Excerpt From Wendy M. Reynolds, "COMING SOON!"
I have been in a transitional period in my life. Things all around me changing—not the most comfortable spot to be in sometimes. Lots of things were beginning to happen. I didn’t quite feel like I was ready for whatever was about to take place in my life. Felt kind of undone if you know what I mean. One day I was driving and I started noticing a pattern on this particular busy street. Certain pieces of land had been designated for new building sights. Actually this particular street looked kind of messed up. Holes had been dug up and dirt was everywhere. Pieces of wood and metal were just thrown here and there. It looked like there was no structure anywhere- no type of plan. It was very unsightly. I remember thinking “Ugh. This is ugly. I can’t wait until they fix Grand River!”
I drove further down the street and there were more sights—same thing: Holes from where the dirt had been dug up and dirt just cast to the sides. But for some reason this time I took a better look at the site. This time instead of just noticing the large holes, scattered dirt, wood and metal I noticed a sign that stuck down in the ground. The sign read: COMING SOON! It also had a picture of a beautiful building. I laughed immediately. See something had clicked on the inside of me when I read it. I began to relate to it-relate my life to it. I began to think that things are not always how they seem to be. I began to remember that I am a work in progress.
Every day since then I made sure to drive down Grand River Ave. I would look at the progress the builders were making. I took pleasure in seeing the metal framework go up. This would be the foundation of the structure. Every day things were happening to it. You couldn’t always notice the changes right away in the structure but each little change added to the big change. During the day, the construction crew was hard at work—pounding away-doing whatever they had to do to make things come together. After much time the building had walls. It didn’t look like the picture but it was really beginning to take on shape.
Maybe you see where I am going with all this. Sometimes we have to stop looking at the current status of our lives and envision what the plan is—envision what is to be. It was easy for me to look at the places in my life where there were holes. It was easy for me to see the messy areas—the places that seemingly lacked structure or direction. However I began to see that sometimes the fallow grounds in our lives need to be dug up and the rocks and other stuff shoveled out in order for a sure foundation to be laid. Sometimes things have to get messy in order for real structure to take place.
This is not an easy process and it doesn’t happen over night. I watched day after day as the building was going up. I watched the men as they pounded and hammered. On many days there seemed as if there wasn’t any change. Will this project ever be developed? It can be easy to get discouraged when things don’t look like they are happening the way they should be. It’s easy to get side tracked when things don’t seem like they are moving fast enough or in the right direction or when things seem too hard to finish. That’s when the picture on the sign is so important. You have to keep a clear picture of the finish project in order to actually finish the project. The picture serves as motivation.
I remember when I was in college. Sometimes things would get hard. Sometimes a class seemed a bit too challenging. Maybe I didn’t do well on a test—so easy to get discouraged. When I faced my most challenging times I would go over to our school union store. I would put on a graduation cap and gown and I would stand in front of the mirror in the store and envision me marching across the stage on that great day. I would envision me shaking my Deans hand. I would actually see myself accepting my diploma. I would hear and see my family and friends cheering me on. After that I was ready to go grab my schoolbooks. I was ready to go take on the challenge of my professors. I had that vision-that mental image ingrained so deep within me that I had no other choice but to graduate. I will confess that I had to put that cap and gown on several times through out my undergraduate years but it served its purpose. It was a source of motivation.
When the time came for me to actually graduate, I had previously had that cap and gown on so many times that one would think it didn’t really matter than. But it did. The feeling of accomplishment was so great because I knew how hard I fought to get there. I smiled as I looked around and saw my family and friends. I was proud when I approached the stage and heard my nephew yell out, “Yea, Auntie Wendy!” I shook my Deans hand with confidence and I received my diploma with honor knowing that I had pressed and worked hard for it. . .
I have been in a transitional period in my life. Things all around me changing—not the most comfortable spot to be in sometimes. Lots of things were beginning to happen. I didn’t quite feel like I was ready for whatever was about to take place in my life. Felt kind of undone if you know what I mean. One day I was driving and I started noticing a pattern on this particular busy street. Certain pieces of land had been designated for new building sights. Actually this particular street looked kind of messed up. Holes had been dug up and dirt was everywhere. Pieces of wood and metal were just thrown here and there. It looked like there was no structure anywhere- no type of plan. It was very unsightly. I remember thinking “Ugh. This is ugly. I can’t wait until they fix Grand River!”
I drove further down the street and there were more sights—same thing: Holes from where the dirt had been dug up and dirt just cast to the sides. But for some reason this time I took a better look at the site. This time instead of just noticing the large holes, scattered dirt, wood and metal I noticed a sign that stuck down in the ground. The sign read: COMING SOON! It also had a picture of a beautiful building. I laughed immediately. See something had clicked on the inside of me when I read it. I began to relate to it-relate my life to it. I began to think that things are not always how they seem to be. I began to remember that I am a work in progress.
Every day since then I made sure to drive down Grand River Ave. I would look at the progress the builders were making. I took pleasure in seeing the metal framework go up. This would be the foundation of the structure. Every day things were happening to it. You couldn’t always notice the changes right away in the structure but each little change added to the big change. During the day, the construction crew was hard at work—pounding away-doing whatever they had to do to make things come together. After much time the building had walls. It didn’t look like the picture but it was really beginning to take on shape.
Maybe you see where I am going with all this. Sometimes we have to stop looking at the current status of our lives and envision what the plan is—envision what is to be. It was easy for me to look at the places in my life where there were holes. It was easy for me to see the messy areas—the places that seemingly lacked structure or direction. However I began to see that sometimes the fallow grounds in our lives need to be dug up and the rocks and other stuff shoveled out in order for a sure foundation to be laid. Sometimes things have to get messy in order for real structure to take place.
This is not an easy process and it doesn’t happen over night. I watched day after day as the building was going up. I watched the men as they pounded and hammered. On many days there seemed as if there wasn’t any change. Will this project ever be developed? It can be easy to get discouraged when things don’t look like they are happening the way they should be. It’s easy to get side tracked when things don’t seem like they are moving fast enough or in the right direction or when things seem too hard to finish. That’s when the picture on the sign is so important. You have to keep a clear picture of the finish project in order to actually finish the project. The picture serves as motivation.
I remember when I was in college. Sometimes things would get hard. Sometimes a class seemed a bit too challenging. Maybe I didn’t do well on a test—so easy to get discouraged. When I faced my most challenging times I would go over to our school union store. I would put on a graduation cap and gown and I would stand in front of the mirror in the store and envision me marching across the stage on that great day. I would envision me shaking my Deans hand. I would actually see myself accepting my diploma. I would hear and see my family and friends cheering me on. After that I was ready to go grab my schoolbooks. I was ready to go take on the challenge of my professors. I had that vision-that mental image ingrained so deep within me that I had no other choice but to graduate. I will confess that I had to put that cap and gown on several times through out my undergraduate years but it served its purpose. It was a source of motivation.
When the time came for me to actually graduate, I had previously had that cap and gown on so many times that one would think it didn’t really matter than. But it did. The feeling of accomplishment was so great because I knew how hard I fought to get there. I smiled as I looked around and saw my family and friends. I was proud when I approached the stage and heard my nephew yell out, “Yea, Auntie Wendy!” I shook my Deans hand with confidence and I received my diploma with honor knowing that I had pressed and worked hard for it. . .
