A Series of Events

October 31, 2017October 31, 2017Leave a comment

In the last couple weeks, the Zurbrugg household has wrecked a car ( not our fault), lost a wallet ( mama’s while getting some much needed coffee), got told by a stranger how much they hated Cal after our discussion on universities and couldn’t believe why on earth I would go there, managed to win volunteer of the week at Nate’s School, all while trying to keep my head on straight.

Sigh. That was my reaction all week. Breathe in, breathe out. Baby steps.

And yet, as I re-read the paragraph, it actually doesn’t seem that bad 😊 I mean it could have been a lot worse. Eric could’ve gotten his arm or leg taken off, along with the door, but he didn’t. The stranger on my only hour of me time, could have said she hated me, but she didn’t ( although she indirectly questioned my ability to make good decisions :0! ), and the stranger who called me to turn in my wallet could have taken advantage of me, but didn’t.

The silver lining is so hard to see, especially when it seems like it is pouring upon you and you just want a tiny, little break. But we have to keep on truckin’, because every day we can be thankful.

Love

Today I picked Nathan up from school and practically skipped to the gate. Once we interlocked hands, I picked him up (after 2 months of not being able to!) and spun him around until he almost peed in his pants! His contagious laugh had us both spinning around. The doctor had cleared me for physical activity 40 minutes earlier and nothing could make me happier. I can hold Lei today and sing her to sleep. We can once again spin round and round while I sing Holy Spirit, inundating her room with His love and warmth.

Today my heart is overjoyed.

The Constant Drizzle

October 30, 2017October 30, 2017Leave a comment

There is a sense of responsibility I have, for you, my reader. I have been told I am a good story-teller ( live, that is). I think Lei gets her facial expressions from me. I can’t hide my emotions very well, and so, when story telling I can be extremely vivid. I very much love making people burst into laughter. I really enjoy making people feel good. It makes me happy. But this week, I have been struggling. Big time.

Every so often I find myself giving myself pep talks. You see, where as I am a strong advocate of choosing joy, it is not always the natural choice. I remind myself of all the goodness. The little miracles I see. But sometimes it does not suffice. I am left feeling cheated.

My birth anniversary is next week and instead of feeling excitement and celebration flutter, I find myself feeling bamboozled. And it is ok. It if perfectly normal, and justified, for me to feel cheated. I shared my entire life with my mother, and now I don’t get to share it with her at all. I would tell my mom the silliest things that happened to me, because for some reason, funny and weird things happen to me all the time. And she would laugh, a lot, or tell me in her serious voice that she couldn’t believe it, ” Ay no, Lita.” I don’t know whether she believed me all the time, because sometimes I would act it out so dramatically that I would burst into laughing spells. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing my mother laugh out loud.

My Mother’s Heart

We had a terrible heat wave earlier this week in Los Angeles. It was HOT. Miserably hot. And as I drove into the garage from Lei’s school, I found myself picking up my phone to dial my Mom. I was going to tell her how miserable I felt and how the heat wasn’t helping. I parked, turned the engine off, and cried. It’s incredible how you notice every void left behind. It is even more incredible to see how much of my life was filled by the joy my mother gave me. Her constant words of encouragement and the words that stung when spoken.

Love

It is hard for my heart to understand how life keeps moving when such a huge part of it is gone. I wish I could say it is easier this time around. I was recently asked how I do it. How do I keep moving forward? I wish I had an answer for you. I wish I could tell you that I simply eat a lot of kale and that makes it happen for me. Jesus helps me a lot. A lot, a lot ( as Lei would say). I find it so filling to list all the things I am hurt by, disappointed by, and am completely angry about and to let Jesus know. I tell him what I feel (the days I can muster words) and let him know that I am angry and that I don’t think I can get it together that day. So I carry the anger, the hurt, the pain around for as long as I think I can carry it and then I hand it over to him. I find Him much better at dealing with all the baggage. He always takes it, but I pick it up again.

Papa and Lei

At the beginning of the post I wrote about honesty and responsibility. This is my point in this round about post, I have hardly felt ok the past 5 months. I work extremely hard on smiling every day and choosing joy. I have reminders on my phone, in the bathroom mirror, and in every corner of my brain. Reminders that I can and will feel joy come to me without so much work. I have to remind myself to be gentle and kind with myself. To embrace every emotion and not stuff it in the closet. I am a work in progress and my brokeness is being molded. Whatever your brokeness may be, I hope you know you can face it all with Jesus. He takes baby steps, I should know, because He is taking them with me, again. This season will have its end.

My Mother’s Joy

A Season of Change

October 17, 2017October 17, 2017Leave a comment

There have been a lot of moving parts to our family the past several months. My Mom is now in heaven, Nathan started Kinder and Elea is in early preschool. Eric is taking on his new role at work, and I’m trying to find the right balance in this new season.

There are mornings like today, when I’m driving through Culver City, passing my mom’s old place, stores she frequented and big smiles she gave as she got in and out of her car. And just as the tears flood down, I come to a stop and the sun shines bright on my skin.

I take a deep breath.

I talk to my mom about how frustrated I’ve been as of late. I had surgery 4 weeks ago. It should have been a very straight forward procedure but it turned out to be more complicated than anticipated. I’ve shed many tears in frustration. Why is my body taking so long to heal? Why couldn’t this have been easier? Why, why, why?!

The answer finally came to me this morning as my eyelids felt the warmth of the sun, on the corner of Jefferson and Playa: what am I being taught about patience?

Patience has always been an area of opportunity for me. But never has it been tested as much as it has this month, both emotionally and physically.

I left the doctors office in tears as she extended my recovery regimen another 3 weeks, with the most difficult being not carrying Elea or Nate and no working out. And as I cried it out with Eric on the phone, I continued to ask myself the question: what am I supposed to be learning here? What am I not seeing?

There is a song by Kristine Demarco where she asks God to help her see things like He does. To help her have vision. I am in desperate need of vision. So although I allow myself a few ( ok, maybe a lot) of crying sessions, I also will continue to ask for vision, to see everything through His eyes. I can’t have a pity party all day, every day.

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