I give thanks to God for everything I have and I know it can all be gone tomorrow if that is God’s will. So my philosophy is Enjoy Life Now or ELN. I know this is cliché, but there may never be another tomorrow. Tomorrow may be a completely different world than today. Believe me I know. I’ve lived through my fair share of tragedy and hurt: Divorced parents, my best friend died at age 13, an unexpected, aggressive cancer diagnosis and untimely death of my beloved father-in-law, and I live in Joplin, Missouri, the sight of one of the worst tornadoes recorded in history. This small rural town was devastated by an F5 tornado on May 22, 2011. This town, and the lives of all the people in and around it, were changed forever that afternoon. Fortunately, I did not live here at the time. However, I watched the live television coverage in horror from my living room after a call from my brother informed me the massive storm about to hit my husband’s home town, Joplin. This is where his parents, his sister and brother-in-law, and countless friends, were still living. When we moved back here in 2013, the scars of the storm were still evident. The trees were still stripped of the bark with little twig branches starting to sprout, homes and businesses still not rebuilt, the high school and hospital were still under construction, the landscape and the people were changed forever. But the Joplin community is extremely strong and they persevered through the horrendous memories to help their neighbors, some they knew, some they never met, to recover physically, mentally, emotionally and financially for years to come. Now in 2018, you can start to see the silver lining, or God’s greater plan unfolding. Joplin has a brand new state of the art hospital and high school, a new medical school, many beautiful new homes, parks and businesses, and beautiful new murals and art throughout the city that commemorate the tragedy.
So stop waiting for tomorrow my friend, Enjoy Life Now. Look around you and find hope in something, especially the little things.
HOPE IN THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR.
HOPE IN A NEW SEASON OF LIFE.
HOPE IN TRYING OUT A NEW HOBBY
HOPE IN MEETING A NEW FRIEND.
HOPE IN A CHURCH COMMUNITY
HOPE IN SETTING A GOAL
HOPE IN WATCHING ANOTHER SUNRISE
HOPE IN CLEARING OUT YOUR BASEMENT FULL OF VINTAGE TOYS (Mom, that’s for you)
HOPE IN GETTTING TO CELEBRATE ANOTHER BIRTHDAY
HOPE IN WATCHING YOUR CHILDREN GROW UP
HOPE IN CLOSING A CHAPTER OF LIFE, BUT OPENING A NEW ONE.
BE SANGUINE. FIND HOPE IN TRAGEDY.
ELN!
