...on my Journey

I probably have written this before, I love being a mother. Some time back I did a LO of James titled Embrace and wrote a post about it. The picture was a self-portrait of James. Lynn did a self portrait of herself. I knew like with James' LO I would be given a word to describe where my children are as young adults. It is why I so love One Little Word. The inspiration of just one word can send you forward. I also used 52 Sketches...52 Weeks #17 to put the LO together. Thank you to both sites. The other inspiration came from tutorials on technique on both sites. Using paint on your LO's. Since we had so much rain this week I could take the time to paint and let it dry.

Larry and I have always told the children to look and explore the world around them. Both of us would say or do something when they were growing up and then tell them to see if what we were telling them was true. I think my favorite thing I told the kids was about piercings and tattoos. Lynn was allowed to pierce her ears for earrings. Other then that both were told no tattoos or piercings until they were over the age of 18. I told them to look around them. The most successful people in the world who were not in sports or entertainment did not have tattoos or piercings or at lteast they couldn't be seen. As they got older they really did begin to look. Lynn has gotten a tattoo but it is well hidden. She pierced her nose, but I think she's beginning to get tired of it from the way she talks. It's forever getting infected. Kind of why I rarely wear earrings any more. My ears are infected within 36 hours. We also talked openly about drugs and sex with them. We showed them examples in their lives and ours. They now have seen cousins wind up in jail over drugs. They shake their heads and both have said, 'how stupid!'

Lynn was about 8 years old when she decided to set a plan for her life. It started with going to college at Texas A&M. She wanted to be a lawyer for a while. Then there was probably half a dozen other things she wanted to be. Where is she, of course a Senior at Texas A&M majoring in Agriculture Science (what they call Agriculture Education). She was a PAL (Peer Assistance Leadership) in High School. A select organization to be a peer mentor. She found she loved helping others. I just think it is ingrained in my daughter to help others. So many adults helped her down her journey she started to set for herself at age 8. There were teachers, coaches, and friends to guide her through swimming then softball, her rabbitry and on to her pig and cattle. Teachers leading by example to her. I'm grateful to all of those positive experiences Lynn received. She has allowed herself to let her journey to evolve and grow. I so look forward to where her journey will lead her from here. She'll continue as she always has, placing one foot in front of the other to reach her goals. We love you Lynn!

Kim