Three-Word Wednesday: Keep Moving Forward

 I got to know Beth in an (in)courager group for military wives, and it's been a joy to see her journey as a writer take off.

In my own quest as a writer (instead of just teaching it one night a week), I am participating in Beth’s Three-Word Wednesday link-up.

I am borrowing today’s phrase from the movie Meet the Robinsons, which I just watched in German last week while subbing for the high school German teacher (and yes, it was in German—the animators had changed all the signs and writing in the movie to the German language. Pretty neat.).

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

When I am under a lot of stress and situations are tenuous, I am not at my best. I get snappish with my husband and crabby toward my girls. I try to remember to stay focused on God and His Word and stay positive, but more often than not I allow my circumstances to dictate my mood and my demeanor.

I am not proud of this.

The past five-plus months have been increasingly stressful as we have waited and waited (and waited some more) to hear news that would determine not only the course of our next year, but our next several years. 

It’s often said that the unofficial military motto is “Hurry up and wait!” My military spouse motto has been “Semper Gumby: Always Flexible.” But to be honest, I didn’t want to be flexible. I hate waiting this long for something that someone somewhere knew the answer, but no one would tell us.

In three other words, I hate waiting.

I was a very crabby Pattie indeed.

Enter Meet the Robinsons, the idea that mistakes are okay because we learn from them, and the phrase that continues to stick with me:

Keep moving forward.

The closing line of the film shows that it’s a part of something Walt Disney said about creativity:

Photo credit: www.livingstoncoc.wordpress.com

Of course, like many things, it’s about life too. We have to keep moving forward (or as Uma Thurman quipped, we’ll move backward and smack into something hard). Priscilla Shirer said once that she told her sons that she had to look out the front window to drive safely, not the rearview mirror at whatever they were doing. We have to look forward to move forward. Not that looking back is a bad thing—on the contrary, sometimes personal reflection is needed for growth. Much like studying history, we can give credence to our past experiences and how far we’ve come, learn from our mistakes, and strive to do better next time.

This week we were inundated with a lot of happy, happy news. We know the course of our next year, and we have at least as much job security as anyone in the military is allowed to have at any given time. Also, my daughters were both honored at school for several different things, and that makes my mama heart very happy.

So while today crabby Pattie is a not-so-distant memory, I will continue to be conscious of my reactions to things, work on keeping my outlook positive, be on the lookout for opportunities to serve, and always, always keep moving forward.