Random Thoughts of Amy Potts

Last fall I was selected as one of 13 guest columnists for the Kansas City Star, Faith Walk section.  Thought I would share it with my followers.   Thank you for stopping by! Amy GRATITUDE ' GROWS INTO RENEWED FAITH by Amy L. Potts I walked into a counselor's office about 10 years ago wanting her to tell me something wise, comforting; ultimately wanting her to tell me what to do.  I had lost my husband to cancer and my best friend shortly after that.  I was in the pit of depression and I needed help finding the faith in God that I once knew and trusted.  I say in Lynn's office waiting for her to give me a special formula to rejuvenate my faith. In one session I was determined to find out all I needed to know to move on. That's what I wanted to happen. After several months of questioning and trying to make sense of it all, I began questioning God and Lynn. I wanted her to give me answers because she was present, physically present, and ...

The other day on my way home from work I noticed a bank of dark clouds rolling in from the west.  I was thinking that I needed to hurry home to let the dog out before the storm.  She is afraid of storms and at the first rumble of thunder she runs for cover under the bed.  But as I turned the last corner toward home, I noticed how dramatically beautiful the clouds were.  Still thinking about the dog I headed on up the street toward home.  Suddenly I realized that I would never see that same cloud formation again.  I needed to stop and snap that picture.  I didn’t have my “real camera” with me, but I did have my phone and the 8 megapixel camera takes decent pictures.  So I turned my car around and found the perfect place to take that picture.  I’m glad I did because only seconds later, the hole where the sun was peeking through was gone.  If I had not stopped, I would have missed it altogether.  I have had many opportunities o...

You come in the dark of the night or by day.  Damned by some, loved by others Gently you make your way to us.  Sometimes there is only a hint of your presence.  Sometimes you are altogether unseen.  The sun lights up the morning sky and erases any sign that you were near.  Where you are not expected, there is an unusual calm and the world seems to stop as we try to figure out what to do.  You are an unexpected and perhaps unwelcomed guest.  You make newspaper headlines. The media world is ablaze with pictures of the havoc that followed your visit.  There are  others who publish pictures of your beauty. If you were to come just one at a time, you would be unnoticed by most.  Flake upon shimmering flake you fall from the sky.  You join with the wind to make us stop, wait and listen.  One little flake is not like any other that falls from the sky.  When you join forces, you hold so much p...

I imagine a woman on Valentine’s Day in 1964 giving birth to her sixth child with the sudden realization that it was a girl.  This was more than she could handle after having five boys.  She was confused, she was worried and postpartum depression set in and it was strong.  She gave birth to a little girl and in the midst of confusion, chaos and depression she gave her a name that means “beloved”. When I was a little girl I thought that the name Amy was a little girl’s name.  I couldn’t imagine growing up with that name.  It bothered me so much that I cried to my dad explaining that I would be made fun of with this name.  It was some time later that we were sitting outside, as we often did in our little rural town, and we watched a woman ride by on her horse.  My dad said, “Do you see that grown-up woman? Her name is Amy”.  My dad knew two things about me; I loved horses and I was still scared about growing up with this name.  Was h...

“Happy holidays”, the young girl said as she bagged my purchases.  I smiled and thanked her for her well wishes.  The next customer, not so appreciative of this greeting, made a snide remark about the fact that she didn’t say “merry Christmas”.  Perhaps he was trying to make a point of keeping Christ in Christmas, but what he really did was annoy two people.  I didn’t walk away from that store having had a spiritual awakening because of his words.  In fact, I was really more irritated than I was when I entered the busy store and realized just how long the check out lines were in the first place.  If I see someone this time of year, I will wish them happy holidays to encompass all that we celebrate this time of year.  We start with Thanksgiving, then Christmas and end the season with Groundhog Day on February 2 nd . (that’s my favorite holiday) So because of this, if I see you between Thanksgiving and Groundhog day, I will undoubtedly wish you...

I walked into a counselor’s office about 10 years ago and waited for her to tell me something wise, comforting; ultimately waiting for her to tell me what to do.  I had lost my husband to cancer a few years prior and my best friend a couple years after that.  As far as I could tell there was only one way and that way was up.  I sat in Lynn ’s office for what seemed like an eternity hoping for those life-giving words.  In one session I was determined to find out all I needed to know to move on, to move up and to step out with my new attitude.  It didn’t happen that way.  It took several months of questioning and trying to make sense of it all.  She didn’t give me any answers.  In fact, she made me answer my own questions.  Lynn was only a sounding board and a very good one at that.  But there was one session that was pivotal for me.  The holidays were nearing and the intensity of my pain and loneliness were suddenly overwhelming....

If I am in a long line and someone is coming from a distance needing to simply pass through the line, I am the one they feel most comfortable cutting in front of.  When I am at the grocery store, I am the most likely candidate for a fellow shopper to ask directions to the right aisle.  If I approach a door at the same time as another, I am most likely to take a step back and allow the other to pass through first. I will probably even open the door for them.  I have never even flipped someone off while in a fit of road-rage! I need to get this fixed and soon! Yesterday I wandered into my doctor’s clinic and purposely sat in the children’s waiting area.  I did this for two reasons.  They were showing a “Looney Tunes”  DVD and there was nobody else sitting on that side of the room. I don’t really like to visit with people at the clinic other than the doctor because eventually someone asks the question, “how are you today”?  I don’t want sic...