As I sat down to share with you, yet another brilliantly crafted bouquet of babble from the mashed potatoes inside my head that sometimes resemble a brain, I surveyed my surroundings. (If this isn’t your first ride on the rollercoaster inside the world of Jay Garcia, you will remember that I taught myself to be aware of my surroundings earlier in the week) I was eating jalapeno cheddar potato chips, drinking Gatorade, and wearing sweatpants that said North Marion soccer. I haven’t played soccer since my days at NMHS (almost 10 years ago) and my love for jalapeno potato chips and Gatorade came about sometime during those rebellious adolescent days. I opened up my bible (also part of my surroundings) and the date inside read December 1998, the year I started high school. At this point, I am becoming eerily nostalgic and at the same time wondering, exactly how much in my life has remained the same since high school? I obviously have the same great taste in junk food, feel the most comfortable in worn sweat pants, and read the same bible I’ve had for over a decade but what about “real” constants in my life? To me the “real” essentials of life have always been: faith, family, and friends. A late night of junk food (I have since added pizza rolls to “my surroundings) and a passion to invest in the lives of others led me to realize that the “real” constants of my life since high school have also been the ”real” essentials of my life.
My friends: The infamous BP
If lifetime network wanted to make millions upon millions they would do a movie sequel on us. Over the years we have shared many laughs, heartaches, embarrassing moments, triumphs, defeats, and of course Marlboro lights. As care-free teenagers we filled our days with proms, road trips (usually to a DMB concert), parties (which often led to punishment from our parents), and talks over coffee at the book-N-Bean. As we began college, we were all at different Universities at different times but we managed to use the advancements in technology to stay up-to-speed with boyfriends, classes, new friends, and daily events. As we matured into young women, we celebrated together as one by one we got married, we cried with one another as we lost loved ones, and we delighted in the fact that as we had children they instantly gained many aunts. Together we have overcome trials that alone would have been impossible and we have gained happiness that wouldn’t be as rewarding if anyone of us were missing.
My family:
Since June 11, 1984 I have been a part of this family and I would be lying if I said there weren’t times I had wished otherwise. (Since high school) This family has watched me transform from a girl who wore the infamous green scrunchy to the girl who reads reviews on flat irons and buys hair products that are too expensive. They have supported my every decision from going to college at Marshall (don’t worry my heart always bleed blue and gold) to wanting to turn my basement into a no-kill animal shelter. They cried with me as my hopes for a state championship came to an end, they celebrated with me as I opened my acceptance letter to PT school, and they stood beside me as I battled an unknown stomach disease for an entire year before reaching a diagnosis. Together we overcame trials that alone would have been impossible and we gained happiness that wouldn’t have been as rewarding if any of us were missing.
My Faith:
Although at times my faith was tested and at other times seemed nonexistent, it was ALWAYS there. But it wasn’t my faith that was the constant, it was GOD. God delivered me from a drug addiction, removed the bitterness I had in my heart towards my neglectful mother, and healed the scars from a traumatic event. This same God blessed me with a college degree, acceptance into a doctorate program, and years of happiness. With God I overcame trials that alone would have been impossible and I gained happiness that wouldn’t have been as rewarding if He were missing.
As my trip down memory lane has come to an end and I sit with a half eaten bag of chips and a Gatorade stain on my shirt, I sigh (and wish I had more pizza rolls). I sigh because I know that as we (the BP) continue to grow older our lives will become more hectic and our time spent together will lessen. I sigh because I have experienced saying good-bye to a loved one and know that my family won’t be here in the flesh forever. But unlike a sneeze, I don’t sigh a third time because I know there is only one true constant in all of our lives...God God will remain constant when we have hectic schedules, God will remain constant as we grow older and have harder days, and God will even remain constant in our death.
Verse to remember: 1 John 2:17 The world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
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