When you feel like hope is gone...

It has been a very trying week, hence the lack of blog postings. It is hard to write positively when you don't feel so positive yourself. I thought I could conquer this feeling, but it has been festering all week until this morning.

My daughter's boyfriend sent me a SnapChat video last night. While I was already asleep when it was sent and didn't get it til this morning, once I saw it, I knew there was a reason for that happening. Now, while I am not sure he meant to send it to me, I like to think he sees my Facebook posts and is quite intuitive to what's going on in my little corner of the world here in Pennsylvania. Once I saw it was a video, I eagerly waited for it to load so I could watch. Secretly, I was hoping it was another humorous one with one of his instrument students (he's a band director/instrumental music teacher - and a darn good one, too!). Not at all. It may not have been what I was expecting, but it was just what I needed. As the video starts, it is him, lip synching to the most perfect part of Mariah Carey's song, Hero....."So when you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong." WOW. Just what this Momma needed this morning as I enter day 4 of what could be hell on earth.

Hope. A simple 4 letter word. HOPE. Yup, count them, 4 letters long. 

HOPE (hōp) :

noun

1. a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

"he looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information"

synonyms:          aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, goal, plan, design; 

2. a person or thing that may help or save someone.

"their only hope is surgery"

3. grounds for believing that something good may happen.

"he does see some hope for the future"

synonyms:          hopefulness, optimism, expectation, expectancy; More

antonyms:          pessimism

4. a feeling of trust.

verb

1.want something to happen or be the case.

"he's hoping for an offer of compensation"

synonyms:          expect, anticipate, look for, be hopeful of, pin one's hopes on, want;

Hope. Hope is a belief that circumstances in the future will be better. It's NOT simply a wish that things will get better, but an actual belief, even when there may be no evidence that anything will change, that things will be better. Hope can encompass a wide variety of beliefs -- everything from an athlete hoping for that college scholarship to a cancer patient hoping for a cure. Hope is the word we hear over anything. 

Believe it or not, hope wasn’t always considered a good thing. Back in earlier times, poets and writers dismissed the concept of hope as a cruel joke of higher beings. To them, it was an illusion that lured gullible, dimwitted people to believe in a better future, only to let them down in the end. To them, and they wrote about it, hope was just another word for disappointment, being let down, a falsity of man.

To a sailor lost at sea, a small blip of light in the distance is hope of soon being back on solid ground. To the woman longing for a child, hope is the news that she is finally pregnant. To the serviceman or woman, hope is word that they are finally coming home from a years long deployment. And to me, hope is that reminder to look inside myself for the strength I need to get through whatever it is I am facing in these last days of the school year.

It hasn't been easy these past few days and at one point, I truly gave up hope. I gave up feeling as if anything good would happen for me. Not anymore, thanks to my daughter's boyfriend. I am facing today and each of the remaining 45 days with all the hope in the world that I WILL make it through this school year, I WILL be the best I can be, and I WILL call this year a success. Hope rests inside me. Who is anyone else to take that hope away from me. Hope is NOT a disappointment, it is the fire that drives me to keep pushing forward when everything else is pushing against me. Hope is the reminder to look inside myself and be strong. I am the hero of my own life!

Until tomorrow, my friends.....

Think Thankfully!

Prayers and remembering

Today's blog is going to be short and sweet. I am asking that the Think Thankfully Nation please keep my little brother, Travis, in your thoughts and prayers over the next 6 months as he deployed this morning for his 5th tour in the Middle East.

I'm truly at a loss for words this week, as it is my least favorite week of the year, and add to it the deployment of my little brother, I just feel like nothing I have to say will be worth much. With that being said, I am extremely proud of my brother's selfless sacrifice and his dedicated service to our great nation, The United States of America.

I am also asking you to remember the lives of the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Challenger, as today marks the 28th anniversary of the explosion just 73 seconds after lift off, killing all 7 on board, including one of my heroes, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space. I remember sitting in my 7th grade Science class, watching. My teacher, Mr Eckhart had applied for the Teacher in Space program. We knew all about it and I was intrigued. At the moment of explosion, I can remember thinking, "Oh my...all the students that are watching this." and at that moment, I knew I wanted to inspire people the way Christa McAuliffe had inspired me. "I touch the future, I teach."

"They slipped the surly bonds of earth

To touch the face of God."

President Reagan January 28, 1986

Until tomorrow, my friends.....cherish those you love and never waste a minute on holding on to anger. Love deeply, always.

Think Thankfully

Day 24 of the Think Thankfully 30 Day Gratitude Challenge

We have arrived at the 24th day of November. The 24th day of the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge. It was on November 24, 1990 that my world changed forever......for the better. 

Life gives us moments that we will remember forever. It was 23 years ago today that an 8 pound 1 ounce baby girl came into the world and changed a 17 year old girl’s life forever. I realize 23 is not a big deal milestone birthday, but my daughter deserves a blog posting because I truly am who I am because of an amazing young woman named Alyssa Kae.

It is certainly not easy being a teenage mother. There are a lot of negative stereotypes thrown at young girls who find themselves in this precarious situation. Horrible names are hurled at you, people tend to look at you differently, and you are immediately judged. From the moment I realized I was pregnant at 17, I knew that life as I knew it was OVER. I had dreams. I wanted to go places. My dreams of going away to college were shattered. I had no idea how I would achieve everything I wanted in life with a baby in tow. But somehow I managed. I went to college, became a teacher, got my Masters Degree, and managed to raise not just one but two incredible daughters. However, this blog posting is NOT about me or my life as Alyssa’s mom, this blog posting is about Alyssa. An amazing young woman, who at 23 years old is everything I want to be when I grow up!

Reflecting back on the past 23 years, I am proud of the daughter I raised (with the help of my amazing family). My daughter graduated high school in the top 10% of her graduating class, was captain of the cheerleading squad her senior year, and traveled not once but twice with People to People Student Ambassadors (Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, France, and England) all before her senior year even began! Not bad for a young girl….but her story doesn’t end there!

She decided to attend Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina for her undergraduate education. College took her 550 miles away from me and I worried every single day she was there. While in college, she joined a wonderful group of ladies in Zeta Tau Alpha, was a member of the College Republicans, became a member of the Mortar Board Honor Society, various other educational honor societies, was a Sweetheart for Theta Xi, studied a summer in France and a semester in Washington DC, traveled to Russia on Spring Break her senior year, AND graduated Magna Cum Laude with Program Honors in Political Science. Not bad for a young woman….but her story doesn’t end there!

My 23 year old daughter is currently living in Washington DC and attending American University in order to obtain her Master’s Degree in Society, Justice, and Law, studying Security and Terrorism Policy. She is a member of the DC Furies, a nationally ranked Women’s Rugby team, works for American University, has a wonderful circle of new friends, and is not afraid to explore her world. She has an amazing man in her life who has kept a smile on her beautiful face and has shown her what it means to be in a true relationship, where compromise is part of the recipe! She is an absolutely amazing daughter. Not bad for a young woman….but her story doesn’t end there!

Not only is my 23 year old one of the best daughters in this world, but she is also the absolute best big sister in the universe. My youngest looks up to her big sister and their relationship is as unique as each of them. They are not just sisters; they are truly best friends that no amount of miles or separation in age could ever keep apart. From the moment Erika was born, Alyssa started watching out for her and throughout their 16 year relationship NOTHING has changed.

Nothing in this world compares to watching your daughter grow into a wonderful, strong, independent, determined, and capable young woman. And her story doesn’t end there! She’s got roads to travel, places to go, BIG things to accomplish, and still much, much, much, more to leave her mark upon in this great journey we call life. Not bad for the daughter of a teenaged mom…..and her story doesn’t end there!!!

I am so thankful that God chose me to be her mom….

Happy 23^rd Birthday Alyssa Kae Everett Beers! May you continue to be blessed abundantly in this life……because your story doesn't end here.............

Think Thankfully!

Day 11 of the Think Thankfully 30 Day Gratitude Challenge

November 11, 2013. Veterans Day. Today actually marks the 95^th anniversary of Veterans Day, although at its start, it was referred to as Armistice Day. Here in the United States, Veterans Day honors all American veterans, whether living, died in action or deceased from other causes, either having already served or currently serving in the US Armed Forces.

Today, I choose to write about my brother, United States Air Force MSgt Travis Everett, armed forces member since November 1996. My brother has always had an affinity with the military. He struggled with the academic rigors of high school and knew that college was not going to be for him. From the time he was little, he was drawn to the military and it became all he talked about. He had more plastic Army men then I think all of Toys R’ Us. Our sandbox was littered with those little men and when he was old enough to venture out of our yard to play, he would head to the woods to play military. He spent countless hours in the woods around the local fire company in town playing Army. He’d wear his camouflage clothing, take his play guns, and off he’d go for almost all day long.

My brother has always felt a strong sense of patriotism and pride in his roots, which is why he chooses, year after year, to honor a graduating senior from our local high school who has chosen the same path in life as he has. Entering the military was never done for the ‘free education’ or the ‘free trips’, because quite honestly, who really wants free trips to Afghanistan, Iraq, Qatar, or Korea. They certainly are not vacations you want to or many times can write home about. Choosing the military was about giving something to this great nation. It was about honoring those who enlisted before us, the countless generations of brave men and women who fought for this country in times of war and served this country during times of peace.

Military life is about sacrifice of all kinds. My brother has spent quite a bit of time away from family. In my nieces’ 10 and 11 years of life, my brother, their father, has missed many big events because of the sacrifice of military employment, including one of their births, holidays, birthdays, school events, and dance recitals just to name a few. Being stationed states away has kept my brother from many family get togethers and being stationed worlds away has shown my brother just why our country is as great as it is.

On this, the 95^th anniversary of Veterans Day, I wish to give a HUGE THANK YOU to my little brother for his selfless dedication and outstanding service to this great nation. And not to be forgotten, for those in the tomb of the unknowns, a special THANK YOU for your patriotism, love of nation, and sacrifice you and your families have made for the common good of our nation. God Bless America, Land that I Love!

Think Thankfully!!!