Beginnings!

I've been through an awful lot of beginnings!  My first was becoming a wife, and then a mother.   When my children started school, learning how to be at home, alone, with no one calling "mom" every few seconds was a great beginning.  Starting a job outside my home was a huge beginning.  Learning how to juggle job, kids, school work, extra curricular activities, husband, chores, and pets were all beginnings that I loved.   Becoming a mother-in-law, business owner and a grandmother were awesome beginnings.

Some beginnings are not so good.  Being in a terrible car accident in 1976 and having to learn how to begin life again after losing an unborn child.  Beginning to understand how to live a life without your parents.  Even as an adult, losing a parent is a devastating blow.  A girl always needs her mom and dad around no matter how old she is.  There are just some things a girl needs her momma for. Then another horrible car accident in March 2010.  I had to learn how to cope with multiple injuries, constant pain and not being able to work any more. Watching my marriage and what I thought was my whole life fall apart before my eyes was devastating.

BuT, I would have to say that learning to be DivORceD and SiNgLe after more than 37 years of marriage has been the biggest NeW BeGinnIng of my life. Being married was the only life I had known since I was 18 years old.  I was very good at it.  I was a great wife and mom and I loved that life!  I didn't know how to be single or divorced.  I never thought this is where I would be at 57 years old!  I haven't been on a date in 40 years! The last time I went on a date in was in high school!   Boy have things changed!  There was no technology, no online dating or cell phones, or texting, or sexting, or ............!  What are all the rules for all this in respect to dating? And where do you go to find a good man anyway?  I've never lived alone, as a matter of fact I've never been alone! I've never eaten in a restaurant by myself.  I didn't have any friends to hang out with.  I'm socially inept!  Isn't there a class somewhere I can take to get the answers?  I've been responsible for many things in my life, but never absolutely everything in my life!

So here's to NeW BeGiNNinGs!  Now I'm going to be honest.  When my life change started I was anything but happy and excited.  More to the point I was devastated, depressed, sad, and scared.  I had no idea how I was going to survive, or where I would live, or how I could afford to live.  The list went on and on.  It took 1 1/2 years to get the divorce finalized.  It was difficult, and a very sad experience.  I said all that to say this.

 It's been almost 2 years now and , I LoVe my NeW LiFe!  I absolutely love it.  The longer I'm single, the more I love being single!  Yea! I didn't think I would ever hear myself say that!  I don't answer to anyone.  If I want to eat dinner at 4:00pm then that's what I do.  Now,  I tell people when they ask me my status, that, I'm Happily Divorced! I figure that God gave me another chance to get it right.  Does that mean single or married again (I'm shaking at that prospect!)?  I don't know the answer, but I'm going to have a blast finding out!

Life's A Journey!  We are all going to go on one, so you can go kicking and screaming and crying or you can go happy, and laughing!  I choose the happy way!  It took me awhile to figure that out. And so far, I've had a great time and learned a lot of lessons.  You know, everything is a lesson.  One of the biggest things I've learned is that God never takes something away from you unless He has something more amazing to take it's place.  You don't always get it right away, that's what the JoUrNeY's for!