An Ordinary Pastor's Wife / Kymberly Black

“Memorable Moments”

2014-04-29T08:29:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I do enjoy any chance I get to go shopping with my daughter, Janell. We were recently dress shopping for her and I was reminded of us shopping last year for her homecoming dress. We were in the dressing room with a couple of beautiful dresses and it would seem a simple task to zip them. There was one dress in particular that wasn’t tight on Janell but the zipper had a bit of a crink in it which was making it very difficult to zip. It didn’t help that the dress did not have a hook and clasp at the top either so it was difficult to get any traction. Well, I was putting my heart and soul into this when I realized that my hair was now in the zipper too. It was quite a scene and a bit painful but the worst part was that I got to laughing just thinking about it and I couldn’t stop. Well, there is nothing like your 16-year-old daughter staring at you and asking how did that even happen. I explained to her that things like this are what make events such as these memorable. She shook her head and said, “only you.” Janell has been the witness to many of my “memorable moments”…

As I am getting older, I am learning to just enjoy these events that have something memorable to them. Welcoming these moments seems to add some sprinkles to this ordinary life of mine.

I am also convinced that I am not the “only one” with these memorable memories that do seem to happen quite frequently.

I began to understand how much God loves us once I experienced the love I have for my own children. And when I am thankful for them and these memorable ordinary moments, I make a place for God to grow within me. Being present and not rushed in these ordinary adventures shows God’s love to those He entrusted to me…even if hair in a zipper is what is required to slow me down to enjoy the moment.

Romans 12:1 (Message) says, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you. Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. “

P.S. Is “crink” even a word?

Pain the arm...

2011-06-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have recently been dealing with a "pain in the arm". Literally, a pain in my arm. Initially, I thought that I must have slept on it wrong. After 3 weeks of this pain as if someone was stabbing me in the arm, I realized that a trip to my Physician seemed worthy. I made the appointment and waited until the day came.... tic toc tic toc... It would be so nice to say that I didn't complain about this pain in my arm and that I was able to not verbalize the pain to my husband any chance I was with him.

Finally, the physician appointment time was here... I was actually looking forward to this appointment because if you even knew the many things that I was imagining this pain to be. I won't express those many thoughts in an effort to hide my "craziness" just a bit. One hint...my worst fear was amputation....

The Doctor ordered a STAT x-ray and tons of lab work. The x-ray came back clear and so did all the lab work. I would like to say that this was a relief to me but actually, having nothing seemed more frustrating. I asked for other tests but they were not deemed necessary and then my physician told me that this happens sometimes in "40 year old healthy women for no apparent reason and it subsides in about 6 weeks". What is up with that!

I didn't express my thought of "What is up with that!" but she must have realized what I was thinking while looking at her with a blank stare. She repeated, "40 year old healthy women for no apparent reason and it subsides in about 6 weeks". I didn't think to ask her what was going to happen when I turned 41.

I am grateful to have an arm although there is still some limited pain for no apparent reason other than I am 40 years old. Don't worry, I am telling myself to "Deal with it and things could be worse" since I know that is what you are thinking.

PHONE INTERVIEWS

2011-06-08T16:18:00.001-07:00

I have been calling applicants the last couple of days to do phone screenings before deciding if a face to face interview is deemed worthy. These interviews were selected from resumes sent in and then they were called by an assistant to schedule the phone screenings. These phone screenings start at 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon and go until 6:00 pm. It is interesting to me to call someone for our scheduled time and it sounds as if they are just rolling out of bed. Due to the job market in the state that it is in may be a reason for these calls sounding this way.

Hmmmm. Should I not be bothered by what seems to be me calling to interrupt a nap for a phone screening? The issue I have is that the position we are offering is mostly on the phone with patients....

There has only been two out of the many that I have called that actually sounded as if they expected my call for the phone screening.

It would seem that you would want to be at the top of your game on the phone screening if you are applying for this type of position. The alternative phone screening that I am experiencing is the one that is so excited that I feel scared. There has to be a happy medium of someone that can sound pleasant and awake without being so over zealous that it can be frightening.

Well, more phone screenings tonight and hopefully will find someone that can fit into our environment and work well with patients over the phone.

Loser At a Table of Five

2011-06-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a networking event with 150 in attendance in a beautiful location with fancy food and a funny speaker. Each of us in attendance were suggested to bring a $10 door prize with your company information displayed. I complied with the request and brought one for me and my Assistant to be given away during the door prize time. I mentioned to my Assistant that I really never win anything and yet the other members of family tend to win drawings, etc.

As the event came to and end, the door prizes were beginning to be dispersed to the winners. There were probably 50 gifts to be distributed to those in attendance. It was amazing to watch each person sitting at my table have the numbers to their ticket stubs being called as a winner. All 4 of the other people, including my Assistant, received a door prize to take home.

Okay, so most of the stuff, I probably do not need or want. There was a big thermal bag, a Fourth of July plaque, bottles of wine, stationary sets and the like. It was just the point of sitting at a table with 4 other people and being the only one not to have their number called as a winner.

One of the ladies sitting at the table had just said, "Wow, what a lucky table that we have!" And then she realized that I didn't win anything and she felt pity for me. She offered to give me a portion of her winning and insisted that I take the Fourth of July plaque. Although I did not need this, it was certainly a nice gesture on her part.

Then my Assistant turned to me and reminded me that it really was true what I mentioned earlier about not "really ever winning anything". Chuckle, Chuckle. Good thing I really like her!

Talk about really feeling like a loser!

Of course, if you know my sense of humor, I think it is rather comical and should be an encouragement to anyone attending something with me where there may be a chance to win something. You have good odds with me in attendance.

Blog, Blog, Blog

2011-05-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

In an effort to understand social media, I will be a good girl and begin a blog. Such pressure! So many new rules for this blogging for a 40 year old Generation X girl to abide by. Okay, so here it goes. Blog number 1.....

Silence....

Ummmm.... I've been told to just write about my experiences... Do people really want to hear about my experiences today? Should I start with my dream of someone in my hall opening and closing the hallway door. Dreaming that this person is living in my daughters room. Thank God, she is away for the weekend visiting the grandparents.

I woke my husband up to ask him, "Do you hear that?". He replied, "It's nothing and the alarm would sound if it was someone." Okay, okay, I calmed myself to try to sleep again and was able to fall asleep. This is when the dream of the homeless man that was living in our home in my daughters room while she was away.

The final thing to wake me from the dream was to realize my cat was knocking on my door. How does a cat know to knock? Cats are so polite. Well, that is until she started putting her paws under the door and throwing her little furry body up against my locked door. It is very loud when you are trying to get a much needed rest at 2:30 in the morning.

I let the cat in to snuggle with me and let her know that is very rude and inconsiderate of her to wake me up this way. She replied, "purring, purring, purring" (very loudly). If I had enough energy, I would have like to tell her to "shut-up".

We snuggled the next couple of hours until she decided it was time to get a little breakfast and then out to use the restroom. I had given up by this time and did my morning breakfast earlier than a usual work week. Good Grief.

The worst part of all of this was when I went to turn off the house alarm and realized it had never been set! SCARY! Does this mean there is someone that was living in my daughters room? I would have to face it....