The Simple Life or Simply No Choice?

Welcome to a Brand New Year!

My KY Christmas visit with my mom and family went really well.  I was so excited to be with my family and bring presents, especially to my little cousin Katy who got pink cowboy boots and a pink cowboy hat.  The other highlight was getting to finally meet Jacob, my cousin, Alonzo and his wife Lisa's new little boy. Seeing him open Christmas gifts from us for the first time was an overwhelming joy!!!

Yet the weather was cold and snowy, the roads icy, and I ended up being stuck for a while with my mom in the holler.  I am use to daily structure and plans from going to work, classes, exercising, and church that I have difficulty "being" on vacation or just "relaxing". I have to be doing or working at something.  Being stuck up in the holler with just one icy nasty road, I had to unwillingly comprise with just "being”…

• Being with my mom as she constantly watched her favorite channel, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), even though she has 2oo or more channels in the lineup.  Though we bickered like old ladies, I know I will cherish even those bickering fights.  
• Being cooped up like a chicken in a hen house, inside away from the coldness outside.  
• Being away from work.
• Being away from my chores at home. 
• Being away from cell phone service. By the way, no matter what fancy cell phone you have, most cell phones do not work in Eastern KY hollers! 
• Being away from choices...

I felt blessed remembering the countless opportunities and choices we have in Houston which was one of the main reasons I "chose" to live here.  We have abundant choices from phone carriers, malls, restaurants (too many to count which is why we were up there in the "fattest" cities for awhile), car dealerships, parks, schools, events….the list goes on and on.  We are also blessed to have choices in the basic necessities such as hospitals, cable, electric, water, gas, and trash.

As with last year's issue, my family's road, trash, and postal service were again halted for the month of December.  While the rest of the world went along with life, my family and others’ trash piled up, gas and bills went undelivered, and they risked their life each time they tried to venture out of the holler. Life was at a stand still.  I was reminded of the monopolies that the basic service companies have in Jackson and Hazard as well at the heartless attitudes of the employees of these services. The community and our families are at these companies' mercy.  What other choices do they have?

My vacation began to feel like “Survivor”.  The simple life in the country didn’t feel so “simple” but a “have to”.  You “just have to deal with it” attitude doesn’t change things at all.  Yet things seem to have to be this way because some businesses and political leaders refuse to listen or even care.  This makes life even more of a struggle than living in poverty.  You begin to feel hopeless and pointless.

I recall growing up with the attitude that “city people” or anyone who took better care of themselves was “proud” or thought they were better than us in Eastern KY.  Now I understand that pride was not the factor at all.  They simply “chose” to improve, to better their life, they believed in themselves.  They didn’t fold under and just comply.

Although I have grown up and moved away, I still find myself battling with that “have to deal with it” feeling that I am unworthy, that I don’t deserve better or don’t have a choice.  My heart yearns for my people of Eastern KY who struggle with the same battle inside their mind that I do.  Yet we comprise, quit, and mask our failure to fight with just calling it the “simple life” and this is the way of life.

Thankfully we do have Choices. We can choose to sit still being voiceless, mindless, and hopeless while others run and ruin our lives.  Or we can choose to continue to fight, even if the battle is within our own minds, for a better life that God has for us and our families. God gave us a choice.  Choose to believe and trust in Him or choose a "lifeless" Life. 

Which Life will you Choose?