Month: March 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

it turns out i have something more precious than i knew. i have a circle of ladies who i love, trust and thouroughly enjoy being around and they let me be their friend. i didn’t realize how lucky i am until i was perusing the titles at a local bookstore. there are so many books about women friendships – the friday night knitting club, the sweet potato ladies, the babysitters club, sisterhood of the traveling pants – it turns out that women of all ages are starving for fulfilling friendships!

this makes me both happy and sad. happy because i know what wonderful friends i have. i’ve had several groups of them at different points in my life (except high school… but i feel like God has more than made up for the quality of friendships i have through my time in college and my current life situation. i can forgive him for a few bad years).

but i’m sad because obviously there are women everywhere and of all ages that are craving meaningful friendships with other women.

i say this because typically the media we consume (tv, books, internet) exist because they are meeting a “felt need”. if everyone had these wonderful friendships it wouldn’t make for a very good storyline. it’s like owning a honda. not very exciting because they exist in 6/10 garages (especially in southern hardin county / logan county area). but the fact that these books on lady friends are such hot sellers, well, that just says how much readers are seduced by the idea.

one of these special friends just wrote in an email today that she wants to write a book about our friendships, and i think she has a pretty good case. not just because we’re hilarious – though we are – but because every one of those gals is a treasure.

recently i’ve been scheduled for phone interviews at work (PIs we call them in ‘biz). not just PIs, but PIs all with sales reps. and not just sales reps – pharma sales reps. and i thought dealing with teenagers took a lot out of me…

in my time conversing with these folks, i have come to realize how brilliant i am. how so, you say? well, they TELL me all the time. i ask them a question from my pre-formated interview form and they say “Great question!” and proceed to BS their way through it. who knew that “why are you leaving your current employer?” was such a great question?! then, not even 2 minutes later (7 minutes if you’re kristy and interviewing the world’s worst interviewer), i ask about their most innovative sales technique and, what do you know, it’s another great question! like i just came up with it, right off the top of my head. brilliant.

and in my quality time with these super-salespersons-of-the-year (because, let’s face it, they all have at least 5 awards telling them they are so), i have also conjured a list of words that, thanks to their industry and interviewing techniques, they have been so overused that they now lack any meaning. such as leadership. what is leadership? and how is it that every sales rep i speak with is a leader? who exactly is following? or passion. drive. team player. done, done and done.

on the upside to these exhausing 30-minute stints, i have found 2 things: a) that i’m also pretty funny, because these folks seem to nervously laugh every time i say “and tell me more about that.” also, b) i would like to add “salty” to my vocabulary, in the sense of an attitude of ill will. i had a lady who was “salty” about getting second in a contest. love it.

Dear Lady In The Waiting Room,

Please don’t stare. I realize you probably have not seen an infant with hearing aids. You’re probably very curious. But please don’t stare. It doesn’t make it easier on Him or Me. You see, it’s taking a bit of adjustment on our end, too.

You might go home this evening and tell your Husband In The Waiting Room about that “strange thing you saw today.” And maybe next time we cross paths in the waiting room you’ll work up the guts to ask “what’s wrong with him?” I suppose you’re probably just on the front end of the number of times I’ll be asked that question. Someday maybe I’ll be given words to explain the situation without frustration, fear, anger or over-protectiveness speaking for me.

Lady In The Waiting Room, I hope you understand at what – Who – you are staring. This beautiful baby isn’t incapable. He’s not dumb. As his Pseudo-Aunt Kristy says, there’s a problem with his ears, not a problem with him. He’s going to grow up to be a bundle of energy. In fact, his hearing aids will probably be least on the list of problems he’s going to cause his mommy and daddy. Mom will likely stress more about him getting hurt on the football field or his consistent mediocre grades on the spelling tests (because, hey, he’ll get that honest).

What you don’t see, Lady In The Waiting Room, is the hope that is still active in this, and every, child. He might be curing your cancer someday. Or leading your community government. Or teaching your children. Maybe he’ll even marry your granddaughter. If that is so, how will you describe him to your friends? “That Kid With The Hearing Aids?” Or a boy of great character, that treats people well, that is driven to be successful, provide for a family and is passionate about Jesus? Because that’s the kind of boy I am believing in, hoping for and trying to raise.

Maybe, Lady In The Waiting Room, you should quit gawking and start smiling. Because the Kingdom of God is for such as these. And if you knew this little guy, you’d be thrilled with what the Kingdom of God has to offer.

In God’s Restoring Love,
Henry’s Mom