she asked...

I usually ask a question on Fridays (Aloha Friday) but today I'm answering a few. A week or so ago, Susan from Penless Writer extended the invitation to interview anyone who wished to be interviewed. Here are her questions and my answers:

1. What is your greatest accomplishment so far in your life? I would have to say my children. They are good kids but they're not perfect. They give us joy and grief and in both cases, I am very proud of them and see them as my greatest accomplishment. In my humble opinion, giving life and nurturing that life should be seen as every parent's greatest accomplishment.

2. What one thing do you still desire to accomplish? I'd like to accomplish greater health and physical ability. I'd like to be able to manage my Diabetes through diet and exercise. I'd like to be physically fit so I can enjoy every aspect of life as I grow older.

3. Who, or what, has had the greatest impact on your life? I'm going to have to give a few answers for this one.

My parents divorce when I was a pre-teen impacted me in a way that I could ask the question, "what would my life have looked like if they had stayed together?" I went to live with my mom, stayed in California, met Don, married, etc.

My mother's attempted suicide had a tremendous emotional impact on me, then as a teenager and now as an adult. But more in a positive way. I was able to hear what she was going through at the time and understand what emotional turmoil does to a person. I also could use this experience not only in my own life, buy to help teens (back then and now) understand that suicide is not the answer and that God has given each of us a life worth living. My mom is a beautiful example of this. She has had so many blessings, and blessed so many others, in the years since that day when she thought ending her life was the only answer.

And the third thing that has impacted me most is working with teenagers. They have opened my eyes and my heart to a different world, one not seen my most adults. One major impact is that it helped me understand and relate to my own children better. But it goes beyond this. They have allowed me to walk along side of them during times of hardship and of joy. They have accepted me, appreciated me, and loved me. The impact on me is immeasurable and I can't imagine what my life would have looked like had I not got involved in youth ministry.

4. If money were no object what would you do? I would like to own a camp or retreat center, ideally in the mountains somewhere. This would give me the opportunity to enjoy my surroundings as well as interact with kids, young adults, or even other adults.

5. If you could change one thing in your past what would it be? I'm not really one that believes in regrets. I believe we learn from every experience we encounter and that we are who we are from our past experiences.

But after saying that, there is one regret I have and so if I could change it, I probably would. That regret is, in high school, being a mean girl at times. I know there was one girl that my friends and I were very mean to and you could even say that we emotionally tortured her. I think of her often and wonder how life for the both of us might have been different if I could have shown kindness to her. Yes, I really do regret how I acted back then.

Thank you Susan for such wonderful questions. This was actually part of a meme in which a commenter could ask to be "interviewed" and I poster would forward on the questions they wanted to ask each person. Instead, I encourage you to think about the questions Susan asked me and post your own answers. Let me know if you do so I can read them.