when the tears aren't invited

That time when you're in a new smallish group from church. You've never met any of these gals before, and you suddenly and irrevocably break down in tears, apologizing through them, trying to gain control of these emotions that have clearly over exceeded their limits.

That was me last night. The first meeting in a small group at church. My husband and I signed up to help "teach" English to non-native English speakers. An ESL type of class. 

Last night the men went next door to work on resumes for a couple of the guys.

The gals, another native English speaker and I, and a woman from Iran and one from Iraq, both could communicate a little in English. I wouldn't say well. That is why we were there.

Thankfully, Patty, was a teacher for 20 some years and came prepared with a sheet of questions we could go thru.

And, right in the middle of that, my tears came. They broke the limits of what I think is socially appropriate. They fell anyway, and I had to explain to those surprised eyes looking back at me.

 Swedish cousins Jan Gunner, Angelica and Ing-Marie 

I told them my dad came to America when he was 16 and knew no English. He had to be taught just like this. I told them I have Swedish family that recently came to America, and sometimes we struggled through words just like we were doing.

It just hit me. It really touched me to be sitting there helping this woman from Iraq and this woman from Iran say, "My name is ______. My address is_____.

It made me think of Dad. The tears would not stay inside. They just wouldn't.
And, these lovely women understood.

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Thanks for stopping by today, friend!

I hope you are blessed!

Anne

Linking up today with other lovely writers at Kate Motaung's place for 5 minutes of writing just for the fun of it. No edits, no worries. Head on over to read what others have written on the prompt, "limit".

{Day 10}: Keeping a curious soul

My husband is one of the most curious people I know, and my young adult children are a close second. My husband has loved libraries since he was a young boy when his mom would take he and his siblings to the book mobile down the street. He would check out a few books, sit down on the grass and read them and then check out different ones before they would go home.

He still loves to read and goes to the library to read the paper and check out books at least once a week, if not more. He reads books about business, innovation, Science Fiction, WWII, presidential biographies and more.

I read books too, but he puts me to shame! (not on purpose, it's just a fact!)

hubby's library run

To be completely fair, though, some books he just reads the first few pages and if it doesn't capture his attention fully, he'll grab another one from his stack. 

His latest library trek was yesterday, and he came home with two Sci Fi, one business book and a book on story telling. 

On my last library visit, I checked out two books I could look through fairly quickly in an evening because I'm doing quite a bit of writing this month :) and I started another online painting course.

my library run

But, I want to keep a curious soul. I want to always be a learner and have an open mind and heart to what is new. This is a process for me. A life long journey.

Curiosity keeps me learning about creativity, my own life, and the lives of others.

How about you? How do you cultivate a curious soul?

Thanks for joining me today on this 10th Day of Soul Spa posts! I hope you are enjoying these and finding things that tend your soul. Check out the first post in the series for a list of all the posts for this month.

Blessings to you!

~Anne

learning to pay attention

Today is Five Minute Friday, where a tribe of writers gather to write for just five minutes. Without fancy edits, just writing to get the words out. Come on over to Kate Motaung's blog to see how you can join in or just read what others have written on the prompt, "learn".

Just yesterday afternoon, I heard this knock. It sounded like a knock on my front door, but instead it was coming from the back of the house! Like from my little half bath!

I wondered what in the world could be making a knocking sound that was just like the UPS man knocking on my door. Kind of freaked me out, honestly, because I was home alone at the time. Again, no one else could be making this knocking noise.

 So, I cautiously walked back through my bedroom, into the half bath. I could still hear it. I still have paper on my windows as curtains, so I cautiously lifted one corner and peeked underneath through the window. (you should have seen me…kind of a scaredy cat). 

And there, folks, was the “knocker” on my windowsill. He had on a little spotted coat of feathers because I think he was a Spotted Woodpecker, who obviously didn’t really know what he was doing. 

So, I politely asked him, “What are you doing pecking on my windowsill?”

“Do you want something?”

He didn’t answer, but boy, did he ever take a good long look at the funny face staring at him through the window. I’m not sure who was more surprised, he or I.

This has had me thinking all day long today. If I had not been paying attention, I wouldn’t have heard the knocking and I wouldn’t have had that conversation.

I want to learn to pay attention. Always. 

So, I don’t miss fun things like this.

Little things that brighten my day and bring joy.

I want to learn.

Blessings to you, friend!

~Anne