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Gindi Vincent

The Dish on Career, Fashion, Faith, and Family

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28 Days: Day 29, The Finale

February 29, 2020 by Gindi Leave a Comment

Well, I did it.

Barely.

And even though it SAYS Day 29, those of you who have been on this journey with me, know that I skipped a day mid way through the month so this Day 29 is actually only my 28th day of writing.

And I’m sort of cheating again because I didn’t get it in under the wire last night but we’re not going to focus on those tiny details.

This was a good month for me to write.

There were wins and losses.

Ups and downs.

And even two of us in the family having a violent stomach bug.

Fun times.

But this is how our months all go, right?

Little bit was just watching old videos of them when they were five. We were so cute, she exclaimed.

That was just five years ago, I thought with this sense of shock and sadness. Five years from now, they will be fifteen. FIFTEEN.

Like the saying goes, the days are long but the years are fast.

My how these years fly.

I remember standing in church next to my mom and being so embarrassed when she would raise her hands in worship or cry at a song or story. I’ll never do that, I thought confidently. I’m so much more restrained…

But me, who NEVER cried, cries all the time now. Cries with joy and cries with sadness. And me, who was always worried about what people think of me, cares less and less and raise my hands in worship even if it does embarrass my kids a little (or a lot). I’ll pray on my knees and pray right in the middle of the kids fighting if it’s the only way I know to respond.

Because I have seen how fast these years go. And how good God has been. How utterly faithful. Even when it’s hard. Maybe especially when it’s hard. It’s really hard to go through all that, to see Him right up close and personal, to know what He has carried you through (or around), and not raise your hands or fall to your knees.

I’ll be back here writing from time to time, of course. I can guarantee it won’t be as often. But this time, just me and my fingers on a keyboard, have helped to remind me how precious these people are in my life. Have reminded me, when we have lost some dear relationships even this month, that God is truly all we need.

Love to you all. May March bring springtime hope through the grey of winter.

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: 28 days

28 Days: Day 27, Teeth

February 27, 2020 by Gindi 1 Comment

There are always things we want to change about ourselves. Things we like and things we don’t like.

Well, since I can remember, I have hated my teeth.

Growing up, I had two big front buck teeth with a gap in between. It garnered me the nickname Bugs Bunny in junior high (super fun). Because my overbite was so significant, we’d need to do a jaw surgery before braces. As you might imagine, that is just as expensive as it sounds. And we had no money.

So before my senior year, my mom splurged and spent a couple hundred dollars to get bonding on the space in between my two front teeth to eliminate the gap. It was a ton of money to us then but she wanted me to smile in my senior pictures.

Ever since my senior year, I’ve had bonded front teeth. They are still oversized and I still have a big overbite, but at least no gap.

Well, over the past several weeks my front tooth had been hurting. I went to the dentist and she noted that since my root canal in that tooth was so old (it’s my only root canal, I got an abscess 20 years ago and had a root canal shortly after starting the practice of law), I really needed to visit an endodontist.

The endodontist said that bacteria had been seeping in through the base of my tooth and he would need to pack it with antibiotics, give me a new root canal, and then I would have to get a crown.

Yep, anyone seeing dollar signs again?

So for two weeks I sat with a front tooth packed full of antibiotics and went in yesterday morning to wrap up the work with the endodontist. Shiny new root canal largely paid for my dental insurance, thankfully.

But then came my visit to my long time dentist. Yes, she would give me the nice new expensive crown but she had another item she wanted to tee up: I have been wanting to fix your two front teeth for the over 15 years you have been coming to me. You wouldn’t spend the money on veneers and you can’t get braces without surgery. Well, now we are replacing this one tooth you absolutely have to get the other one down. They’ll be the same color and the same texture and if you leave the old bonding on the other front tooth it will be really conspicuous.

Y’all, seriously, it is my two front teeth. And I speak in public a lot. And am already utterly self conscious about my icky teeth and overbite.

So I called Bray. Pitched the fix. And we plunked down the payment.

Which means tonight I have a massive headache from having my mouth open to assorted doctors drilling and shooting. I have what I call little sock teeth on my front right now. You know they drill down your teeth to like half size, plus I hadn’t seen my gap in decades, so I looked at my mouth and flipped out. PTSD of sorts. But then they slide these little temporary teeth over your half teeth and cement them in.

Let’s all just say a little prayer they can expedite the process to two weeks instead of three weeks because otherwise I’m going to be hiking around Arizona and Utah with these little sock teeth in my head which make it very tricky to eat.

Aren’t you glad you read my blog? I mean really. Where else do you get to read about someone else’s dental drama? Sheesh – sorry crew, but you only have two more days until you get a break!

Filed Under: Random

28 Days: Day 20, The Difference

February 20, 2020 by Gindi 1 Comment

We’re reading Harry Potter. That is, the boys and I. Little bit doesn’t seem to have taken much of an interest, though she’ll listen occasionally.

As I’ve written before, I wanted to screen the content and what better way to read it together. We started last summer and we’re just about to wrap up, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

A couple of nights ago, there is this scene between Dumbledore (the headmaster) and Harry about his eventual fight to the death that will have to occur with Voldemort (the super evil bad guy, if there’s anyone out there who is more behind than us on reading these books).

Harry’s fighting and fighting, basically taking this bleak outlook that he HAS to go into this fight-to-the-death match and what a horrible burden this is for a kid, against Dumbledore who is taking the position that he is CHOOSING to take Voldemort on. Because Harry knows how to love and Voldemort doesn’t and that is the most powerful thing. Harry has the choice to make, regardless of what others have said about this penultimate battle, and it is his choice to take on this most dangerous of challenges.

Something clicks.

He gets it.

He gets that it is his choice and he wants to take it because he wants to end the evil and avenge his parents death.

I realize this is a lot of Harry Potter in one post, but it’s all to get you to this quote which I’ve now sat with four 48 hours:

It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew – and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents – that there was all the difference in the world. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, JK Rowling.

What if, I changed my perspective on the challenge in front of me?

What if, instead of feeling sorry for myself for being dragged into the ring, I squared my shoulders and felt a surge of pride that I was chosen (or chose) to fight this most important battle?

Sit with that.

Or better yet, stand with that.

There is a reason it is you inside that ring.

There is a reason that only you can fight this particular battle.

So head up, warrior. Shoulders back. Let’s walk into the arena ready to take this on.

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: 28 days

28 Days: Day 18, Sick

February 18, 2020 by Gindi Leave a Comment

I am sick.

I woke up at 3 am and proceeded to lose every remaining ounce of fluid in my body over the next three hours. About every five minutes.

I don’t remember the last time I felt so steam-rollered.

So I took work calls from home on the sofa under a blanket shivering and trying to sip water.

I slept when I wasn’t working.

And now that the family is eating dinner, I’m going to bed.

I’m writing, but not much. More tomorrow.

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: 28 days

28 Days: Day 17, 100 Feet Away

February 17, 2020 by Gindi 1 Comment

Several days ago, I saw the headline pictured above.

I didn’t click on the article for days.

But the headline kept running in a loop in my head.

Kobe Bryant’s helicopter was 100 feet from clear skies.

If the pilot had only known, and not turned or climbed or descended or whatever happened in those last few heartbreaking moments, he could have kept course for 100 more feet.

The story of so many precious people lost so unexpectedly was deeply saddening for all of us who heard.

But it feels like there has been a lot of loss lately.

Loss of people without any name recognition but just as deeply gut-wrenching.

And others, who feel on the brink of leaving whatever fog bank they are trapped in. Maybe it’s their life but maybe it’s their marriage or their family or their job or who knows what.

In the middle of that muddle, you can’t see clear skies 100 feet away.

It’s not always so close. Of course not.

But in the middle of whatever is hard, you can’t see the other side. The sun. The clearing. The hope. The opportunity. The reprieve.

Hang in there. Hold on. Please. You could be 100 feet from clear skies. And if it’s not 100 feet, there will be a clearing.

Because of your father’s God, who helps you,
    because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
    blessings of the deep springs below…
Your father’s blessings are greater
    than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
    than the bounty of the age-old hills.

Genesis 49

Filed Under: Random

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