This has largely been my view for the past six days.
The basic idea of the job is understanding the regulations from the federal and state level on the subject of label claims. The job also involves marketing in that the marketing department wants to “pump up” the product and try to sell it but my department has to make sure that what they say on the label is true and falls under regulations. So its accountability for the marketing team in a sense.
I like learning new things and even though my jobs so far in life have not been glamorous or really what I expected, I have learned some interesting skills and have gained knowledge I never expected. Working on the “quality” side of the state dairy program and working in quality at this Publix plant led to getting my new position. So I guess that you can always find a connection with past experience; you just have to find the right position.
My husband is one of the hardest workers I know…for the past ten months he has given 110% every step of the way. He has provided for our family and shown what it is to work with determination and honor. This has been the hardest season we have been through in our marriage but I am thankful that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and he has kept his promise to care for us on the mountain top or the valley low…I’m also thankful to say that in two hours this season will be OVER!!! (Becky’s note: “This season” referring to the two jobs with the challenging schedules, in addition to buying a house at the same time.)Nathan, thank you for sticking this out and showing me and our babies what it is to finish well. I’m proud to be by your side.
What about you? Is there something one of your offspring has done that has made your especially proud? Or maybe your spouse makes you proud in some particular way? Brag away!
Hope you’re feeling much better by now!
Can’t believe Sarah has just finished her first year of college and is already home for summer. I know you’ll enjoy having her back home!
Congratulations to Nathan on his promotion! I know he will definitely appreciate and enjoy the new hours he will have. Those other hours are hard to get through. For quite awhile my husband worked second shift 3:30 pm to midnight, while I worked 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. Needless to say, we really only saw each other on weekends! But, it all worked out.
Kara,
Wow, what crazy hours for you and your husband during that season of life; I can’t even imagine!
Kudos to you BOTH for making it work and getting through it. Hopefully your schedules are much more in sync now!
First of all, congratulations to Nathan on his new job! Having lived in Tampa for nearly 13 years, I miss going to Publix. I’ve heard that it’s also a good place to work.
I don’t have any offspring so I’ll brag on my nieces- oldest graduates on Mother’s Day and is headed to Concordia University in Nebraska where she will have a double major in piano performance and secondary education. She will also play in the orchestra while there as besides piano, she also plays violin. Youngest niece is a junior so will graduate next year. She is one of two girls from her school going to Jefferson City – not sure what for or even when. That was all my mom could tell me. 🙂
Phyllis,
Your nieces are blessed to have such a wonderful, affirming aunt in their lives.
Isn’t it so great to have “Aunt” in from of a name? Love it. Enjoy all those aunt/niece moments to come.
So glad Nathan is in a new chapter of life and his family has stayed close through the tough times. Thank the Lord for giving him strength to endure and look to the future with hope. Ruth
Ruth,
Amen to all of that!
This new chapter is an exciting time for them.
I sure hope you are feeling better soon, Becky! That is so nice that Sarah is home- I hope she has a wonderful summer! This year sure seemed to fly by (at least from my vantage point it did 🙂 ). Your grand-babies are adorable.
I’m also so sorry about the passing of your friend Mr. Bob. He sounds like a special, brave man who will be missed.
One thing you wrote gave me a bit of a pause and was a bit difficult to read- but has had me deeply thinking about it all day. Becky, I hope you don’t mind me sharing a little of what I’ve been thinking….
You wrote: “Although these kinds of goodbyes are hard, the thought of him no longer being wheelchair bound is enough to replace our tears with joy.” I’ve said the same thing myself very many times when others I’ve known have passed away. When my grandfather died, I was happy to imagine him out of his wheelchair and dancing in Heaven. When my friend, aged 16, was suddenly shot in the head (in a terrible accident), I agreed with the statement that he would not have wanted to live a life where he was significantly disabled and it was better he had died immediately without any pain and went straight to Heaven.
However, now that I live with disabilities, including having used a wheelchair myself for the past 16 months my feelings are dramatically different and that is not something I will ever say again.
It’s not that I enjoy being in a wheelchair and I do truly hate not being able to walk. Often I look at others who are able bodied with what can only be described as a mix of envy and sadness and longing. I would do almost anything to regain mobility abilities (and there is still a chance that maybe that could happen, my prognosis isn’t fixed).
But, at the same time, a wheelchair is the tool that allows me to participate in life in a way that I could not (currently) on my own legs. It is a tool, just like glasses allow a person with vision struggles to see. This weekend, my wheelchair allowed me to go on a mini date with my husband to a little park by the river where I felt the rain on my face and we discussed life. This morning the chair allowed me to go to a Dr’s office for a regular treatment that helps me, and after that it allowed me to wheel down the block for a short “Walk and roll” with my father, enjoying the (finally warm) spring weather. Tonight, it will allow me to roll half way down the sidewalk to meet my husband as he walks home from work. I used to often walk to meet him on his walk home, and this wheelchair allows me to regain that ability.
One thing I agree with is that while I really do believe that anyone’s life is better in Heaven, I don’t feel that because I have disabilities that it would be better for me to be in Heaven currently, even if that meant I was disability-free and not in a wheelchair.
Of course, for anyone to be in Heaven and be close to the Father and have freedom from the pain and struggles that we all inevitably will face in life- that is a gift. But to say that a person’s life is better in Heaven specifically because they had disabilities and could not walk is to devalue those that still live here on earth but use wheelchairs. (Please note I’m not saying that you are devaluing anyone- you are about the most loving, kind person I know! I’m learning, however, from my own experiences, and about how I perceive others around me).
I really hope you don’t mind me sharing this! I love your blog and I love you!
Jenna
Jenna,
I am always grateful to get to read the viewpoints of readers who help me see things from perspectives I may never have otherwise considered. And when a reader shares a viewpoint in a gentle, loving, “teaching,” way–well, I am even more grateful.
Mr. Bob and his family talked often in his last days and weeks about the joy of him being in heaven and free to run and dance and I was sort of “plugging in” to their joy. 🙂 But what you expressed is wise and insightful and helps me to see things in a different way, especially your words that a wheelchair is like glasses–a tool that helps a person do what they otherwise could not do.
I have so admired your attitude through the months of reading your writing (on your blog and in your comments on my blog) and I am often challenged and inspired by the way you deal with the tough stuff of life.
Again, thank you for feeling free to share your thoughts and for helping me (and those of my readers who are faithful to read the comments) to consider things from the viewpoint of someone who truly understands (and overcomes) challenges.
Enjoy your warm days of spring and all your opportunites to “walk and roll.” Hugs!
Becky, thank you for such a gracious, open, and kind reply to my thoughts . That meant a lot to me. I’ve learnt a lot about gentleness and kindness from reading your words all these years. You’ve been such a blessing in my life and I’m so glad I found your blog many years ago!
Jenna,
I’m thankful you found the blog, too. You’ve been a blessing in my life!
Pray you feel better soon. Pictures of Sarah are simply gorgeous! Proud of Nathan.
Thank you Ann, for your encouraging words. We’re proud of Nathan, too! He’s a good fella. 🙂 Hugs to you and Jim.
I’m sorry that you’ve been sick. Prayers for a speedy recovery and that you feel up to the next few, busy days.
I have two kids and they each have two kids. And today, right off the top of my head, I’d have to do some bragging on my 2 year old grandson, Milo. He can say his bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me….” all by himself. He folds his little hands and closes his eyes (and opens them to peek at his momma now & then) and it is just the most precious thing. All of our kids and grandkids are healthy and happy and we are completely blessed and thankful!
Your two littles are adorable and I love the picture of them together in the water on their tummies. They look like good little buddies. 🙂
Sarah looks just so happy! And huge congrats to Nathan on his new job! Our son currently has a job that requires him to leave at 3:30 every morning and to work on the weekend too, so I know what challenges that presents to a young family.
LeeAnne,
I know that Milo saying his prayers (and peeking) just warms your heart like nothing else can do. I am so glad that God invented grand children! 🙂
Yes, it sounds like your son knows exactly what it’s like to get up early and work long hours. I know you are proud of him for persevering.
Hi Becky, So nice to read about you and your lovely family today. I hope you are feeling better now, your dog is so sweet, animals are such a comfort! Sarah has grown into a very beautiful young woman, so happy that she is doing well! I have often seen my car like that with all the ‘stuff’ you have to transport for university! Was hard with twins, both doing that at once! Lovely to see Nathan and family so happy, it is wonderful to have little people, I had mine to stay a couple of weeks ago. I don’t see them that often as they live 500 k’s away in Brussels, (Europe) My two little people, Sophie and Evie are almost 7 and almost 3, so wonderful to have them here!!! It is so funny though as I speak English to them and they answer me all the time in French, they understand every word I say as my son speaks English to them all the time but they are not used to speaking, hopefully one day they will speak English!!!
Take care, best wishes to you and your husband and family xxx
Angela,
So nice to hear from you!
Sounds like you have grand children who are quickly headed toward being bilingual. That is wonderful! I’ve always heard that kids pick up languages so much more quickly than adults; their little minds are truly like sponges. Glad you got to spend some time drinking in their loveliness!
I can’t quite imagine transporting twins to and from university. My hat is off to you!
I just came home from my daughter’s. I went to see my granddaughter’s dance recital. Besides her two dance routines, she also helps disabled children dance in Creative Movement. They wowed the crowd again this year. I’m so proud of her – just 16 years old and thinking of others. This is her second year with them.
Mary,
Sixteen years old and thinking of others. There aren’t many nicer things to say about a grand daughter. I love that she helps disabled children with Creative Movement; such joy in doing that–for her and for them.
My proud mama moment… Abby will be graduating June 13 from high school, as number 3 in her class, and she will be attending Wake Forest University this fall!! She has worked so hard, and although several of her friends have somewhat stopped working, and started going the party route, she has remained diligent and most Saturday nights, you will find her home working on a paper or project for class. She has a great testimony with her peers, they don’t even invite her to the parties anymore, and tell her that they know she will not come, because of drinking, or other activities that both she and they know are wrong. I told her grades are wonderful, but to have a testimony like that , where ALL your friends know what you stand for and WHO you belong to as a Christian is the best thing a mama can hope for!! I know that she will do great things once she gets to Wake Forest this fall! I am so excited to watch her grow into the young woman she is, and is still becoming… now, if I can just have her rub off on the 10 year olds!! 🙂 Hope Sarah has a wonderful summer!!! And I hope you feel better… when you are in Greensboro, you are only about 20-25 minutes from my house!!
Tiffany,
I am proud of Abby right along with you. Third in her class, headed to Wake Forest, and an example to her peers–just three of MANY reasons to be proud! I know you will miss her when she goes off to school. I am glad for you that she isn’t going too terribly far. Hugs to all!
Dear Becky prayers that you are feeling better to enjoy your adventures this week. We have no kids. The person I am very proud of would be my husband. He has spinal stenosis and pain every day. When others would be on disability he pushes through and goes to work everyday to provide for us. He is truly my rock & inspiration to get through another day. I never knew what fun life could be until I met him. I am truly blessed.
Karen,
I love that you are bragging on your husband who sounds like a remarkable individual. No wonder you’re proud of him.
You have inspired me to go into the post and edit it to include bragging on spouses.