Laurie Van Dermark's Blog, page 6

STRONG GIRL SAY WHAT???

“The giving of love is an education in itself.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

I am many things, but slow to learn is not one of them. Many of us have gone through a period in our lives where we were imprisoned. Sure, perhaps the bars were not visible to the outside world, but they were there, nonetheless. While painful and restrictive during the actual struggle, the invisible bars impact the future, unless we recognize that the lasting effects of “time served” can continue to manifest in small ways. The...

TWO OUT OF THREE

“When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

Last weekend put this beautiful quote to the test for me and many of my friends. Sadly, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself irresistible by Gandhi’s litmus test. Courtesy? Check. Strength? Check, check, check. Restraint? Hmmmm. Okay…more no than yes. (The world has seen the yes this week, but the best friend crew has shared the rowdy no!)

re·straint
[ri stráynt]



holding back:an act or the quality...

He loves me.

I’ve always known him. He is kind and patient. When I am stubborn and seek my own desires, he waits. When I am troubled, he whispers words over me that calm my spirit and settle my soul. I find him in those I care for at the hospital on the weekends. Those who are alone and depressed. I see him in the faces of laughing children. I feel his presence during my early morning walks, when the wind caresses the leaves on the the magnificent trees he’s created. His comfort and peace are demonstrated...

My sweet baby.

George Bernard Shaw said it best. “Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius.”

Some of you who follow my blog, have the good fortune to actually be acquainted with my Guatemalan princess, Isabela. She’s an amazing girl who thinks outside of the box- always. Below are two FB postings courtesy of Izzy’s genius.

Blessed.

2012 New York Book Festival Awards, Manhattan

WINNER: “The Battered Heiress Blues”/ Romance

Can you have a lasting love with very little chemistry?

We’ve all found ourselves, at one time or another, struggling to try and ignite a spark onto a wet pile of wood. The effort is valiant, but pointless. The internal struggle to manufacture desire and passion is often born out of guilt. How can I not find him/her attractive? I’ve heard very few stories of long-time friends becoming successful lovers. The feedback, having not found myself in this situation, has been that the physical relationship is typically stale and lackluster. Why is this? W...

This is the story of “Very Inconvenient”…

I am fortunate to work with a precious soul every weekend at University Hospital. She is eccentric and kooky and absolutely lovely. Last month, in defending her lack of knowledge compared to a physician on a particular disease process, she proudly declared, “He may know all about vascular blah blah blah, but I bet he couldn’t tell you who the characters in Sponge Bob are! He knows his things. I know my things. We know different things.” That was a light bulb moment for me. We’d been discussin...

Tough chick Jewels…How similar are we?

OK, so I’ve had multiple conversations with my best friends about relationships over the last couple of months. We’ve discussed dating a person who is still invested in a past relationship, marriage woes, babies, the triumphs of all and the pitfalls that often times can’t be avoided. These conversations tend to be circular as we never fully come to conclusions on most matters.

If I’ve been asked this questions once, I’ve been asked it a hundred times: Are you Jewels? The answer is simple…yes a...

GUEST BLOG: Jennifer’s Haiti

“This is why I brought you!”

I’m not going to go in to a lot of details about the rest of the drive toMaison d’Enfant par la Foi. We had to make a pit stop at another orphanage where we did get to visit some children. We also had to pop into the Deli Mart to pick up bottled water and some snacks we would be preparing for the kids. I discovered that a PB&J on white bread is a universal kids’ treat. And where we were heading, it would be considered a delicacy. At my house, the announcement of a...

GUEST BLOG: Jennifer’s Haiti (“I saw babies and toddlers inches from tires whizzing by where they played and people just lying around with nowhere to go, nothing to do, but sit and wait for….nothing.”)

There’s no turning back now.

Let me say this. I was never scared in any way. Up until this point in my journey (even in the airports) I was never scared. Curious to God’s plan? Yes. Anxious and excited? Yes. Scared with the emotion of fear? No. Not once. Even as I was trying to make my way to the car, I had a peace that everything was OK. Now, I am not a naïve person and I do not turn a blind eye to things that may be dangerous or put me in harms’ way. So even though I had my guard up and I pr...