I can think of one time in my life among many other times when it was hard. You know it was hard for me isolating myself from people that I used to see everyday. I was being taken care of living in a household with loving parents. Being an only child definitely had its perks. Like, dinner was on the table everyday; stuff like that.
Then 1999 happened and I was so happy because I was accepted to go to Northern Illinois University. As I'm doing this, Joe is asking me why did I want to go there, by the way? Oh I forgot to mention at the time I also started dating Joe. So, you can imagine the commute was kind of horrible.
I don't know. I guess I just wanted to go there to experience life of independence. And, let me tell you that I definitely did. Okay so I was accepted. I started dorming at Stevenson South. I don't even know if that's there anymore. It's probably a different name now and maybe renovated really well. Anyway, I was living with two suite-mates, Anna and Phuong. Anna and Phuong were friends so of course they got a room by themselves. I had my room by myself. Thank God! I don't remember if it was meant to be a single room or if my roommate just never showed up. But, I wasn't complaining. I enjoyed living by myself in that room. My other suite-mates were just right across the living room.
You guys are probably wondering how the heck did I do anything. You probably were thinking it's hard living by yourself if you're in a wheelchair. However, at the time, I was still walking. My MS hasn't really progressed then yet. Now y'all are probably wondering how the heck did I make it work with Joe. I know it was pretty long distance. Did I ever see Joe? Let me tell you. Well, Joe went to the University of Illinois at Chicago.
I actually went home every weekend. I know that Northern is like a party school and that's what it's known for. However, I never really did that. I went home every weekend. Why or how did I go home every weekend? It was an alternation between my parents picking me up and bringing me back to the south side or Joe picking me up. However when Sunday came, Joe always was the one who brought me back to NIU. And guess I went home every weekend because of love! The drive going back and forth was around two hours. So, you guys do the calculation. That was for every Sunday for one semester. Now that's what I call love. :-)
Oh yeah once when Joe was on the highway, he was driving 90 something miles per hour because he was tired and wanted to get home. Of course, a policeman pulled him over and gave him a ticket. I think Joe's dad brought him to court. That was awkward for him. That's all I'm going to say about that.
As I first mentioned in my initial paragraph I was alone. I felt alone. But really I wasn't. But physically, I was alone. I loved my suite mates. They were really cool. I actually hung out with one of my suite-mates Anna a couple years ago. I remember Joe told me that I was still using a cane. It was all due to the Magic of Facebook we were reunited. :-)
Anyway, this is reminding me of our buddy from the Bible Joseph. Do you guys think he's my favorite guy already? Only because he's named after my husband right? LOL No it's more like my husband is named after him. Anyway here's what I think. These are my deep thoughts.
When the brothers of Joseph sold him, don't you think he felt alone? His mother was probably dead already. I really can't remember exactly. His father Jacob thought that he was dead. So, Joseph didn't even have his father with him. I'm thinking this kid was feeling pretty alone. Poor little guy. Joseph was living in a foreign land with nobody he could really turn to, get a hug from, or just totally vent out his feelings to over some coffee.
I'm thinking this went on for quite a long time. When he became a slave and was under Potiphar, that's when his life started to change. Remember the story about Potiphar's wife trying to get in Joseph's pants, so to speak? Of course Joseph did not want to. Joseph wasn't going to disrespect his master. Potiphar's wife told Potiphar that Joseph sexually harassed her. That led to Joseph being thrown in jail. Then we can fast forward to Joseph being Pharaoh's right-hand man. In other words, he was like number two to the supreme ruler of Egypt. I don't know. If you ask me, that's some pretty head honcho type of guy.
The moral of this writing is just like Joseph wasn't alone when all that bad stuff was happening in his life, and like Sam wasn't alone when she was at Northern, we are all never alone as well. God is always with us!
TBC...........
Encouraging thought of the day:
Never worry because you are never alone!
No comments:
Post a Comment