Skip to main content

Sliding Board


On the eve of my 31st birthday, I’m sitting alone in my hotel room that I’ll be in for the majority of the week for work with a window that faces the roof of a neighboring building with the brightly lit signage of a Best Buy and a Wendy’s in the distance.  I’ve just finished a barbacoa bowl at a Chipotle that I walked to at a mall across the street after having a needed workout at the Bally’s next door.  My thoughts consume me as I remember a promise to my wife that I would guest write a blog on her website.  The only thing I can think of is a tall, metal sliding board.
            The metal sliding board that I remember is no longer in the place that I remember it, I really don’t even know what is in its place now, probably something safer, something plastic and shorter in stature; something that won’t burn your butt when it’s hot or not even allow you to slide for that matter.  It doesn’t matter, it’s not the same place that I remember as being my mountain to climb to talk to God, to listen to Him, as a child who just didn’t know how to figure things out, wanted some answers, needed to be heard, needed to cry, like I feel like I’m about to do as I write this.
            Sometimes it’s difficult to talk about your past.  I think that it’s because in some regards it’s no longer a reflection of the person that you currently are.  Yes, it’s something that you may have learned from, and you may feel like you carry it as a representation of the person you are, however the people from that period in your life may never understand why you don’t reflect those images anymore and the new people that you encounter may never understand why those things were ever a part of the person you currently are. 
            I truly appreciate my wife for the transparency of her blogs.  In my additions to her work, I plan to do the same.  I want to get back to that sliding board where I was more open to bear the things on my heart and to share with you the things that I’ve gone through, those defining moments, those vivid reflections that will show you who I am.  I invite you to make the climb with me.
- Just B.

Comments

  1. Awe, babe this is awesome. It's your birthday eve and you chose to make a guest appearance on my blog. What a surprise?!?!? I love you so much and look forward to the future with you in God. Miracles and Blessings baby!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bound by Shame: My Unborn Child

During my undergraduate career, I found myself at a backslidden state in my faith walk.   It was my first time out on my own without the supervision of my mother and I allowed the freedom to get the best of me.   I allowed myself to get caught up in the lies of guys and fall into sexual sin.   Though I had morals and respect for myself by not sleeping with a lot of different guys, I still fell into the trap of the enemy.   After my first year of college, I got involved with a guy that I was dating off and on for about two years.   We engaged in sexual sin and I ended up pregnant.   When I first learned that I was pregnant, I was about 6 weeks along and there was no doubt in my mind that I would be getting an abortion.   In my opinion, neither of us could afford to bear a child.   Furthermore, as sad as it may sound, I had no sense of feeling or emotion about the abortion at the time; all I knew was that I was not going through with having a child and bringing shame upon myself and my f

Numb to the Disease

Have you ever had something happen to you that was so shameful and/or embarassing that you blocked it from your mind and became totally numb to the situation?  Well, I had an experience like this my sophomore year of college.   At that time, I  began  to engage in sexual sin with a gentlemen I was involved with for about two years off and on.  I thought it was the thing to do since I had been with him for some time and the relationship seemed to be pretty exclusive, or so I thought.  After having the abortion, I was scheduled to come back within the next week or two to have a check up done to make sure the procedure went well and that there was no problems or concerns thereafter.  The check up went well, however, they also administered a pap smear where they checked me to see if I had any sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).  A couple of weeks after having the pap smear done,  I received a letter in the mail instructing me to call them because they had some important information to te

The Fatherless Home

Growing up for me had its challenges, as my mother raised my little sister and I without either of our fathers being physically present.  Now, don't mistake me, this is not a blog post to speak negatively about either of our fathers, I simply have the intention of taking you down the road that I traveled while growing up in a "fatherless home." During the first five years of my life, my mother and I lived with my grandmother, aunts, and uncles.  However, at the the age of five, my mother moved out on her own, and my life began to change.  Once my mother moved out, she no longer had the physical and financial support she needed to provide for both of us.  I watched her work hard, day in and day out, to provide us with the necessities needed to survive.  Sometimes, before school, I would have to stay in the home alone just until it was time for me to head out to the bus stop, because my mother did not and could not afford to provide me with a sitter.  I use to think to my