Life Happens

It has been one heck of a two weeks here at the McNutt house. I’ve just come to expect the unexpected this month. That’s all I can do. Several events have left both Wade and I in a deep funk, trying to reclaim our life goals and dreams, trying to make our way back to the lighted path in life, really just trying to be normal human beings again.

I’ll give you a brief overview,  just so that I’m not talking in code.  Wade plays music at our church 3 Masses a weekend, every other weekend.  So, Halloween weekend was an off weekend…FAMILY DAY!  We loaded up the kid and the dog and went to the pumpkin patch.  We took some cute pictures and picked some small pumpkins, met some nice people.  But most of all, we had a really nice family day.  Until we left.  As we were leaving, not even a block up the road from the farm, we were hit.  Out of nowhere.  Thank God, the three of us were okay.  Just sore for a few days.  And, really, it didn’t phase Evalyn at all.  But, Godiva jumped out of the truck and has been missing ever since.  Giant bummer. (Don’t worry, we have been on the search and several amazing people that live that way are keeping an eye out and searching, and she has been spotted a few times, giving us hope that she is still alive.)

So, recovering from the wreck is still happening.  Wade and I are both jumpy in the car.   But, because of Godiva, I have been back to the wreck site a few times and there is healing in that.  Many hours have been spent searching for a deaf white dog in cottons fields.  Yes, I know, sounds really ridiculous, it is.

And then Wade got violently ill last Friday.  And it took several days for him to recoup.  (Thank God for a fantastic mother-in-law that helped watch Evalyn so I could dog-hunt while Wade slept!)

I’m only telling you all of this so that as I reflect on where we are right now you won’t be totally in the dark.  But with all of these events (plus some that I don’t even want to get into) we are having a really difficult time re-focusing on life and jobs and ministry and dreams.

It makes me wonder what lessons we are supposed to be learning.  Here are a few that come off the top of my head.
1.  Don’t be attached to things.

Currently we have one less vehicle, a missing dog, and Ev’s Milton was chewed by a dog…(don’t worry we are getting a new one soon!)  Three things that are/were important in our lives and yet we are still surviving (even if it is more miserable some days.)
2. You can only plan so much, and then life happens and you just have to go with what it gives you.

I really like this one.  I think I like it because after about the third thing happening in a row I realized that I can do my job, and take care of my family, but the scheduling is not always mine.  Or really, ever mine…
3. No matter what, don’t lose sight of your dreams!

This morning Wade told me, “I think I’m in a funk because I’m not sure what my dreams are any more.”  I honestly think that being in a car accident and getting sick for three days has more to do with it, but he makes a good point.  When we lose sight of what our dreams are, we forget what we are working towards each day and then the work becomes pointless or mundane.   Working towards a dream makes even the crappy jobs worth it!

So, I am writing today to start working towards dreams again, to work my way out of the foggy daze and to let my soul heal itself through words.

For all of you waiting to hear pieces of my novel…it hasn’t happened yet.  A bummer, I know, but in light of recent events my time and energy has been going to other places.  Even if I don’t get to write with the NaNoWriMo crowd, I plan on setting a goal for myself when the clouds settle down around the Nutt House.  Stay tuned!

Spreading Love Blog by Blog

Three days ago I was given a blogger award. Seeing as I am new to the blogging world, I am quite flattered and the pressure is building on me to keep writing. Which is a very good thing. My best friend from high school has given me this award because we are both on the same journey to unleash our inner childhood dream of writing. Of course, she is scores ahead of me, but maybe some day I will catch up to her. Alisha and I have been through many life-altering events together. Things like senior prom and the high school basketball team all the way to college and marriages and now she is one of my biggest advisors through pregnancy. Thanks, soul twin, for this award and for the encouragement to follow this crazy dream.

So now that this wonderful award has been bestowed on me, I must pass it on to five other bloggers and tell you 6 things you may not know about me. Bare with me because neither one of those will be an easy task for me to fulfill. But that is why it has taken me so many days to finish this assignment.

1. I have a deaf dog. My husband and I love to take advantage of this fact. Hide and seek is fun with the dog, so is walking in the house and getting so many things done without her knowing we’re home. And, we love to scare her. It may sound mean, but she just wags her butt at us every time we get her.

2. I am a Catholic youth minister and I love it. Most days. It can get difficult, but that’s when I know I’m in the right job.

3. I am madly in love with my husband and I have been since the day I met him. It took us almost four years to get married due to the journeys we decided to take in life, but the wait was well worth it.

4. My whole life I’ve wanted to be married and have babies. And now that I’m about to have a baby, I’m scared to death. Which is a pretty common emotion to have, I hear, but still it’s crazy to think that my whole identity is soon to change once again.

5. I’m such a nerd that a good day off of work to me means that I can finish a whole book from beginning to end without ever having to put it down.

6. I am newly obsessed with taking pictures. Maybe along with writing random stuff from time to time, photography can become a pseudo hobby and one day I can change the world through it.

As for other bloggers, I will get back to you at a later date. No worries, it won’t be a way later date, next week. Mostly because I’m going to have to do some research to find some great blogs!!!!