Life: An Acquired Taste

First of all, admit it. When you saw that I had updated my blog, you had to stop and think. Does Rachel even have a blog? You had forgotten or better yet, didn’t even know about it. Truthfully, I even forget about it, which is probably rather obvious, since I never update it. However, I’ve been mulling over something for a while and I wanted to share it. Progress What do you think of when you hear it? Progress. Do you think improvement? Moving toward something? Advancement? Most people see it as a large step moving forward toward a goal. What many do not realize is that progress is not always large and moving forward. Sometimes it is taking three steps back, so you can move five more ahead. Sometimes it is saying no to a relationship because it’s hindering God’s work in your life. Sometimes it is taking a job you aren’t thrilled about and using it as a stepping stone for your career. As a chef, progress sometimes means failing over and over, so you can find a new way to suc...

Summer: Part 2 is coming, but I'm taking a break to talk about one of my role models.      Marcus Lattimore was an incredible running back for the University of South Carolina. He tore his left ACL and MCL in October 2011, his sophomore year. Less than a year later, he had comeback from his injuries and was even better than before. Once again, injury hit. Barely a year after injuring his left knee, Marcus was hit during a game against the University of Tennessee, tearing three of the four ligaments in his right knee. He had surgery and declared for the NFL draft that December. The San Francisco 49ers drafted him, and he has been working and rehabbing to get back to the point of playing. However, today Marcus Lattimore announced his retirementfrom the NFL . He never played a game.      No two injuries are alike. No two rehab stories are alike. No two people are alike. Human emotions, however, are alike. Watching the video of his injury still...

     It was supposed to be rather tame. The only thing on the calendar was the knee surgery that was supposed to once and for all fix my knee. Little did we know that Summer 2014 would turn out to be the busiest and most trying summer in our family’s life.      God’s plans are definitely not ours. This became extremely obvious when we found out my younger sister was pregnant and the baby was due the beginning of August. Three months later, my older sister got engaged and they set the date for the end of July. During all the planning, I was set to move to Columbia to attend USC mid-August. If reading this made you kind of tired, just imagine living it.      It began simply enough. At the end of May, I packed everything from three years in Greenville and moved back to Rock Hill to get ready for surgery. June 5, the afternoon before my surgery was scheduled, we got a phone call from the doctor. My insurance company would not approve o...

This past year has been a roller coaster of physical, mental, and emotional moments. I am not explaining all of this for your pity. I am explaining it to show how incredible our God is. It began two and a half weeks after my third ACL reconstruction surgery. For the first four months, rehab and physical therapy went amazingly well. My doctor and PT were convinced that my ACL would hold this time around. In April, I was cleared to start running and jumping again. I was ecstatic. It had been over a year since I had been able to do anything like that. However, about the same time, something in my knee began to catch and cause pain and once again I was forbidden to do anything that would that pain happen. During the next four months, it went from an occasional problem to realizing something major was happening. It reached the point where I couldn’t even ride an exercise bike (which is one of the first exercises of rehab) because of the pain it caused. After being treated for tendo...

People hold an incredible influence on our lives. When someone takes notice of you, it means the world. When someone walks out of your life, it feels like the world is ending. Years ago, a friend walked out of mine, for seemingly no reason at all. There was no warning and no explanation. It has shaped how I make friends and how I keep them. I am reluctant to allow them in and it hurts to let them go. But through this all, I have seen how God has used it. He has brought me to the point where I realized He was the only friend I needed. He showed me that no one will be here forever. God has used this one person to shape me, even without being a physical part of my life. Just a few weeks ago, something absolutely incredible happened. This friend is going to be getting married. In the midst of things, we ended up seeing each other for the first time in years. She sat down and apologized for everything. It took me completely by surprise. Through our years apart, God has been doing an am...

Food isn’t just about sustenance. It is a journey, a memory, a moment. Think of your favorite dish. The way it looks, smells, and tastes. For me, my favorite dishes remind me of childhood memories; Sunday afternoons with my mom, kid’s nights, and cooking with my siblings. There is one dish that takes me back to a summer Sunday afternoons. Football is on in the background and I’m finally tall enough to help my mom make the weekly Sunday dessert. Microwave Chocolate Pudding. As odd as it sounds, this dish taught me more about cooking than you might think, like how cornstarch has to have a cold liquid mixed in and then boiled for it to thicken. My mom would let me help her as soon as I was tall enough to see over the counter. By the time I could reach the microwave, she would let me make it all by myself.  My mom can make this recipe right every time. I, on the other hand, have a little more trouble with it. Ever since I was old enough to make it, it came out lumpy. Even now, with tr...

Time flies when you’re looking and moves even faster when you aren’t. As a child, everyone looked ahead. Whether it was toward Christmas or college, we all anticipated, worked toward, and dreamed about the future, about what was to come. Children don’t stop and think about how great they have it, or how hard the future may be. Time seems to take forever to pass. They see the hope of a lifetime stretched before them. Today or rather yesterday now, I turned twenty-one. I’m officially not a child anymore. As I think about the last twenty-one years (or at least the ones I remember), I realize everything I have learned, whether I wanted to or not. There were a ton, but here’s a short list thoughts: Your siblings will be your worst enemies, but also your best friends if you let them Having a large family teaches you how to make and keep friends If you have what you need, not what you want, you are blessed Take a moment and be thankful for what you have Technology can never replace i...