Confession of the Ideal House List
The world is full of people looking for spectacular happiness while they snub contentment. Doug Larson
There are times when we wish we were in another place. In another time. We wish we had the ultimate circumstance.
Take for instance, my folks and I. Due to some circumstances about the place in which we live, my folks have been searching for another place.
They love the house where they live.
But there are some things about it that are–let’s put it this way, really inconvenient.
Cars covered in dirt. Everytime my nana would come over, she would wipe off the mantel and say,
“Where is the Endust?”
“Uh, we just dusted that before you came, Nana.”
“Really?” (swiping a finger through the dust)
That’s what you get when you are surrounded by fields and you live in the windiest region in the United States.
So my folks met with a realtor, who was beyond fantastic.
They had their list of qualifications.
But there is not a place in the area where they are wanting to live that meets most of their qualifications…
except for one.
And that is where they are living right now.
Which is rather ironic, huh?
Have they ever considered that they might actually be living in the right place? 
So often we become dissatisfied about where we are at in life.
When our ideal is really sitting right before our very eyes.
Sometimes we miss out on it because it is right beneath us, and we are looking ahead, straining in the distance to find it.
It is not that we aren’t looking hard enough. It is that we are living it and we don’t realize it.
Do you live in a “house,” like my folks, and meanwhile are writing up the list of what you really wish you had? There are many areas of our life…take for instance, relationships.
I wish he would not pick his teeth after every meal. (I believe that I would have zero tolerance for someone who did this, it so grosses me out)
He likes the fan going full blast at night. I’m not surprised then that he steals the covers, but this is really starting to get on my nerves. (get two pairs of sheets)
When I find her, she’s gonna like so-in-so on so-in-so show… (boy meets a girl) I like her, but I was hoping for someone who looked like…(yes, I know, like so-in-so on so-in-so show, and sir, you are really a hopeless case)
He always sleeps when he gets home from work…What is he doing now? What? He’s sleeping, again? (My mom’s favorite.)
Is he bugging you like crazy? Or are you expecting her to be perfect?
Nobody’s perfect. Do not put up with stupidity, but do not lust after perfection.
If you want him to be that way, or he wants you to change to suit his list of the “ideal house qualifications” because you yourself are not fine enough to suit him, then two somebodies somewhere have their sights set a little high…
more like, terribly high.
Just saying….
Somebody has created the “ideal house qualification list.”
And somebody’s “ideal house” is sleeping at their side every night.
This post should really begin with ‘Dear M.E.’ Because in some ways, I am really writing this post to myself.
My journal right now is reading the following:
(I choke a little when I read those two entries. How come it took me a day to get that smart?)
What a word to try to live, especially in today’s “fast-food, get-rich-quick, work-from-your couch, look-it-up-online” world that we live in. Self-gratification cultivated and rewarded everywhere. I’ll be the first to admit that I have been swallowed into it.
Dear M.E., in all of that, remember two things. Just two things.
Spectacular happiness isn’t real.
Contented happiness is.
It is real as the milk sitting in your refrigerator.
Or the eggs.
Or whatever you’ve got in your refrigerator.
Love,
M.E.
P.S. Is the moving van parked in my folk’s driveway? Nope. Looks like they’re stuck there for a while…more like a long time. She convinced them they didn’t need to move.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Listen to this unforgettable song: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Have you ever wished you could escape to some place where there isn’t any trouble?
Do you suppose there is such a place?
We all wish there was.
There is.
Somewhere…over the rainbow…
Listen to this unforgettable song. Warning: you may shed a few tears. But somehow, all the stress, all the anxieties of life seem washed away…
and you seem to have flown to some other place…
maybe, just maybe…some place
over the rainbow.
Coping with the Storm
Crashes of thunder. Flashes of lightning. The boat was filling rapidly with water. The sailors were fighting the storm gallantly, but nothing seemed to help. The folks inside took anxious glances towards the rear of the ship. But still He slept. More wind. More thunder. More waves. Finally they couldn't stand it. They ran to the rear of the boat and poured out their hearts. "Don't you hear? Don't you see what we're going through? Why do you remain silent? Why don't you answer? You have promised to save us when we call. Where are you? Don't you care?" To all of these fearful pleadings He said nothing... but to the storm He said, "Be still!" The ordeal was over. And he turned to them, with a tone of voice that was loving and compassionate, said: *****"Why are ye so fearful? How is it ye have no faith?"**** To the day I was afraid: Why are you so fearful? To the day I doubted: How is it you have no faith? Fear & doubt, the two greatest pests of our lives. And He had two questions for those who were standing with Him and were scared and doubting. "Why are you so fearful? How is it you have no faith?" So the next time that finds you afraid....the next day that finds you doubting and wondering where Jesus is. He is there. "Why are you so fearful?" "How is it you have no faith?" Love, M.E. P.S. Read the closing chapters of Mark 4.
Don’t judge each day by …
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.–Robert Louis Stevenson
Dare to Succeed
I am now back from the land of mountains and sand.
Which means I am back to the usual grind of classes and a mountain of homework from professors who believe their class is the most important in the world.
Which also means that beinspiredforyou.com now has a new look! Check it out and see what you think.
I’ve been thinking about what it takes to be successful.
How could I have made that mistake? It was just well, plain, um–dumb! (what often goes on in the back of my mind)
You see, we do not fail when we make a mistake, it is all about how we respond to the mistake that really matters.
Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.–George Edward Woodberry
Let me tell you a secret about myself. I fear about being unsuccessful in what I do.
So often I do nothing at all.
Which is defeat.
Which is doing exactly what I am afraid of: not succeeding.
Which if you think about it, is a going-around-in-circles kind of deal in the end.
I think some of that is that I am a perfectionist, and the rest of it is that I am a human, with a very human nature.
So dare.
Dare to fail 9999 times, like Thomas Edison, and succeed on the ten thousandth.
Dare to be you. You were made to be your own wonderful unique self. And if it is not who you are about, then don’t do it. Dare to stand out from the crowd. Imagine if we were all the same (which, let’s just admit it, we try to be sometimes), what kind of boring place would that be to live in? (Yawn. Yawn.)
It wouldn’t be a pretty sight.
Be yourself.
Dare to make a mistake. Think about it. If you don’t try at all, then you won’t for certain make a mistake, but you will also never succeed.
But shhh, don’t tell…
I hate making mistakes! I will literally lay awake at nights thinking… and thinking…
what will they think of me? (which probably really doesn’t matter)
what if they think I’m stupid?
I’m positive I said the wrong thing, (well, M.E., you are human, and now you know NOT what to do next time, so move on!)
Dare to be creative. Think outside the box. Where would we be if Karl Benz, the inventor of the fist automobile, hadn’t persisted. And persisted. And persisted.
We wouldn’t be able to climb into a car and drive down to the store to pick up the groceries.
A car is really a wonderful invention.
But someone else had to be successful in order for us to turn the key, hear the rumble of the engine, and be able to put the car in reverse.
Dare to succeed…
There is nothing like the feel of success after you’ve sweated it out.
And conquered!
You feel a pride in the work you’ve accomplished, and you should! After all, you’ve earned it.
Start with the small things. You see, this is what comes to my mind the minute I think of success.
How can I save the world?
And I waste my time trying to save the world (which doesn’t care about what I think anyway) while the cookies are out in the kitchen burning in the oven.
Start small, and I mean small. “Cookies burning” may seem like a silly example, but it’s a small thing. Its like I wrote in my New Years Resolution in January.
Grow a little each day. Start thinking, How can I make one–just one!–minute out of my day successful?
You will soon find that two minutes doesn’t start to sound so bad after all…
and three minutes…and then an hour, that you can spend being being successful at something you’re trying to accomplish in your life.
Which means I need to stop rambling and get going on that homework I’ve got due tomorrow.
I just hope it is not as long as I think it is.
Otherwise doing something else that is actually fun would sound tempting.
Here I go around in circles again.
Guess I’d be better off just doing the homework now. Ugh. 
Love,
M.E.
Your Aspiring Miss Rodeo Queen
Here’s the little personal bit about myself that I promised you earlier today.
Here goes…
I want to be rodeo queen.
Unfortunately, the last time I got off a horse I lost my balance and fell backwards into the arms of the unprepared cowhand.
I think he was as startled as I was.
This time when I went horse riding I pledged not to be so awkward.
This is the picture I got while on top of George–
My horse.
It really was a beautiful ride.
Even though I killed my camera battery.
My camera battery finally died.
“You killed it!”–a wrangler joked upon learning my predicament
I wonder why we laughed so much while talking to these wranglers?
I think only my sister would laugh till she rolled out of her chair at this comment. There’s an inside joke attached to it as well.
I know, I know, inside jokes are no fun to anybody (except for those on the inside).
Have you ever (like me) been in a meeting, and somebody makes a joke, and you perceive it in your own way to be funny. So you laugh…
And then he, or she (bless their hearts) announces,
“That’s an inside joke.”
And that doesn’t include you?
Okay, maybe I’m the only one that’s happened to. Or who has made a joke like that.
Back to my story…thankfully I came prepared with another charged battery. I changed it while I was riding on top of the horse.
The cowhand was very much impressed–
that I had brought an extra battery–
not that I could change it while riding on top of George and holding the reins.
I think he was also impressed that I had already “killed” it as well.
And wondering when the camera was going to stop always being pointed at him.
So he smiled and pointed out the scenery.
And I pointed the camera at him pointing at the scenery.
Not really. :-) The wranglers were having fun. They made all of us feel right at home and joked and laughed and talked, and then talked some more with us.
And that cowhand was still smiling when he good-naturedly swaggered to sit astride the picnic table etched with ranch brands when the ride was over.
I took some more pictures of the scenery–which was wild, rugged, and free.
By the way, my sister and I have a wonderful relationship.
Although I’m sure she wouldn’t mind loaning me out to you every once in a while.
Meaning, if you’ve always wanted a sister, let me–I mean ‘her’–know.
Just don’t try to write her through ‘dear M.E.’ because she’ll never get the letter.
Hopefully it wouldn’t be just to find out what that inside joke is.
Okay, I need to get some rest. Obviously. This post is starting to get out of hand.
(I did change this photo to black-and-white, in order to respect the wishes of certain of my folks to remain anonymous.)
Your Aspiring Miss Rodeo Queen,
M.E.
P.S. No, there weren’t any mishaps this time, such as falling backwards off a horse.
Except my sister’s horse decided he knew a better way to get back home.
One of the cowhands went off and rescued her.
I wish I could say this horse was in a conspiracy to be a matchmaker. Just kidding. ;-)
P.S.S. She’ll get me back one day, I’m sure. She promises to write a blog to rival mine, in the future. I wouldn’t be worried except that I am positive her subject matter would be far more entertaining than mine.
Sun Bursts Forth
“He has set a tabernacle for the sun…
which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber…
and rejoices as a strong man to run a race.”
That is a blazing ball called the sun, moving across the sky and determined to burst forth from the clouds.
(And it burst forth. Only moments later.)
Been to a wedding? David wrote that the sun reminds us of the face of a bridegroom.
Or like an athletic man preparing to run the marathon of his life.
Have you ever thought about that?
Sunshine is a symbol of happiness, of joy, of strength, of hope!
Sunshine is the symbol of optimism.
And this magical thing called sunshine sweeps away a thing called darkness.
This blazing ball called the sun moves across the sky in silence, full of power and determination to touch and warm everything on which it shines.
We should be like that. Let’s be sun catchers. Catch the sunshine and reflect those beautiful colors of your life to all of those around you. It’ll be harder for you to see the shadows, and you may reflect the sunshine onto somebody else!
Well, what do you think? I love when you share your thoughts via comments. What do you think about sunshine? When you are driving in the car, and you roll down the car window, and the sunshine bursts forth, and you reach for those sunglasses, what are you thinking?
awaiting your thoughts,
M.E.
P.S. Be prepared. Later today, as this vacation rolls to its end, I may live my dream. You may hear a personal little bit about M.E for one post. We’ll see…
(P.S.S. Some of you are wondering, do I edit these photos? No. I’m on vacation. They haven’t been touched.)
Inspiration Itself
If pictures could talk, what do you think this one would say to you?
To all of you, please write and tell me what you would caption this photo. Any ideas?
What does this photo say to you?
To me, this is inspiration itself.
There’s just something about this.
It makes you think of endless possibilities.
When you look at it, you just feel good…you feel at peace.
That’s why God made it.
To show you a part of Himself.
Have a glorious day, :-)
M.E.
Meet M.E.
I write for YOU. Whoever you may be, I hope you will always be encouraged. I hope you will believe in yourself, that you are the most amazing person in the world, because you are you!
Things that inspire me: sunshine in a blue sky, the rainbow soaring over the storm, the firefighter, policeman, and paramedic, and the person who tries and tries and tries…and still tries again.
You will find out I have a vivid imagination. Laughing is therapy. Everything’s bigger in my home state. My grandmother was born in Gohrgah. I like it classy. I square dance with Hillbillies, and canoe deep in the Ozarks. I admire those who stand strong for what is right. I want to ride in the rodeo. (Unfortunately I don’t own a horse. Otherwise I might try!) Enough about me, now on to You!
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