Author Archives: therealmimi

Have you been there?

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At my job, I wear a lot of hats: greeter, registrar, scheduler, helper, problem solver, team worker, paper shuffler and more. One of the things we do a lot at the front desk of our busy medical office is direct people. Depending on which doctor they are seeing, we direct them to the waiting area they need. We direct people walking in from outside to other offices in the same building. We do that a LOT and I wish we could get a dollar for every time we’ve told someone how to get to Midwest Urology!

It gets hectic sometimes in the hubbub and so once in a while, we get mixed up and accidentally send a patient to the wrong area, then have to run and get them and take them to the right place.

I’ve walked that office a thousand times and it’s all very familiar now. After telling people these things over and over for years I’ve gotten in a routine of what I say to describe how to get to where they need to go.

We had a new worker up front one time who was struggling with giving directions. Continue reading →

The plan is: stop planning

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I should never have prayed that way. You know, there are things you shouldn’t pray for: patience (right now, please), humility (ouchy things ahead!), for your faith to grow (you’ll get chances to trust and jump off of ledges) and more.

Inspired by the verse in Isaiah 43:19 when God says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I’ve already begun! Do you not see it?” I prayed for God to teach me how to live outside my comfort zones and to embrace new things because new means life and growth and health and movement and a promising future.

You may have heard the saying, “If you do things the way you’ve always done, you’ll get the results you’ve always gotten.” Nothing new, nothing gained. There’s nothing wrong with much of what has been but there’s so much more possible! Why stay back if God is promising something ahead?

That Isaiah passage is full of hope, conveying that God has more ideas and plans up His grand godly sleeve and is going to reveal it somehow, is already revealing some of it apparently!

I am no expert at embracing what’s new, and it seems to get more difficult the older I get. Continue reading →

The co-grandma adventure

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IMG_4177I’m a grandma. Yes, I say it proudly. I became one alongside my co-grandma, my son-in-law’s mom, Maureen.

We’ve been friends for a long time, becoming closer once our kids started dating.  In fact, after Kimmi and Nathanael’s first date, Maureen called me at work and when I answered the first thing she said was, “Is this the possible future mother-in-law of my son?” We laughed with hopeful hearts, and then with full-to-bursting hearts, we hugged at their wedding the next year.

We don’t communicate regularly but whenever we get together we have a wonderful time. I love her.

I got a call at work on a Thursday from my sweet first-born girl telling me she would be induced on Saturday. “I’ll be there!” I told her excitedly. Continue reading →

A new way to look at it

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I’m a firstborn, and therefore (like many of us firstborns) mostly compliant, a people pleaser, and a perfectionist. My personality likes rules because they provide structure. Structure makes me feel secure and comfortable.  I was raised in a church-going, Bible-believing family and it was all black and white to me. This is right, that’s wrong. Do what’s right, not what’s wrong. Being a Christian, as I came to understand it, was mostly about this. I wanted to do a really great job of following the rules and living the right way so God (and my parents) would be happy with me. I think I gravitated toward and settled into this mindset in part because of my nature of people pleasing and perfectionism.

I didn’t realize until adulthood, and more and more these last 10 years or so, how my view of a life of faith was incomplete and restrictive, Continue reading →

I’m a flyer, you’re a flyer…

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When was the last time you watched a trapeze act? It must be exhilarating to grip the bar, jump off the platform, swing down and then on the way up let go at the top and fly through the air. Thankfully a fellow trapeze artist is there at just the right time, grabs a hold and swings them to safety on the other side. I enjoy watching these acts most when there is a big net underneath, you know, just in case someone loses grip or doesn’t quite time things right. Then at least they will bounce safely at the bottom and nobody gets hurt.

I’m assuming these trapeze groups have relationships built on lots of trust. I bet the flyers really try to stay on the good side of the catchers, like baking them cookies, giving them foot rubs and the like. Continue reading →

This is me

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Don’t compare your real everyday life with someone else’s highlight reel. That’s good advice I heard once about social media. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can be comparison traps. What most of us post are the good moments, the vacation photos, the happy birthday group shots, the days off, the kids graduating or performing or doing something cute. We don’t usually post the flat tires, the grumpy days at work, the late payment credit card statements, the cat’s poop on the carpet, or pics of our kids in time-out in tears with angry faces. Continue reading →

What we want

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There were 10 of us at the table so involved in the conversation we never left to go sit in the family room. Empty dessert plates and half-empty cups here and there, we sat with full hearts, heads bowed and eyes closed to pray.

A few hours before, with hugs and handshakes, four other pastor couples from nearby churches joined us in our home. Almost a year ago, I’m pretty sure I heard God tell me we needed to do this, to get together with the area pastors and their wives, to become friends and support one another. I procrastinated for no particular reason and then my husband, who met with the pastors to pray recently, helped get the ball rolling.

We all talked and laughed and talked some more. Interestingly enough, there was no talk of our churches but more about Continue reading →

To be with Papa

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What’s it like when you spend time with your heavenly Father?

Amy Groeschel posed this question in her devotional reading plan titled “Listening to God” on the Bible app.

Her question made me uncomfortable and I didn’t like that. I’ve been a Jesus follower, a child of God since I was very young. I’m embarrassed to say that I still struggle in approaching God and it sometimes even causes me to stay busy with other things avoiding going to Him in prayer.

I’m ashamed of that, but there is a big part of the problem: shame. In her devotional, Amy said that we might over-spiritualize our prayer time, feel we must impress God or pray the right way. I have felt that way, that if I get distracted, let my mind wander, or even get drowsy and doze off, I’ve failed in that quiet time, will try to do better tomorrow.

What if I just come to God? Plain and simple. Continue reading →

The Word of the Day

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If you want to keep moving, you have to keep moving. My determination to be strong and keep moving as long as I can motivates me to really dig in and work out regularly. The trick has always been getting into a habit of it.  Once I do that, the rewards of exercising keep me from wanting to break the habit.

I happily discovered Daily Burn last year when we bought a Roku and dropped cable television. It’s an exercise channel with lots of workout choices, one of which is called DB365: a live workout every day of the year, always new, taught by an array of fun, down to earth trainers who take turns. The energetic, positive host, JD Roberto, does the workout along with the rest of the class which is filled with ordinary people. Through website chat during live workouts, facebook group interactions, Twitter responses, and Instagram posts, DB365 has really connected with its “people” and cultivated a sense of community and fun that keeps us coming back day after day.

Every once in a while they play the “Word of the Day” game. However many times the trainer for that day says the word of the day, Continue reading →

Where does it hurt?

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My Grandma told me once about a time when my Uncle Pete was just a toddler, a time when he wouldn’t stop crying and fussing. She fed him, had already changed him, tried to comfort him, then put him to bed. He kept wailing and fussing. She even gave him a little spank because she thought he was being obstinate about going to bed. His cries persisted, his little cheeks all wet with tears. She decided to check his diaper again and maybe even give him a bath to calm him down. As she undressed him, she found that one little toe had gotten all bent up caught in the elastic of his footie pajamas and was all red. She confessed, almost teary-eyed, that she felt awful being upset with him when the whole time he was crying because his little toe was hurting and he didn’t know how to make it feel better.

As adults, we may not always cry, but there are times we get irritable, Continue reading →