Inspiration and Creativity

I’ve come to realize that inspiration and creativity go together. You never know when inspiration will come. Sometimes it happens when you least expect it. Today during my lunch time I was thinking about hope and what it means to me. My name means hope and lately I find myself desperately trying to hold on to it. Nothing can cause a person to deflate in their spirit more then when they have no hope. Hope is powerful and you don’t realize how much until you don’t have it. So here is a little poem that I was inspired to write during my lunch time.

Hope springs eternal
Hope sings a new song
Hope delivers light into darkness
Hope never disappoints

Hope is a new beginning
Hope is a new day
Hope lives in our hearts
Hope never strays

Hope comes in an instant
Hope sets the captive free
Hope never takes
Hope always gives

© Nadine Z. 2006

Opposites Attract

I was talking to friend on the phone the other day who made a comment about how she’s been enjoying reading my blog entries and Tom’s. She said how different they both are and they really reflect our personalities. I agreed. Tom and I are different even though we have been together for nearly 29 years and married for 25. The love we share gets deeper as the years go by. This doesn’t mean we don’t fight, but it gets less and less each year. How can two people who love each other so much be so different?

It got me to thinking. My friends that are close to me have so much in common with me. Why is that? Because in friendships we want to spend time with people that we enjoy their company and they enjoy ours. They enjoy doing some of the same things we do, thus the basis for friendship. Similar interests, similar tastes. Friends are great. It’s fun to do and spend time with people that laugh at your jokes and enjoy the same movies you do.

In marital relationships this seems to be different. Most happy couples I know have some lots of things that make them very different. In the movie Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise’s character states to the woman he loves, “You complete me.” How true is that? In my case, it’s very true. Tom completes me. There are areas in my life that I needed to grow in. I’ve become more serious about my walk with God in part because of him. He needed to lighten up (at 18 he felt life was over because he didn’t have all together – I love you honey) and laugh more. He’s gotten funnier and I’ve gotten more mature. It’s been great. The sparks that ignite our passions do so because of our differences. We do have many things in common and share some of the same hopes and dreams. It’s the differences that keep life interesting.

So the next time your spouse bugs you because of his/her difference, stop and embrace that difference because it’s what attracted you to them in the first place. Besides as a friend once said, “If you agreed all the time, then one of you would be unnecessary.”

© Nadine Z.

An Egging Story

I love eggs. Eggs are good for breakfast, scrambled or as part of an omelet. I love to cook with eggs. So many good things are made with eggs. But sometimes an egg can be a bad thing. When I was leaving for church this morning, I noticed that my car had been egged. I can’t remember that ever happening before. I mean, I lived in New York City most of my life and my house or car was never egged. I lived in West Virginia and my car or house was never egged. But today, in my nice quiet neighborhood, my car and my garage was egged.

Funny thing is that it didn’t make me mad or upset. Annoyed yes, but not mad. I knew when we got back home I would have to take care of it. I forgot all about it by the time we reached church. There were more important things on my mind. Today we installed three new elders as the two we have now were getting ready to step down. It was a really good day and it went so well. Church was really good.

When I got home, I still had to deal with the dried egg. Tom suggested I look on line to see how to best do it. It’s amazing that you can “google” anything and find an answer on line. The answer I found was not promising, but I tried not to let it get me down. The article I found said it’s best to get dried egg off as soon as possible, within two hours would be ideal. It also cautioned that you might have to a touch up on your paint job. I got a cloth, some water, and said a little prayer. It started to rain as I was cleaning. I’m thinking this is great, but I still didn’t get mad. The egg came off without too much difficulty and the paint managed to stay intact. I said a little prayer for the person who did this and even forgave them for causing damage to my property. I was extremely grateful when it all worked out.

It got me to thinking that sometimes things happened and it creates a mess. When you first look at the situation it may appear that it’s beyond repair. The solution to the problem may also appear to be more hassle than you think, but with a little prayer it all works out. I’ll try to remember the next time that a little dried egg may not be as bad as it look. God rocks for He’s faithful in even the little things.

© Nadine Z.

Taking Out the Garbage

When I lived in New York, garbage was picked up twice a week. Our taxes went to the salaries of the garbage men. When I moved out of New York, I encountered the once a week garbage pick up. This was a concept that was a bit hard to get accustomed to but I adjusted after a while.

True story – I’m living in West Virginia with the kids. Tom is living back in New York until his job in West Virginia is ready. So he moves me and kids into an apartment and shows me how to get around. Another time, I’ll talk about getting around in this place, but for now the point of this story. It’s June, it’s hot and humid. I place garbage out in the can and I start to realized that pick up is only once a week. I go to put another bag in the can and the foulest smell comes up to greet me. There are these tiny white things moving around all over the bags already in there. I thought I was going to pass out from the odor. I call up Tom panicked (now there is so much he could do being hundreds of miles away). He tells me I have to clean it out – garbage day was still a few days away. I held my nose, tried not to puke and did what I had to do.

Well this past couple of weeks, both Tom and I forgot to put the garbage out. Thank God no white things. I meant to do it before going to work, but it didn’t quite happen. So now my garbage cans are overflowing. No foul smell, just looks messy.

Taking out the garbage is never a fun or an enjoyable task, but it is a necessary one. If you don’t put your can out for pick up at least once a week, eventually it catches up with you and overflows. Now you just have a big mess and are counting the days until the next pick up. The bad part is that your neighbors now see that you garbage is overflowing. It’s not a pretty sight. You can almost sense what they are thinking as they drive by slowly pointing at the messy neighbor.

It’s like the garbage in our hearts. If we don’t take care of it on a regular basis, it starts to overflow and spill out onto everything. It’s not a pretty sight and the people who live around us start to see it first. So it’s important to regularly ask the Man whose job it is to take out our garbage to do so. So Lord, I need a pick up today. It doesn’t matter what’s in there, just take it out.

© Nadine Z.

Is That Funny?

I came across this joke. Before you read it understand that I have some very smart, talented, beautiful, blonde friends. If you don’t like blonde jokes, skip the next paragraph

One morning, a blonde decides to do a jig-saw puzzle of a tiger. When her husband comes home from work, he finds his wife still staring at the pieces, unable to put any of them together. The blond looks to her husband confused and says, “Honey, I’ve been working on this puzzle all day and I can’t put any piece together!” Her husband then replies, “Let’s put the Frosted Flakes back in the box first.”

Now why do people pick on blondes? Could it be they are insecure or jealous? Do you find that people will make fun of what they are most insecure about? Comics make fun of themselves and why is that? Is it because if you make fun of yourself before someone else does it disarms them? I love to joke around. I poke fun at myself all the time. Am I being mean about it? No I don’t think so. I only poke fun of those I love, why? Those who know you and love you know your heart. But even too much of a good thing isn’t good, that goes for laughs. As I have gotten older, I’m careful to joke in the appropriate time and the appropriate place and with the appropriate people. Hey, am I always perfect at this?. . . well no. So I’ll like to apologize to anyone who was on that other end of a joke that you didn’t find funny.

I love my blonde friends. Some of them are the smartest people I know. Some of them enjoy a good blonde joke or a bad one. I say all that to say this, lighten up. Lift is short and funny things happen. Excess of anything that’s good is not a good thing, but a little laughter goes a long way.

© Nadine Z.

Seasons of Change

Today my 20 year son had a tonsillectomy. He came home to have this done for many reasons. First off, let me say that my son has been on his own since high school and is a fine young man. He takes care of his bills, works and on the side makes films until he can do that full time. I’m very proud of him.

I was so happy to have him come back here to have it done so that I could see with my own eyes his recovery. It just made sense because there are more of us here to help. His lovely girlfriend also came down for the trip to be with him for the first few days. I’ll have to admit she is a very sweet young woman who loves my son. As a mom you can’t ask for more than that.

It didn’t bother me at all when he asked for his girlfriend to come back first after he woke up . . . until the nurse said, “I’m sorry, they grow up and ask for other people.” Seasons of change were upon me even though I knew that, it became very obvious at that moment.

I recalled when he had surgery as a 2 year old. They placed him in a crib that looked like a steel cage. Usually they wait until the last possible moment before putting children under anesthesia. He was hard to hear him say, “Mommy, no. Mommy no.” Then the elevator doors closed. I was first in his life then, but it’s been a long time since that was the case. Am I okay with this? No, but mostly yes because it’s the circle of life. It’s the way it suppose to be. You raise them up in the ways they should go and then trust God to do the rest. If you do a good job, you’ve raised them to be independent. But he is here, in my home, to recuperate. Seasons change but not as much you may think.

© Nadine Z.

Here’s to Good Friends

Growing up I had two very good friends. One I met when I was 7 years old and she was 5 years old. Her name is Juliana. The other I met when I was 10 years old and she was 9 years old. Her name is Aminie. As we grew older and moved away, we would keep touch from time to time. What amazed me is that no matter how much time passes, one thing stays constant – our friendship.

Recently I emailed Juliana to touch base with her. She was doing well and emailed me pictures of her kids and her. I have to tell you her kids look like mom and are very beautiful. Growing up with these two friends, I had to be very secure (at least pretend I was) because they are gorgeous. From what I can see Juliana has found the fountain of youth. She’s still beautiful and youthful.

One of the reasons, Tom and I are still together, is that all three of us walked into that fruit and vegetable store he worked in when I was 16 years old and he went after me. I know he had eyes only for me then and now.

It’s interesting that we can feel so at ease with each other. It doesn’t matter how much time passes by catching up is instantaneously. It’s comforting to know that someone you trust knows you so well and knows all your stories.

When I was 15 years old my friend Aminie was starting to doubt a life’s dream. She wanted to be a lawyer and doubted she had what it took. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote simply something along these lines, “My friend Aminie will become a lawyer one day because she is smart.” It must have been 20 years later when she came for a visit and took that piece of paper out of her wallet. She said it helped her get through law school. How cool is that?

Having someone believe in you can carry you very far in life. We never know how much a kind word, a little note or a phone call can sustain someone. So here’s to friends you have for most of your life and to the more recent ones. I raise my imaginary glass of wine and toast all you good friends.

© Nadine Z.