Weighty Decisions part Two

I'm listening to Pierce Pettis as I type. I fell in love with his music in the late eighties. But, I never purchased any of his music until I saw him shortly after Hurricane Katrina. I've always found his music to be somewhat comforting when I was at Western Michigan University and I heard him on NPR. He's a man with a strong barritone voice with a trace of the Alabama hills evident in his writing and in his delivery. He's a contemprary folk songwriter who just happened to have a few of his songs go big. The one that everyone would know for sure is "You Move Me" which was recorded by Susan Ashton in the Contemporary Christian circles and by Garth Brooks in the country/pop circles. (Tom, I found myself thinking of you, when I heard the song "My Little Girl" a few moments ago. You need to find the CD that's on.) In his songs, you hear about the importance of being a community, though we live in a society that is constantly in a state of isolation physically.

Maybe some of you are wondering what I mean by that. Well, when you think about it, I've never met a lot of you physically. We've forgotten what it's like to reach out and truly touch someone. Yet, we crave it so much. Often in reading other's blogs, we at least find people who can speak to our emotional center. But, do we really reach out to those physically close to us?

Anyway, I know I'm straying way off topic from my original topic, and yet, I'm not. Pierce helps me take a close look at where I stand in what and who I believe, and I've always appreciated his writing for that. You can find more of his music at http://www.piercepettis.com/ and I hope y'all will enjoy.

My talk at BNI went really well on Tuesday. I think some of us were frustarted at who wasn't there to hear it. Yet, those who heard me were able to walk away thinking.

My friend Denise, her husband Richard and her mother Connie have all been charged with neglect of her children. The cool thing is, they're finding out who their friends are that are close by. Their churches have stepped forward and told them that they have connections who can help them with specific needs. Several are coming to help Denise and Richard clean out the house. Friends have agreed to store the stuff that needs to be sorted through that has not been damaged. A cousin has agreed to put Denise, her mother and Richard up in their house at some point. The church is paying for them to stay in a cheap hotel for now.

Denise's younger sister who lives in Texas is fighting for guardianship of the children. But, Connie said that she will do anything and everything she can to help Denise keep her family together. Frankly, I think if Denise's children are placed in foster care, it will be for such a short period of time, as Denise has the determination to fight for things that really matter to her. She told me that she is overwhelmed with grattitude for those who have stepped forward to do what they can for her.

I'm finding that more and more, I am becoming a person of action. I choose to act rather than stand by and let things I can do something about fall by the wayside. I had to call someone out on an ethical matter today, something I never thought I would have to do in BNI. It was actually in another group where I was subbing for a friend of mine. This woman started bitching about how she was treated by a client durring the part of the meeting which is supposed to be the inspirational time. When I got home, I sat down and wrote a friend of mine in the group and said, something has to be done about that, because there had been three visitors who were considering joining the group as potential members. I also pointed out to her that this woman who is a travel agent had lost my business in the future by being who she was.

The woman I knew myself as would never have written that letter, without being a total bitch. But, the me I'm becoming was actually calm in my writing that letter, and I got a kind letter back from my friend, thanking me for what I had to say.

I really like the woman I am becoming. I just never thought I would find her at close to forty-five. She is beautiful, strong, with a good heart, though somewhat overwhelmed at how much she has had to think about these past few days.