Authors note: This is written format of a podcast/affirmation after we went to celebrate Jack’s graduation and the thoughts of a grateful Ya Ya who is still learning what is my responsibility and what is not!!! If it sounds like it is me talking it is because it is!!!
I Am Responsible
( The musings of a proud Ya Ya, and my affirmations from my podcast after a great family graduation trip, this week I am about to go to his bootcamp graduation.)
I’m so happy you’re here. Oh my gosh. So I’ve been in New Jersey with my Alabama family, my Jersey family, and my Florida family. We were all there for my grandson Jack’s graduation. Y’all, I was a total complete mess. I don’t know why I was so emotional, but I was. I could not have been more emotional. I would think I was okay, then I’d start crying again and somebody would say something and I would start crying again. It wasn’t tears of sadness or regret tears or any of that. It was the overwhelming emotion of this being my first grandkid. I’m so proud of him. He has just made such good choices. I’m sure he has made some bad choices too,that I don’t know about that led to his good choices, but he’s been a good kid.
His mom had to make a decision when he was ten for him to go live with his father. Then move back and forth seeing him. That was the hardest decision for a mother to ever make in the whole wide world, but she made it because it was best for him. He needed a dad. He needed a dad in his life and the dad wanted to be in his life. It made the dad’s life better, all around too. It was good for all people but hard for my daughter. Every time she walked away and left him when she was visiting… Boy, what grit! What responsibility! My daughter had to do what was best for her child. Despite what she thought was best for her. Totally unselfish, and I am grateful for that. He is an incredible young man.
YAYAs always need to be needed. You know how that goes. Being a YAYA, you want to do things for your kids. I mentioned something about helping him get a car, and he said,” Oh, I’ve got money for my car. I’ve been saving money the entire time I’ve been going to high school.” So I had to brag for just a minute. I’m so grateful for that young man. Who was raised in a village. Between his grandparents, his wonderful, amazing father, and stepmother. My daughter, all the folks in his life. His teachers, his mentors, and his church, where he is very involved.
Jack went to school. He made great grades. He graduated from the school of engineering within the school, which is an advanced program. He was part of the sports team. He was captain of the track team and he worked and saved money. Ya’ll,he saved $10,000. Now that’s being responsible. I was not that responsible. You know what? I wasn’t made to be that responsible. I was kind of spoiled. I was actually very spoiled. I may not have had some things, but I was spoiled materially when I was younger. I wasn’t spoiled for a while, so I learned how to appreciate it.
So I want to talk about It’s My Responsibility. Everything in life is my responsibility. I cannot point fingers at others. I can’t say you should have, or they should have. I am responsible. I’m responsible for what I do with my life. I’m responsible 100%. How I treat others, I am responsible.
Today’s affirmation is called My Responsibility.
I am responsible for my happiness and my joy.
I know that I can only change and correct my life.
Caretaking of others with disregard to myself is not my job.
.Care involves taking care of others and keeps them from their growth.
I am responsible for my happiness and my joy.
I am responsible 100% for my growth.
I am responsible for my health and my fitness.
I am responsible for my emotional and mental health.
I am responsible for how I treat God’s kids.
I enjoy being responsible for me.
It allows God to move and work in the lives of others while he also works on me.
And so it is.
Y’all I think so many times. ..So many times we try to jump in and be responsible for other people and we push God out of the way. God is in the middle of doing some handy, amazing work in people’s lives, and we just jump in and we muck it all up. I kind of did that with Jack. I mean, when we were talking about him needing a car when he gets out of boot camp. It’s not a campus where there’s anything nearby and it’s just out in Syracuse, New York and I said, you need a car. Right? And he said, “Yes, I will.” And I said, “well, we need to help you get a car.” He told me he didn’t need help getting a car. His dad also said, no, he’s already saved the money for his car. He’s done that. He planned for years.
I think too many times we, especially me, want to jump in and help somebody. I wanted to jump in and save somebody. I want to jump in and financially help somebody when it’s not needed. Even more than not needed, it’s not necessary. It’s not vital, and it’s not the right thing to do. I have to work on that. God really needs to work on that with me. Dadgum it! I’m 63 years old and I keep on finding all kinds of ways that he’s still working on me. All the ways that I need to think about being responsible, and not worry about the responsibilities of others and let them make their way.
This just popped in my head. I might have told this story before. I think so many times we do for others what they should do for themselves. I’m all for helping people. You know, that’s always gonna happen. That’s not a problem for me. I want to know when to help. When is my help, not help? When is my help a hindrance? When a baby giraffe is born, the mama will deliberately knock the baby down. The baby would have to wobble up on his legs and build those strong legs. That mom deliberately knocked her baby down because she knew that baby had to get up and build those leg muscles. That baby giraffe had to learn to be strong. When the mama wasn’t around, she could run from her prey and could do what she needed to do.
God’s still working on me in that area, and I don’t know if he’s still working on you too. I think that a lot of time, as human beings, if something doesn’t directly impact us, we forget about its significance… of its importance. As God’s kid, as a Jesus follower, if it impacts you, it impacts me. I want God’s kids to feel loved and accepted… And lifted. If they need to be judged, that’s God’s business. That ain’t my business. That’s not my job description at all. I am responsible for me, and you are responsible for you.
Y’all, I love you so very, very much. Share this with others and be sweet!