for Florida in 15 days, 12 hours, 49 mins., & a few seconds. It will be big fun & fodder for more stories, I am sure. I simply cannot wait.

We had a rare opportunity to have our oldest grandchild for an unplanned stay last weekend. He is 6 yrs. old & an utter joy (my girls have only ever birthed utter joys, by the way). We spent copious amounts of time playing games, making up stories, & pondering the mysteries of the universe. At one point he asked, & I quote: “Memaw, why are you so big?” End quote. I said, “Son, let me teach you the difference between tall (I am 5’9”), & big (we used an elephant as a reference here, something I definitely am not). There was laughter, declarations of undying love, & a marriage proposal…I said yes, of course. I can’t wait to have these types of uninterrupted, special one-on-one times, with my other grandbabies soon. So much to be learned about them in those moments. What a gift.

Well, I think that is all the news I have for now. That can change in literally 5 mins. in my world. If it does, I may be back sooner than later. I hope spring has arrived wherever you call home. It has here, & even though it is not my favorite season…do not judge me…I so appreciate the new life that is breathed into every corner of our farming community. Growth happening before my very eyes. The greening that is taking place. The summer-weight-temps, oh-crap-it’s-cold-go-grab-your-jacket-now, the-tornado-warning-but-I-wanna-finish-lunch-first, &why-is-my-umbrella-never-in-my-car, kind of spring weather you can expect in Southeast Missouri. Enjoy. Until next time…

It is a Monday in all it’s glory. My husband & I started a tool & equipment rental business 21 yrs. ago & remain at the helm even now. Monday’s are C.R.A.Z.Y…& crazy can equal stressful. We have a staff meeting every Monday morning at 7 a.m., so I usually leave the house around 6:15 a.m. I feed my guys either a homemade breakfast (not today) or a sad drive-thru-breakfast-substititute (today). Why the sad breakfast on this very day, you might be wondering? Let me go back in time.

About a week & a half ago one of our home water heaters went out, setting off a cascade of events that we are paying for today. The water heater let loose it’s load & ruined our ugly-&-why-have-we-not-replaced-it-already laundry room floor. And we actually needed a bigger water heater anyway. I saw this whole situation as a win-win. Arrangements were made for a new water heater, flooring was picked out, & crews were scheduled. Life was so, so good.

This weekend the flooring went in without a hitch. Looks great. The hubs got the appliances back in & I ran a load of wash from the growing pile. And that is when round 2 began. The washer threw more codes than 007. We got a fast-track-degree in appliance repair from Google U, & spent 2 hrs. doing brain surgery on the Maytag. We did not succeed. We called it at 8:22 p.m. last night…let us pause here for a moment of silence. Amen. And this is why I did not have time to prep the normal culinary delight that is the Monday-morning-meeting-breakfast.

The water heater is being installed even as I write this post, but we have yet to find anyone who does appliance repair. We live in a town of approximately 16,000 people. We have one recommendation for a repair man. ONE. And he has not returned our call. Plus, remember, it is Monday in rental-land. For all these reasons, plus some private items weighing on my heart, I began this day feeling discouraged. My new spirit-animal is Eeyore.

What to do? This scripture came leaking out of my heart moments ago: Psalm 61:1-2:

¹ Hear my cry, O God;
    listen to my prayer.

² From the ends of the earth I call to you,
    I call as my heart grows faint;
    lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

So I shall pray…for strength to handle the hustle & grind of my day…& also, please, Lord, for the advent of a repair man, for our underwear doth grow few. This I know: God is most faithful. He has provided an entirely gorgeous day for us (wootwoot!). He has given us good health. He has blessed us with the most amazing family. He has redeemed us. Mondays require a different kind of faith than other days of the week…reminds me of a scene from “Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade”, where Jones has to step out over a large chasm, in the perfect example of the proverbial leap-of-faith. I just have to trust that each step I make & each task I do will land me safely into tomorrow. So, excuse me now as I head to “the rock that is higher than I”. Till next time…

It has been over a week since I have posted anything here. I think about writing every day. Every. Single. Day. I cannot explain why. My goal is to stop in here once a week & tell a story…share a story…maybe make up a story. I fell short this week, but better late than never. I hate falling short & I hate being late.

I have 435,021 stories that I eventually want to share in this space. Some are funny…those are my faves. Some are scary…& may or may not involve snakes. Some are hard…in a personal, naked-truth kind of way. Some have the potential to encourage, motivate, & otherwise push you to a better place. Some are full of Jesus. Some are about family & the sheer blast I had raising my kids. Some are about marriage & what the fairy tale really looks like. Some are about miracles. Some are sad. Some rhyme. Some will most definitely be politically incorrect. Some may veer into current events. Some will certainly involve tasty food.

Tonight’s story goes something like this:

It is a dark & stormy night. I am alone. (this is a true story, by the way) My husband is out of town, which means I will only achieve a modicum of sleep. The up-side is that I can type to my heart’s content without keeping my man awake. But I digress. Maybe it is the barometric pressure (hence the weather), but I feel a bit ill at ease tonight. Thinking back over the course of this week I could probably chalk it up to work-related stress…I mean, corporate tax season is no joke. Also, the death of a young lady who rodeoed with my kids just broke my heart…like somebody extinguished the sunshine. Then there are my clients who have asked me if I have gotten the Covid vaccine. No, I have not. No, I will not. That is definitely a story for another day, but the conversations about this political pandemic leave me weary. The culprit could also be menopause. Oh, how I hate menopause.

I do not feel this way often. I am normally upbeat, positive, & hopeful for the future. Tonight is different. I am not sure what you do when you find yourself caught in the doldrums, but I usually pray. If prayer is not part of your existance, I would like to highly recommend you try it sometime. There is something altogether calming & comforting, settling & centering, about connecting with one’s creator. So pray I shall. Tomorrow will be brighter, better, & most assuredly blessed. Till next time…

I tend to read several books at the same time, & one that is steering how I do everything right now is James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”. Just wow. He says, “every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” (pg. 38 of “Atomic Habits”) I cannot recommend this book enough. You will need a pen for underlining & you must trust me that you should do this.

To be a writer, I must write. Frequently. Even if I am not sure what I want to say. To become a great writer, I must write. Frequently. Even if I am not sure what I want to say. I just have to develop the habit of writing. So here I am. And here I will be…frequently…even when I do not have a firm plan for all the words I want to use.

I titled this blog site “A Story Told Here” as a place to share real-life stories, & this journey of mine is as real as it gets. I love words…both spoken & written. Words are like currency & should be stewarded well. I pray I do justice to this craft. Till next time…

Today I thought I would take a few minutes to share my journey into writing. It is quite riveting. I did not grow up journaling or keeping a diary…the one & only reason being that I did not want to leave any evidence lurking in case something unthinkable happened to me. I did not want to leave words that would disappoint, anger, confuse, or embarrass anyone…especially me…I mean, I would hate to be in heaven with a red face. I still feel this way, even though I have filled page after page in stacks of journals over the last decade…only now I have a safeguard in place: once a journal is filled, I meet with God in the back yard, thank Him for prayers answered, review my words one last time, & set fire to that sucker. No paper trail. No evidence. The backup plan if tragedy should befall before the last journal is burned? I have trusted friends who will set the blaze. You know who you are.

Journaling has kept me sane. It has given me relief. It has opened my eyes to what is most important to me & laid bare my deepest hopes & dreams. I cannot recommend it enough, just make sure you have a contingency plan for data leaks. I have only had one, & oddly enough it was earlier this year. The results were catastophic. Learn from me on this.

As cathartic & private as journaling is, you may be asking yourself why I would ever fling words out here for the whole world to see. (It might be presumptious to think that the whole world would ever find my words, but a girl can dream.) Anyway, so why? Why take such a risk? Why strip my soul down to utter nakedness? I think it is some kind of creative urge that is willing to defy gravity & odds & good common sense: I like to talk in person, & I love to talk on paper.

As a child, teenager, & college student I found great satisfaction when assigned a book report, an essay, or a term paper. (Look that up if you are under 40.) Anytime I faced an academic test I prayed to the Holy One that it would be made up of essay questions…the opportunity to use copious amounts of words (also known as BS) which always rendered me AT LEAST partial credit, if not full credit + bonus points, thus improving my odds of success. I wrote papers for other people, usually in exchange for a ride to & from college or tutoring in algebra…which, by the way, I HAVE NEVER USED, NOT EVER, IN MY 56 YEARS. Algebra is a lie.

As a young mother I told stories instead of writing, because who even had time to find pens & paper with three littles running the show. I failed at the whole “baby book” thing. Miserably. Baby #1 had the most words in her book…there may be a half-page total to memorialize her early years. Baby #2 came along 26 months later, & is pretty much the reason nothing got written in baby books or anywhere else until he turned 16. Baby #3 did not even have a baby book until she was 4 yrs. old. I will regale you with stories about those days some other time. They are the stuff of legend & not even something I could make up.

Throughout my 30’s & early 40’s I wrote devotions that I presented to church ladies. I wrote my own Sunday School curriculum for kids. I have written poems…mostly humorous…for my loved ones. I have ideas for writing children’s books…little kids are my favorite kind of humans. I have 2 ideas for serious books. I have penned lofty emails & important documents during my 21 yrs. in business. And I have long wanted to blog. I don’t know everything I wish to accomplish in this space yet. I DO want to encourage young moms…my kids are grown & I have lived to tell about it. I want to encourage women…those who just cannot & will not be defined by our sewer culture & need to know that they are valuable just the way God made them. I hope to bring humor & light in a place that can be very dark, for very many.

I hope you will read my words…that you will comment so that I can grow & improve my craft…that you will share your stories here, too. These are the goals for now. I appreciate the time that anyone anywhere would take to read my thoughts. Until next time…

Hey everyone! At least I hope there are some everyones…at some point. Anyone, really. My name is Cindie. I hail from rural, Southeast Missouri…think rich farmland…4 distinct seasons (sometimes in the same day)…a place where folks ask “how’s your momma doing” in aisle of the grocery store. I am just a wife, mother, memaw, teacher, business executive, home chef, & sometimes-writer. I am crazy about Jesus. I live for good coffee. Chopin is my jam. I also love telling stories…writing stories…hearing stories…reading stories. Everyone has a tale to tell. Each individual narrative is important. Stories are the building blocks of the time contiuum…historical, present, & future. Anecdotes of the “everyday” are my favorite. In this small space of the technological universe I hope to share words…ideas…& accounts…from my life & those who are willing to trust me with their own stories. I hope you will check in often. Subscribe. Communicate with me. All the things. Time for coffee…see ya soon.