Breaking News: Plane Lands Safely

In the last few weeks, I’ve had two friends going through a tough time with their kiddos and school. So tough, in fact, that both transferred to a different school. When my gal pal, Cindy, reached out to let me know of their decision, I shot a quick text to our friend Lisa letting her know we are here if she or her kiddos need us. Change is hard, but leaving one negative situation to face a new, overwhelming one can be a lot to take. I didn’t want them to feel like they were alone. After sending love, support, and humor in our texts, Lisa thanked me for reaching out to her. I told her to not spread the news of my goodness; I didn’t want people to think I had gone soft. She sent back, “Ha!! Good news doesn’t seem to travel as fast as bad news, so your secret’s probably safe for a little while. LOL”

It made me sad to think about the snail-mail pace of positive reports and a story that had come across the morning news reaffirming this depressing dispatch. Lisa’s situation and the CBS Morning News inspired me to put some Intentergy into broadcasting some cheerful correspondence.

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Monday’s Message – January 24, 2022

4 weeks! We are already into the 4th week of 2022, and I don’t know about you, but it’s hasn’t felt like a very motivating start to the year. Christmas was good but felt disjointed with the Coronavirus still holding us hostage in our homes and dividing our communities. I continue to struggle with figuring out the balance of being a happy and healthy mom, wife, friend, and employee. I still haven’t been able to get out blog posts with any sort of regularity because my “monkey brain” has been on hyperdrive. I’ve noticed that I make more mistakes and have found lots of errors in my work from last year. While I know that no one is perfect, I can’t help but wonder if the extra oops aren’t a product of failing to put focus into my intents. It’s as if I am that proverbial headless chicken, and I just keep running, hoping my head will magically appear in the right place.

This notion of finding the right place inspired me to seek out people who are in tough jobs but who remain successfully inspired and motivated. In some upcoming guest posts, I’ve invited friends from different careers to share their secrets to staying sane and maintaining motivation in jobs that many could never contrive calling their own. If you have a job that most would consider tough to maintain motivation and would like to share ways you are winning in the battle of being positive at work, please contact me. I’d love to share your story! (So far guest posts are by a social worker, police officer, and teacher.)

Continue reading “Monday’s Message – January 24, 2022”

Reasons to Get Out of Bed

The alarm clock ringing might be the #1 reason people give for getting out of bed, but it’s not that ring, ring, ring that really calls us to rise. My alarm clock is working fine, but I’ve been struggling with motivation to get moving in the morning.

It’s not just that it’s winter, and I want to hibernate, but that I really haven’t felt successful or inspired as of late.

I know I’m not alone, if you are feeling like there’s not enough good reasons to get going in the morning, check out my recent telephone conversation and how it helped with my dragging drive.

I called for tech support as I was working on the cataloging system for our elementary school library. We are relatively new to using this cataloging system, and this was not my first tech call. I had already spoken to Keith, the company representative, in the past. Keith is in Canada. I am in Central Missouri. When Keith takes my call, I always ask how things are in Canada, and he kindly tells me about the weather there. As we waited for the computer system to reboot my account, I asked Keith how many tech support calls he answers on average each day. He said, no one had ever asked him before, but, ironically, it was just discussed at a recent meeting. Keith said his average daily call count was 12.

Because I know that my past calls have all lasted between 30 minutes and 90 minutes, I thanked Keith for his time and his assistance. He laughed and told me that most people probably wouldn’t think of what he does as valuable. I pointed out that his service calls help me to provide library resources to over 130 students and faculty. While my school is a small one, I know he assists large colleges, universities, churches, and high schools; all with patrons in the thousands. I happily went on telling him that his 12 calls a day help thousands of people with their writing, reading, and research. He has a tremendous ripple effect on the success of all those patrons, and that’s a great reason to get out of bed every day.

Keith didn’t speak for a few moments. Actually, I was afraid he hung up on me or lost connection. When he did speak, the sincerity in his voice was so sweet. After saying, “Thank you,” Keith told me that it had never occurred to him to value his position in such a positive way. It made my day to know that I had brightened his.

After hanging up with Keith, my library software was working, and my mojo was much improved.

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2022 Bloggers BeLOnG – Upcoming Dates

Bloggers BeLOnG will be BACK in 2022
thanks to the Missouri River Regional Library!

If you are looking for blogging discussions and support for your blog or are considering blogging, join us! Sessions are free and may be attended in-person or virtually. To register select the registration link for any of the upcoming sessions below.

Monday, January 10, 2022 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
at the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Mo https://www.mrrl.org/index.php/event/bloggers-belong-10

Monday, February 7th, 2022 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
at the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Mo
Monday, February 7th, 2022 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
at the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Mo https://www.mrrl.org/index.php/event/bloggers-belong

Monday, March 7th, 2022 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
at the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Mo – https://www.mrrl.org/index.php/event/bloggers-belong-0

This will be our 3rd year of offering Bloggers BeLOnG, and I am grateful for all the terrific bloggers I’ve met along the way. I am also eager to see our community grow and hope you will join us!

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S.

2022 – Blogging for Beginners January Dates

Starting a new blog is a terrific way to kick off the new year!

If you have considered starting a blog or are interested in knowing more about blogging, consider joining me for one of these free sessions sponsored by the Missouri River Regional Library. We will talk about organizing your ideas, finding inspiration, and resources for new bloggers.

Osage County Library in Linn, Mo

Wednesday, January 12, 2022
from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register: https://www.mrrl.org/event/blogging-beginners-melanie-peters-osage-branch

Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Mo

Wednesday, January 26, 2022
from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Click Here to Register: https://www.mrrl.org/index.php/event/blogging-beginners

Be sure to bring any blogging ideas or questions!

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. We all have to start somewhere.

Monday’s Message – December 13, 2021

Here we are mid-December and trying to keep up with all the Christmas crazy on top of our regular, daily chaos. Today I’m wearing my “Make it Simple but Significant” shirt to serve as a reminder that simpler can be better. We don’t always have to out-do ourselves or anyone else to make the most of our efforts and intentions. Keep the simplicity of love, kindness, and grace at the center of your holiday planning and going through the motions of moving your daily mountains, and you will find the most complex joy in bringing the basics to your battles.

2016 Random Acts of Kindness Club t-shirt is still one of my favorites!

For this week in Intentergy, I’m still finalizing my focus for Wise Words Wednesday, but Friday’s post is ready to go and one I’ve been drafting for a while. To wrap up the week, I’m sharing a story on the frustrations of gift shopping for a tween or teen and how to make those frustrating list-making interrogations into productive conversations.

I’m also excited to announce that the upcoming dates for January – March 2022 “Bloggers BeLOnG” and “Blogging for Beginners” will be posted this week! Yay! We will be hosting sessions at both the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Mo and Osage County Library in Linn, Mo. I just love sharing my passion for blogging and hope you will join me for one of these free sessions if you are interested in being a blogger.

For now, I wish you nothing but success, positivity, and blessings this week.

By: Melanie A. Peters.

P.S. Remember keep it simple but significant.

Swamped in a Hive

Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a parent who is inundated with the behaviors and requests of their children? It’s like trying to locate the queen bee in a hive of crazy. Nobody is concerned about or can comprehend what’s being said, focus is going in a million directions, and the constant buzz is enough to drive everyone in and outside of the hive crazy.

This past weekend I witnessed my friend, Jamie, at the heart of her own wild hive. We were hanging out at a friend’s shop, and for some unknown-to-our-children reason trying to have a conversation.

While Jamie balanced her son on one leg, her daughter traipsed passed walking her baby doll by the hair. Without warning, the baby doll leapt onto Jamie’s vacant leg and began marching up her arm and then rested on her head. Shortly there after, Jamie’s husband asked her about something he couldn’t remember, and she replied calmly with whatever he needed to know. Barely skipping a beat, Jamie continued on with our conversation. After finishing her sentence to me, she politely asked her daughter to take the doll to play somewhere else. Her daughter’s response, “But I need you to be my jungle gym.”

Well, there you had it.

Jamie was needed.

She was a comfy place to sit for her son, reference library for her husband, an apparatus for her daughter’s baby doll activities, and a hub of conversation for me.

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Biblical Surprise – Wise Words Wednesday

Fifth Grade homework can be tough. Last week my son’s computer teacher assigned an “About Me” Google Slides presentation. Each slide had a theme and criteria for creation. Of course, there were the “My Family” and “Favorite Hobby” slides, but the one slide that stuck out to me on the rubric was, “Favorite Scripture Verse.”

While this is my son’s sixth year attending a Catholic school, and we attend church every week, I wasn’t sure my son knew any particular Bible verse, much less which is his favorite.

While making dinner, switching laundry, and helping with other homework, I left him to work on the presentation, and waited for his cry for help.

As expected, his call for “Mom” rang out when he hit the scripture slide. His plea was followed by a demanding, “I need the Bible.” (Insert sarcastic Mom statement about needing more than just the Bible in his life, followed by son’s annoyed eye roll.)

After taking a deep breath and mentally preparing for a meltdown, I asked if he knew any Bible verses that he liked.

To my Biblical surprise, he responded with, “Duh, Mom, I know it’s in Exodus; I just don’t know the exact number.”

Exodus?!? That seemed like an unusual place to select a favorite verse, but who am I to question divine inspiration.

My 10-year-old proceeded to tell me that his favorite verse is when Moses parted the sea allowing the Israelites to flee Egypt unharmed. This is a very powerful scene, but I wasn’t sure what made it inspiring to him. At the risk of being slaughtered by yet another violent eye roll, I asked what it was about the parting of the sea that stood out.

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Monday’s Message – December 6, 2021

Happy Monday, everyone! In this week’s Monday’s Message, I just want to express thanks for everyone who read, commented, and sent kind thoughts our way after publishing The Colors of Change. Your support and faith for good things to come is greatly appreciated.

I’m excited to say that this week’s Wise Words Wednesday was inspired by my son’s homework for computer class and his surprising knowledge of Bible verses. Please be sure to check it out and hopefully find some peace and inspiration for yourself.

Additional inspiration was provided by my friend Jamie and her daughter Kate this weekend. So be sure to check out my post Friday on “….and All the Other Things.” If you struggle with the demands of being called to fill too many rolls, this post is for you.

As we are fully immersed in the holiday season, be sure to give yourself the gifts of grace and time. Know that you are not perfect, and that’s okay. You deserve time to be healthy, happy, and dedicate room for planning and coping with all that comes your way this time of year.

If you want to check one gift off your list, be sure to give the gift of Intentergy and put some positive purpose and energy into someone’s day.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. Intentergy comes in everyone’s size.

The Colors of Change

Change is something that comes at us at all different speeds. Some change happens in a instant. Other times developments modify our course gradually, and it isn’t until we’ve rounded a corner that we notice something is different.

Earlier this fall, I witnessed an unusual change. After coming around the bend in their county road, I noticed a small section of leaves had turned a bright yellow in the tree at the end of my parents’ driveway. Maybe it was the way the sun was shining or the striking difference between the yellow and green, but that one section really stood out.

When I mentioned the yellow spot to Dad, he said, “Yeah, I noticed it too; it looks kind of odd, but I guess all the leaves will be changing soon.”

Funny how we can see changes in the world around us more easily than we see oncoming transitions within our own lives. Often, we find ourselves or a loved one suffering from a serious condition, where there seemed to have been no warning signs. It’s odd how we can’t see the forest for the trees when many symptoms are waving the colors of change right before our eyes.

Right now, my family has fallen into the ranks of waging war with cancer in my father.

Yes, there were little signs that things weren’t quite right with Dad, like his unusual upset stomach at Easter, his more frequent naps, or the newly-found food sensitivity where he hadn’t had issues before. Never did we imagine those hints of trouble would lead us to a diagnosis of colon cancer. Once we eventually convinced Dad to go to the doctor, and had a finite diagnosis, it was like reality had stampeded a color run through our world, and we were splattered with a rainbow of tests, surgeries, chemotherapy, medications, and side effects. Who knew the colors of change could be so extreme?

Continue reading “The Colors of Change”