It is time.....

This has been a very good week. Took off Friday to be with Mom, the relatives and spend some time with Megan on her last day of spring break. We went downtown and had a blast! After lunch, we took Megan to Beale Street. There was the coolest guy with a complete three piece suit on and then a bathrobe on top of it. The dude could dance. Now his friend, Jack Daniels, was helping him dance but still the dude had the moves. We went to the world famous A. Schwab's on Beale. Megan tried on several different hats including the one in the picture. It was pretty hilarious! I have the pictures to prove it but have been blackmailed not to post the pictures (because there are several pictures of myself that could wind up on this blog). Needless to say the laughter was something I needed and quite frankly came easy. We enjoyed a great game of B-Ball today. DUKE IS OUT AND MEMPHIS MADE IT TO THE FINAL FOUR....that is a good basketball year. You know what I love most about my tigers. No matter how much they were downed, talked about, lied about and kicked, they kept their focus on what they desired and did not let anything get in there way. They deserve the No.1 title just for that alone. Yep, this has been a very good week. Jeff, Megan and I have only one more thing to complete this week. We had each agreed to start praying about our place of worship. What we should do? Where we should go? It is so peaceful and so like God that each of us came up with the same exact answer. Megan simply said Mom, it is time. Out of the mouth of babes. She has more integrity and more focus than most adults I know! God is going to use that young woman for great things. I can't wait to see what, how and where! It is so critical to me that when it comes to such a major decision that age does not matter. Jeff, Meg and I desire to same thing when it comes to our Lord. We are His children and want to please Him. With my own Mom's great week I couldn't help but come out of the fog and realize time is of the essence and not a moment to waste.

If not for cancer...

Wow this has been a very busy crazy couple of days! But to God Be the Glory! We have had relatives down and my Mom has been going through so much testings and the inevitable results. As anyone who has read my blog understands my Mom is battling cancer. Battling puts it mildly. She has literally over the past two years fought for her life. Now we have lost some smaller battles but she has not lost the war. This week she won the battle over the progression of her disease. She went through literal hell on earth over the past few months. She lost her hair, had to go in daily for fluids and/or blood. She had to be hospitalized for bottoming out. She has been home confined and has not done alot of "living". How great it was to hear some good news for a change. She deserved that! Her husband desired and prayed for that and so did her children and grandchildren. Mom of course takes it in stride that this is all in God's plan. See if there is anything I have learned from all of this is God's divine purpose. When we started this whole thing they gave my Mom weeks if not a few months and her she is....
If not for cancer....you could have played outside the past couple of years.
If not for cancer... you wouldn't have been in so much pain.
If not for cancer...the strain and agony would not be written on your face.
If not for cancer...you would have that salt and pepper thick hair.
If not for cancer...you wouldn't haven't known a place called West Clinic.
But if not for cancer...would our hugs and kisses be as sweet.
If not for cancer...would the sunrise be a little less brilliant.
If not for cancer...would my kids have seen first hand the miracles of God.
If not for cancer...would I have prayed as much as I have.
If not for cancer...would people know the Lord like they do because of your story.
If not for cancer...would I be as brave.
If not for cancer...would I be able to see the beauty in a bald head.
If not for cancer...would I realize just what a great Mom I have?
I am grateful for the lessons just not for the course. Momma, may you enjoy this Spring and Summer. May you play in your garden and actually get to go outside and sit in the middle of your flowers that you have watched grow from the inside of a house. May you continue to live the beautiful purpose that our Lord designed in this thing called cancer. You truly are amazing! And I am so happy for your good news! You are a warrior if I have ever seen one! I love you...your baby girl!

God is so good!

I only have time for a very very short post tonight. So many phone calls to make and emails to answer. Thank you so much all your prayers! Tomorrow a much longer post. Let me just say once again GOD IS SO GOOD! Family is down and it is time to celebrate! I absolutely love my family. I have been blessed with the best family in the entire world. Everything about them is so amazing. Even in our worse moments we still are one unbeatable team! O.k. now time to go again! For my friends and family who have been in constant conversation with our Savior! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! Celebrate good times come on!! (Did I just type that...oh well...it is just how I feel!) I haven't had the chance to tell everyone and still have to get a few more answers but......Oh God is so good!!

I Am Content

Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness. I love this quote. Tonight, I was looking around my clean house (I love my house right after a great cleaning)after a great day at work, watching my beautiful daughter laugh with her best friend, took a long walk with my handsome husband, caught up with family members I haven't heard from in awhile and planned our family vacation. For those of you who understand what it is like to have a "CRAZY" life.....(I do know friends who truly understands this)...those same friends will understand why tonight was so absolutely normal and wonderful. There is a commercial by some insurance company that has the person standing on a red dot and they say "Oh yeah, I am there." Well, that is how I feel. I am there right there smack dab in the middle of "o.k." "nice" "just fine". I like this! I could get use to normal. For those of you who are laughing right now....saying "Just wait...." I never said the insanity had gone away. But right now in my life even the insanity is manageable and that is so peaceful! I don't kid myself for one minute that things will remain calm but my Lord's timing is so perfect. My Savior even retreated to rest and re energize, why would He not expect the same for us?? Thank you Lord for the rest, do not let me slumber long as I know the battle must be fought but for now I thank you for normal.

Ode to the Blue and Maroon!

What does a Mother do?? I am a true Memphis fan. I attended the University of Memphis when Dana Kirk was coach and it was proudly Memphis State. I lived down the street from one of the first stars of the game....Hank McDowell. He always made sure this poor kid had tickets to the game! BUT NOW...I am the proud mother of a Mississippi State Sophomore. I love my son's school. But I must make a choice so I have decided to route for the school that begin with a M! he he he. Tomorrow should be interesting in our house!

What a great time of year!

The Million Dollar Email Question

Wow! What a week and this is only Saturday! Last night Megan had a sleepover. We had company over as well (I love me some Tuckers), so the girls were in my bedroom playing Rockband. Several hours later, they are asleep on my bed and I didn't have the heart to wake them. So Jeff and I slept in the teen room. I couldn't help but think about my daughter's perceptions of this world as I looked around the 40 gazillion posters on her walls, awards, make-up and smelled the multi-perfumed smelly pillows I was laying on. She is at that very fragile age 13 going on 30. Raising kids in 2008 are not for the fearful or the weary! It takes investing every day something good, right, substantial, loving into their lives. Today (they are still asleep on my bed as I type) we are going to terrorize the shopping community and then off to a movie. Tomorrow is Easter and loads of family and food. I love to cook. So this will be a fun day! We have been invited to four different churches tomorrow. My friend is singing the Easter special at one so that may be our choice as I love to hear her sing. My daughter is leary of any of them. So for a moment I will get vulnerable and answer the question I receive the most by email. Why not our own church? It is so funny that you can dedicate YEARS into a place and not attend for weeks....almost two months and not hear a single word from anyone on staff except for a recorded message made for the entire church. It doesn't make me as sad for my husband and I even though my husband finally found the courage to surrender and do so much only to be forgotten or worse abandoned but I have a teenager who hasn't heard a word from any Sunday School Teacher or leader only friends. I know I know I can hear the critics especially one staff member who loves to blog about us. He would say...."You left and didn't say a word." So if you read that....know that is a lie. We met, we emailed, we talked to all the right people....so why the bitterness? Oh yes at first bitterness but now just sadness. There is a church in our community called Lifechurch in Cordova...I LIVE IN TIPTON COUNTY.... do you know they have contacted my family more than my own church and we are strangers. Just a "zip code" to reach for the future of their church. Their mailings are relevant, intriguing and unique. It makes you want to attend tomorrow! Now back to my ...sadness. Sadness for a baby girl who when she loves she loves BIG! Her favorite youth leader of all time is now starting a church in Georgia. Do you know at the height of all the scandal at our own church, he never wavered from investing in my daughter. Even when the church itself was hurting him, he never wavered from investing in my daughter. Still to this day, hundreds of miles away he invests in my daughter's life with an email or a comment. And yet her local leader can't? She finally allowed herself to get over losing her favorite leader and love again just to be forgotten. Now don't get me wrong there have been friends who have kept up with us and loved on us. They know who they are. Other "friends" have just kept up with us...and others have left. That is o.k. It really is. I just don't get how you sit around a table and discuss how can we reach a community, grow our church, therefore the tithes will go up, why don't they trust us???, if you can't even love on your own family. "I love my church because....they invest in my family, they love us through even the rough spots..they remember your children...NO!!! we want your tithes and to keep your opinions to yourself... especially if you know things that others don't....you have a problem or an opinion that differs and we want you gone...go away....you are like a pesky mosquito that needs to go away" That is the SIGN I want in my yard....(o.k. maybe a little bitterness remains). So I will search for what is right, good, not perfect, relevant, real and substantial if for no other reason than my baby girl. My answers come in the strangest place, so I will end my "rant" (another word the staffer will call this) by saying this...yesterday I had a heart to heart with my Meg. She has a "posse" that I love...they are always at my house. I had noticed one particular friend has not been hanging around the group. This worried me greatly. See someone was missing! Someone I loved and cared about was not there. What is up? Do I need to call her Mom..... Megan, in the most intelligence voice said, parents....divorce....crap.....hurt...pain...isolation. Her friends had not given up on her, they just had to help her in a different way. As a matter of fact, she was kind of taken back that I would even suggest she would give up on her friend. She said and I quote..."That is something adults do."

Friends......

Aristotle said "What is a friend?"..A single soul dwelling in two bodies.
Tonight everything was right in my world...Tommy and Shelia Tucker were in my house.
Thank you for the laughter and love!
Thank you Lord for the blessing of those twos. If for no other reason than to meet you two than it was all worth it!
I love you!

Wanted: Relevant and Real...or don't bother

I can't believe how many responses I got from my Easter Bunny blog....even my own son and future daughter in law got into the mix. It seems Scott and Brandi completely agreed and wanted to add something.....in the same ad there is RESURRECTION CARDS. Do you know how much chaos ensued after "Magic" and "Pokemon" cards came out? I must admit I was one of those weirdos who thought my child was going to hell playing with such things. My son loves to hear me say....I WAS SO WRONG!!! Now...you have nothing to worry about! Because you can buy resurrection cards! The same game just better. I don't mean to sound so sarcastic. This world is starved for something real. Why do so many teens get into trouble? Because the line between real and fake is now blurred. They don't want a replica they want the real thing! One of my favorite things is music. I don't listen to Christian music just because it is the right thing to do. I actually love the songs. Give me a Travis Cottrell singing Friend of God or Israel Houghton singing He lives! Throw on a Hillsong collection and my home become church! Oh....and the world stops. But when I am feeling a little nostalgic I will dance in my living room to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey (Yes, I am an eighties chick). I don't want a "Christian" replica of Journey. And yes I will rock out with Daughtry any day of the week! Real, relevant and substantial leaves me wanting more. That is how I want my walk to be. One of my favorite people in the entire world is Tommy Tucker. This is a man who can make my side hurt laughing but can also make me cry so hard that my contacts float out. I will always remember one Sunday Morning walking into church and seeing him at his normal post on the drums. He had just got through praising his Lord and then all of sudden he starts playing blues and singing. Then the rest of the band joined in swaying and playing. It was sensational! THAT is real to me! My daughter and I just had a "heart to heart" regarding her choice of friends. I asked her "ideal" friend (which by the way she is blessed to have.) She said it is someone that I can have an intelligence conversation around and then let out the biggest burp I could possibly do and have my friend still accept me. THAT IS REAL..disgusting yes...but real. Back to the Bunny blog.....I had the funniest comments regarding the blogs. I didn't publish them because they were basically laughing at me wanting to punch a bunny. So if you make fun of me you don't get published...he he he he. Seriously, I don't mind the whole Easter thing with eggs, spring dresses and bunnies. That is not what I am saying. Actually I was just saying I wanted to punch him/her in their face because they were staring at me. Bottom line....enjoy your Easter. Whether you spend it with family, your favorite place of worship, or stay in bunny pjs (strange)...I don't care. Just don't forget it is about Jesus Christ. The One who came to die for me and you.... sinless....perfect...real....relevant and my Savior and friend. Thank you Lord for saving me!

Seriously????????

O.k. Seriously? My husband and I decided to get the grocery shopping over. Smack dab in the middle of Kroger was this Easter Bunny staring at us. What did I do? Laugh of course! He/She didn't say anything, do anything, point to anything. It just stood there and followed you with it's masked face. Sincerely....I wanted to punch it right in it's face! I thought it would be funny to trip it or something but I thought I might scar children for life. I don't know about you but I have never seen a Bunny poop some eggs. That would be one strange bunny! Then....we come home, unload the groceries and open the mail. In the mail today is an ad from one of two local Christian stores we have in the area. Don't get me wrong I love both of these stores. I go there often purchasing books and music. But there was something so unnerving about this ad. Today...for $49.99 you can have your very own crown of thorns! What? Seriously? Oh there is the Resurrection playset for $24.00. It comes with a "barbie" style Mary Magdalene. Seriously?? I am all for pushing the envelop and trying new and inventive ways to spread the gospel but this is going too far! And what a waste of money. What could $75.00 do for a family in need? A starter church? A missionary overseas? I don't need a gimmick to bring the crown of thorns to my mind. Sad very sad. There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it (Gotta love that). His appearance was like lightning, and His clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of Him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. HE IS NOT HERE! HE HAS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID!"

My Amazing Meg

I know I know your kids are the greatest kids in the world. Blah Blah Blah...I hate to burst your bubble but unless you are the Mom to my two kids you are so wrong. I registered my Meg for high school. Lord help me! And with ABSOLUTELY no offense to my son whatsoever I got a glance of what it is like being the sister of a legend. Teacher after teacher saying "oh you are Scott's sister" and "you know...your brother was valedictorian...so you know you have big shoes to fill." Actually her shoes are different from his. With registration fresh on my mind, I watched this amazing young woman (who brought home straight A's I may add) wipe the competition completely off the books during her track meet. In one particular race she had not one but two girls beating her. And then there it was...that look. That look that says "Oh no you diddddn't and then the "nitro" hits.....see ya!!!!!!!! Then I watched this same young woman hang out with her friends. A group of friends that resemble what our country stands for. A melting pot if you will. She is color blind and open minded. She is brave and she is kind. She is precocious and a little wicked. She is one of the funniest kids I have ever seen. She is unique. I must admit that is what I love the most about her. She is truly one of a kind. I love the fact that when it is all said and done, at the end of the night she crawls into her Dad's and my arms and once again is a little girl ready for her back scratch, prayer and good night. So what does a Mom do that has such a unique little girl....I wake her up 30 minutes into slumber to go feel the wind outside, to see the lightening off in the distance and to do something perhaps a little against the rules...play outside on a school night after bedtime. I love to hear her laugh! Oh and her legend of a brother....is one of her biggest fans. He is the standard for which all other brothers are rated. If he sees that it is his sister calling....everything else stops. He also has fallen in love with someone who has given Megan something I couldn't... a big sister. Brandi is the big sister Megan needed and the Godly example I want for her. I don't have the slightest idea what I did to deserve such a blessing except that my Lord truly opened the windows of heaven and poured out a HUGE blessing on this Momma. To my kids.....I love you! I love the man and women you are becoming and can't wait to see what adventures our Lord will send you on!

What a week!

This has been such a great week. I just now watched my first born pull out of the driveway of his Nana's house and back to school for just a week! I think I handled saying goodbye after such a great week because I know he will be right back for another long weekend. He was home for spring break. We had so much fun! I especially loved this weekend. The four of us hung out on Friday night after a quick change of plans and then Saturday night we threw a surprise party for Jeff's Mom 60th birthday. My stomach was killing me because we laughed so much! The one thing that is a guarantee when Jeff's side of the family gets together is loads of laughter. Thank you to both families for a fun filled weekend! Now I want to shift gears a little bit. One of the topics of conversation was Easter Weekend. Please do not get me wrong I do not advocate staying out of church. But for me for the past few weeks it has been refreshing almost a relief. I have loved the bible studies with my husband and the prayer sessions with my friends. Desperately and deliberately seeking my Lord! It has been a very long time since I have missed church. I must admit, though it has been out of obligation for a long time. That saddens me worse than staying out of church. For a while we were forced to attend church to avoid the inevitable grilling on Monday morning of exactly what were you doing, why, where and with whom? I do not want to attend church out of obligation or fear. I want, desire and I am absolutely starved for authentic worship. I am envious of those who have gone before me to start churches who have completely thrown the rule book out the window and developed a plan to reach people in a unique and REAL way. Earlier this month when I was up North, the one thing I noticed was that there were very few churches. I had definitely left the bible belt! But what good does it do if you have a church on every corner that is not relevant or active in this 2008 world? Or worse, corrupt! So for the first time in almost 20 years I will not be attending church on Easter Sunday. I will be spending it with my Mom who can not worship in a traditional way but may I add still has the most authentic, real, uninhibited worship even if it is outside the walls of a church. I wish I could bottle the closeness, laughter, realness of the time I spent with my family this weekend and place it in a church. Until then, I will keep seeking and searching knowing my Lord knows my heart and what I desire and desire for my family. Thank you Lord for a wonderful week and for loving me enough to send Your Son to die for one like me. Oh but He is risen! He is risen indeed!!

What does my reflection show?

I hope that I will be able to give this post the sincerity it truly needs. When God took me down this new road, one of the first question I prayed was "Lord how can I truly serve you that they will see more of You and less of me." Here I am...USE ME! Can you hear the humility? Of course, I am being sarcastic. Do you ever think of yourself bigger than you truly are? Well, that was me! Here I was the big Christian who has worked at the church for so many years going to bring some Jesus up in the secular world. Lookout sinners here I come...the greatest Christian of all time! And of course my Lord humbled me quickly. When you let go and allow yourself to truly be used by God instead of o.k. Lord let me use YOU to make some sort of statement, you will find the most incredible, real, genuine people. And then the Lord will truly use you and the lessons He will teach you can't be taught by the world! Oh Lord you are so good and Your ways so breathtaking! Which all of this brings to a wonderful lady I am truly blessed and honored to work with. She is over 60 years of age and spends all day standing on her feet lifting very heavy materials. She never complains. They say in the Summer it reaches well over 100 degrees in the warehouse and she never complains. She is raising grandchildren that her own children didn't "feel" like raising and never do I hear this precious lady complain. She is not highly educated and yet she speaks with the most eloquent words. She is soft spoken and kind. She LOVES her Lord and lives it out loud every day. I am just starting to learn everyone on a more personal level. Another particular person is very short and very business. He is not unkind by any means, however there is an obvious wall. I love to know a person's "story". What makes you tick? What makes you the way you are? So today, this precious lady came up to talk to me about this man's story. She said "you know it doesn't take much to realize you have alot more than most and a lot less than most as well" I thought that was brilliant. If you have food on your table, a roof and a car that gets you point A to B you have more than most. If you don't have to deal with troubles right now in your life, well you have less too! And that is not a bad thing. So what is the bitter man's story?.....she told me of a man in love with a wife who is battling for her life from cancer. She told me about a man who watches his wife in the most desperate pain. Oh my heart broke for him. You then begin to understand the bitterness, the pain and the wall. Trust me I understand being short with people when you have just had enough! So, my Lord I thank you for taking me on a new road and for reminding me I don't have to drive all the time! Sometimes the best drives are when you are the passenger enjoying the view!

60 years of memories

I am working on a project for my mother-in-law Judy. She will turn 60 on Saturday. We are throwing her a surprise birthday party. I hope she doesn't know about my blog. Anyway....I am retracing her 60 years of life. It is amazing to go back and see how much our world around us has changed in 60 years. She didn't grow up with cell phones, Ipods or computers for goodness sakes! Well, come to think of it neither did I! But she has witnessed an incredible 60 years of this ever changing world! I believe her greatest moment came August 28, 1967, when she gave birth to my future husband! Thank you Judy....because of you I got to grow up to be Mrs. Jeff Balentine. Happy Birthday Judy! ( never mind....ssssshhhhh....I will let you know that on Saturday) It is gonna be incredible!!! And let me just say it prior to what is going to happen....IT WAS ALL GINA and JEFF's IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul

This particular blog should come with a disclaimer that I am literally thinking out loud. This comes from several conversations all rolled into one with several of my friends. Here is my debate...there are things in our lives that bring us great joy. There are some things that we do out of obligation. Others, quite frankly, we tolerate just because we have to. My desire I believe like any other Mom in this world who truly wants what is best for her children is to give my family the very best I can possibly give to them. I don't mean material things even though I truly do love spoiling my family. My desire is to do what my sweet Mom has done for me, a beautiful future because of a sacrificial past. Back to my debate, what I am trying to say is alot of times we stay in situations because we think there is no other choice and sometimes our choices are dictated by things out of our control. For instance, if you don't like your house you have the choice to purchase another one. However, you may not be able to sell and therefore you must tolerate your house until you can afford to move. How about your child's school? You pretty much have to tolerate the school district you are in unless you can afford private school. How about your job? If you gotta pay the bills, you gotta stay until..... My point is your choices are sometimes tied into your circumstances. You may want to change but there are ties....more like roots that grow very deep. Some changes are pretty easy. You don't like your bank choose another one. You hate your neighborhood grocery choose another. Your hair stylist cuts your hair too short one time too many....you get my point! Some things that are intolerable can be changed. Why do we stay in bad situations? For instance, Jeff and I were loyal customers of a bank for years. We stayed mainly because we thought it would be so much trouble to leave. They were awful! They didn't care anything about us as customers. It was the best financial decision we ever made switching banks. It was so easy and a decision we have never regretted. We should have done it sooner! I can say the same thing about moving away from a neighborhood that we loved and lived for over 11 years. Our children still have wonderful memories of that house. We now see a neighborhood in shambles and crime! Again, a decision we do not regret. Maybe it is my age, but the older I get the less tolerable I am of staying in situations that are well.....intolerable. I have seen too many examples of how life is too short and life is too important to waste even a moment. I must admit for a long time I made decisions based on fear and obligation. Now I choose to make decisions fearlessly (even if they fail) and obligated as a child of God, wife to the greatest man and mother to a son and daughter who are not afraid to face the future. Hopefully, based a little on parents who showed them how to open their arms wide open and embrace life!

Let is snow...let it snow...let it snow....

Wow! It seems like forever since I have blogged. I have been out of town for a few days. I have been at the top of the world....well United States anyway. I left the Detroit Airport with 10 FRESH inches of snow on the ground on top of the foot they already had. It seems I brought the snow back with me! This was such an incredible trip! This was one thing I could check off my list. Traveling alone. It is not that I necessarily desired to do this but yet I wanted to overcome a fear that has haunted me forever. Traveling alone! It was amazing! I was praying even as I loaded the plane...."Lord you can still stop this." The day was so stormy when I left Memphis. We climbed above the thunderstorms. I could see the lightening in the clouds. And then it hit me....."see my child, if you had not come on this trip I couldn't have shown you this!" I decided right then and there to approach this trip no longer alone but completely, assuredly, and confidently in the hands of God. Once I accepted this as an adventure from God, things just feel in place. God gave me a teenager next to me who had just left her Mother in Memphis to return to Michigan State. God gave me another business woman on my commuter flight to the small town I was going to. The snow was beautiful! They definitely have things figured out better than we do when it comes to snow! The company I work for were gracious and hospitable. I got to meet my counterparts in the Northern office. They were a trip! I have to give a shout out to Janet and Barb! You ladies are hilarious! They blog too! Is that not cool? The weird part was staying at the hotel by myself. Now for those of you who must travel all the time you are probably laughing at me. Keep in mind in all my travel has been exclusively with my family. This was new to me! A new town. Driving around with Mapquest on roads I have never driven before in FEET of snow not inches! On the ride home I got sit next to my local boss. It turns out her best friend through High School is Jeff's cousin. AND she will be in town this week celebrating their Grandmother's birthday. Happy 88th Birthday Mammaw! How small is this world??? We couldn't believe it! We also couldn't believe how much we have in common. All I can say is thank you Lord for caring enough to send on one of the greatest adventure of my life and returning me to the greatest supportive family! Even though I loved my trip...Dorothy was so right.....THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!!

Get your own coffee!

What a week! I don't know about you but I think this week was 14 days long. It has been crazy! I need about that long to get everything I need to get accomplished! The weirdest thing happened this week. I had a conversation with someone at my church about the administrative assistants on the same day that another company we are associated with decided to "redefine" their assistants. Now don't get we wrong I have proudly been a secretary, administrative or executive secretary for most of my career years but I do agree that the career has evolved. No longer is it just to serve your superior, get his coffee and type his letters. You must be proficient in the latest computer software and multi-media programs. You must educate yourself or get instruction somehow...somewhere. Bottom line, you must adapt to the current work environment. I guess that is why my son sees more of my age college students than his own age. You have to stay at the top of your game in order to compete. I do believe though it is a double edged sword. The mentality is that you don't need assistants in a world that at the touch of a button you can make your own agenda, calendar and travel arrangements. They believe you don't need a secretary answering your phone when all you need is an automatic operator that once again at a push of button have the person you want. And today, most young adults can type faster than we ever could even if some of the words are spelled OMG, ROTFL, BFF...you get the point. But like so many different aspects of the business world, you loose a level of customer service. Seriously....how frustrated do you get with this..."Push 1 if you need Bill, push 2 if you need Kim...push 77.......get my point? What if you had to do this calling your child's school or how about your church? I know it is going to sound like I am a traitor, but I sort of agree with ditching the old persona of a secretary. I believe some of the greatest women I know who are currently assistants have a lot more to give their employers than "how do you take your coffee?" Get your own coffee! However, I don't believe in getting rid of hard working men and women like trash. I do love the fact that we are redefining what women can do in the workforce, since face it, women are the majority of assistants. In this very tight economy, organizations are looking for the most bang for their buck. Unfortunately, no matter where you look it has been a dog eat dog mentality in the workforce. I praise God that He has given me a desire over the past years to constantly want to learn more. I have never had the mindset of just watching. I want to know why and how! Once again, my Lord preparing me for my future. I also must say with only a couple of exceptions, I have had employers who respected what I had to offer and gave me the training I needed! I guess that is what makes my current career so exciting. They want their employees at the top of their games and are willing to invest in the instruction and education of their most valuable asset their employees. Again...my life is witness to whatever my daughter desires to be. If she chooses to be a rocket scientist or the best homemaker I hope I have given her an example of a career based on my own potential and abilities and not just a definition defined by men.