Random Thoughts of Amy Potts

Once while talking about the annual opportunity to honor fathers, a friend suggested that we could celebrate because we have pets.  Let me set the record straight by saying that Mike did not father our dog and cat. Mike also is not my father and therefore not only do we have a normal relationship, but we also have no reason to make a fuss about Father's Day at our house.   Mike does have a father and we honor him each year by spending time with the family; reminiscing and laughing about days gone by.  Most of which I wasn't around for but I enjoy hearing the stories just the same.  Mike's dad has been a hardworking man and his care for his children has been a labor of love, dedication and commitment.  Because of this I have a husband who is equally dedicated and committed to his relationship with me.  If I can celebrate one thing this Father's day, it is that.  My husband's father. But I think there is more to celebrate. Some wake u...

A few years back I gave a little boy, who was turning five years old, five one dollar bills.  I did this because I thought he would see five bills as being a lot of money.  Instead he looked at the meager one dollar bills and said, “These are ones, I can’t buy anything with one dollar”.  He tossed them on the table in disgust and opened the next card from his uncle. In that card was a five-dollar bill.  The young boy said, “now this I can do something with”.  To him the single bill stamped with $5 on it, was of more value than the separate bills that I gave him because he couldn’t see past the value of the $1 marking.  Eventually he scooped them all up and announced, “Look at how much I have!”  Holding all of the bills in his tiny hand finally made him realize just how much he really had.    I don’t know about you, but sometimes I view people in the same way.  When their lives seem to be in a million pieces, I have trouble seeing...

There is just something that keeps calling me back. Maybe it's a fear that the good memories will fade with time unless I trace over and again the path to all I have become. Driving familiar roads making note of the things that remain; only older, warn and broken down. Grieving, in a small way, the things that are no longer there; houses, grocery stores, barns. Time seems the robber of memories. But what we do remember must be met with the reality that someone remembers those things differently, if at all. We remember events, people and places according to the the effect that they had on our lives. Perhaps we remember them as obstacles in our path while someone remembers them as the challenge they needed to push them to achieve more. However we remember those things, they are etched in our minds somewhere. Whether we choose to remember or not, they can creep to the front of our mind. Most would not know about a little town in Iowa called Clarion. But when I hear mention of th...

I went for a run in my favorite park a while back and all around me was life. The trees were well on the way to their summer fullness. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere and the creek seemed to be whispering, “how great thou art”. I was surrounded by that which brought me to a faith in God; His very creation. Left to grow how they will, were trees; some were bending toward the sun competing with the towering oak and cotton wood trees for light. Underneath it all was a blanket of leaves and fallen branches. And beneath all of that was more life than I will ever know. After running half of a mile down a steep hillside trail, I was struck with the realization that what goes down, must come back up. I stopped for a few minutes to rest and to listen. Then looking back up the hill that I had just come down, I realized that I was not going to climb that hill as quickly as I came down. There were cyclists and skateboarders buzzing through the park, up and down the hills. I was ...

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...