Out of the Wilderness

One things I like to do on this blog is write about relationships. Sometimes my relationships, sometimes other people’s relationships. A few years ago I posted about folks who return to their exes, and sometimes that’s a good thing (rarely!). This post will be along the same lines… but slightly different. I know a woman who has been interested in a man for a few months. She’s been friends with the man for awhile, but the man can’t decide if he wants to date her or another woman on his radar. When I ask my friend, the woman, how things are going with him, she says they are “OK.”

Usually I respond with casual encouragement but lately I’ve wanted to shout from the rooftops… DON’T SETTLE FOR JUST OK!!!!! I want to tell her that she deserves — not “should be,” not “could be,” she DESERVES — to be with a man who’s on cloud 9 with her. The only time the words “just OK” are uttered are whenever he has to be away from her, like on a trip or out to the store.

Now, I’m not saying they must spend every waking second together. We all know how claustrophobia feels. But women (and this goes for men, too), if there is a person out there you’re interested in and they are taking their sweet time deciding between you and another potential partner, evaluate critically what he (or she) is saying. This is not the Bachelorette. The dude needs to make up his mind and give his full self to you or the other woman. Anything less than that is unacceptable and I hope you realize you are worth so much more than “just OK.”

When I chat with my friend again, I hope I have the opportunity to tell her how special she is, that she’s worth a heck of lot more than a dude who is being lazy and almost mean to her. There is a man out there who will adore her as she deserves. Not a guy who strings her along while he has another woman being strung along the same way.

Don’t ever settle or think that is just the way relationships go. You are amazing. You are special. You are not just anybody.

-Out of the Wilderness

I wasn’t in Nashville when the Christmas event happened. I was with family in Florida and that morning, we all woke up and soon after, ate breakfast together and opened presents. That’s how Christmas was for many people, I’m sure. But that afternoon I learned it wasn’t that way in downtown Nashville. When I heard of the bombing, my heart went right back to my city. And I can’t really say more without sharing the body cam footage that I watched for the first time about an hour ago. Here it is…

The more that’s come out about the person behind this weird and tragic event, whether he was mentally stable or not, I find myself stuck on two thoughts…

1. What an a-hole. Seriously. A full-blown, 100%, nasty person. Who does this to their own city?
2. I already appreciated Metro Nashville Police Department. But now… well, I don’t know how else to say it… THEY’RE ROCK STARS.

The body cam footage confirms the level of commitment these officers have; from the ones on the scene to the ones behind the scenes, they truly are guardians of this city. All of them.

As 2020 ends, I’m feeling such different things all at the same time. Anger from the event, obviously. But I hope pride and brotherly love will outweigh all my other feelings as a new year begins in just a few hours.

To Metro Nashville Police/Fire/First Responders… I know you’ll just say you were doing your job that morning and that’s something to be applauded but from the outside looking in, I believe you’re all heroes and every time you run towards a tragedy proves it, even if no one is there to see heroics in motion. While a lot of us were doing Christmas things, you were walking the streets, clearing out the area because of the threat of a possible tragedy. I just can’t quite grasp the selflessness of what y’all did that morning (and presumably every day). And as someone who works “behind the scenes” although in a completely different industry, I know there are so many other people that helped Christmas morning. Those officers, staff, and employees are heroes, too. It takes a team to battle all the things mankind can come up with, get into, fall into, crash into, right? Thank you and I hope God Himself has already prepared 2021 to be a year of peace in Nashville, with six-hundred-and-fifteen blessings for every one of you.

Thank you!!

-Out of the Wilderness