I tried not to laugh. I really did. It was almost midnight and my husband was snoozing five feet from the bathroom door. It was Memorial weekend and he was thirty-one hours into over-time on day two of storm duty. He could be called back at any moment so I didn’t want to wake him.

I was exhausted too. Physically, because it was nearing midnight. Emotionally, because we were depressed after our recent move from Texas. Humor was in short supply. We’d let too much seriousness sneak into our days.

After tip-toeing past Jeff and into the bathroom, I squeezed paste onto my tooth brush. About five seconds in, something was fishy. I mean, it smelled fishy.  Tom’s of Maine tooth paste has a weird taste and odor but this was different.  After sniffing it, I shrugged and continued scrubbing until I looked in the mirror.

The white stuff was a little too creamy and a tad too white. A quick glance into my toiletry basket revealed a long forgotten tube of Preparation H sitting on top of my Tom’s of Maine.

I thought, How stupid, Robin. Then, looking back up at the ointment oozing out between my teeth, I wondered, Will my gums shrink and make my teeth fall out?

Trying to stifle my giggles, I rinsed and re-brushed. They still bubbled out as I slipped into bed.  Holding in the humor made the bed shake and I snorted ~ which woke Jeff.

“What’s so funny?” I didn’t have breath to explain. He laughed because I was laughing and when the story finally got out, we  held our bellies. Good, cleansing laughs with the works. Snot and tears and calming down  to sleep until one of us giggled again.

When’s the last time you enjoyed a good belly laugh? Are you so burdened, even by everyday irritants, that you miss the blessing of humor? We don’t have to look far to see we’re created for it. It’s wired into us for a reason.

Proverbs 17:22 tells us, “A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.”

When did we start taking life so serious? Perhaps we need to look back and seek healing. Maybe we just need to relax. If we’re not careful, a somber spirit becomes natural to us. It’s the way we roll. Too hard on ourselves and others.

My friends, let’s not get so bogged down in difficulties and busy-ness that we forget to see life’s funny side. Even the most bizarre and illogical can be downright comical.

Let’s lighten up. Life’s too short to be stern and humorless. Learn to play a little and laugh a lot. And don’t forget to laugh at yourself. It’s good medicine for the mind, body, and spirit. Our moods and our relationships will benefit from it.

I pray peace and laughter for your journey, my friends 😀

 

 

Photo from www.pixabay.com

 

 

 

 

Clutter. I hate it. Dust and dirty floors don’t bother me but the stuff that piles up jumps right on my last nerve. To overcome it, I tidy up and light a fire under my family to do the same. Not always easy, but manageable.

What about life in general? Although we may prefer it uncluttered, is there danger in thinking it’s supposed to be trouble-free?

I grew up with someone who expected life to be perfect. Nothing dusty or scary. He longed for a perfect home and a “normal” family. He compared his life to an illusion, to others whose lives appeared problem-free and uncomplicated.

When things didn’t go as envisioned, he forgot his blessings and was overwhelmed by his burdens. He sank into a martyr mindset. Without realizing it, he became a willing victim. It seemed everyone was against him. Even Mother Nature thumbed her nose at him when weather didn’t cooperate with his plans. He was a wounded sufferer and it blinded him not only to his need for help and wholeness but to the hope that it was possible.

I believe most of us have an underlying sense of fairness and justice. That’s good. God put it there for a reason. But, it gets gnarly when we think how life should be or would be, if only. If only they’d listen. If only that didn’t happened. We can “if only” and “what if” ourselves to death, spiritual death. We aren’t entitled to an easy, uncluttered existence. That, my friend, is a fantasy.

In her devotional, “Jesus Calling,” Sarah Young encourages us to “relinquish the fantasy of an uncluttered life.” To surrender our version of how it should go. In the book of John, Jesus spends a lot of time warning His disciples of the dangers they’d encounter. In 16:33, he says, “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But, take heart! [Be courageous!] I have overcome the world.”

Aren’t you glad our mental clutter doesn’t have to rob us of peace and abundant life? It’s not always easy, but it’s doable. God says so. Romans 12:2 tells us we can be transformed by changing our thoughts.

Perhaps the closed-in feeling I get around clutter is connected to my claustrophobia. Which reminds me that our minds really are fierce battlefields. I fight irrational messages by thinking: The elevator won’t get stuck, the elevator won’t get stuck, the door will open, just breathe. In a pitch-black underground cavern, I’m reminded the guide who shut the door behind him is not an axe murderer. He will eventually lead me back out to daylight.

When the way is dark, Jesus has our backs. Speaking truth and peace. You will get through this and you’ll be stronger on the other side.

This new year, I’m determined to keep fighting irrational fears, including my own sneaky, martyr mindset by staying connected to God. I do that by reading Scripture and talking to Him every day. Sometimes, every minute of every day. Out loud. Hey, “normal” is boring.

My friends, when we stop looking for flawless in a fallen world, our battle scars remind us we’re not wounded, we’re healed. We aren’t victims, we’re not martyrs, we’re victors ~ moving forward by God’s grace. We’re still standing in spite of the clutter.

I pray peace and rational thought for your journey, my friends:)

 

Photo from Pixabay.com

On especially tense days in my teen years, I ran a wooded path to my favorite spot on the Mississippi backwaters. Sitting on a fallen tree near the riverbank ~ toes dug into sandy soil and damp leaves ~ I filled notebooks. Yet, even my darkest writings mention a light. I didn’t know what it was and it was always dim, always distant. Something good, just beyond my reach.

Recently, in “Beauty From Ashes” I shared my  story about the Christmas  food box left on my porch and how it re-lit that glimmer of hope. It inched me toward believing maybe God wasn’t distant. A year later, an unexpected grant paid the $10,000 hospital bill from our son’s cesarean birth. I see the Light again, seeking my attention.

When we look back, perhaps to five minutes ago, we see God show up. In the sunrise and sunset. In the birth, smile, and coo of a baby. In a kind word spoken outside a hospital room.  It’s those serendipitous moments that tell us He’s here. He wants to slow our pace, soothe our pain, forgive our sin. The Light leads us to turn away from whatever robs us of our divine design.

Pastor Brian Wangler, says, “Where you are, you are. But you don’t have to stay there. The Light can lead anyone, from any place, to repentance.” We don’t deny our struggle with bad decisions or difficult life situations. We are where we are. But, we can change direction and move forward, rescued from a cycle of sin or discouragement.

We don’t have to stay sad or stressed or stuck in bad attitudes.

When astronomers—the Magi—saw the eastern star, they researched and found Isaiah’s words written seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth. He prophesied to God’s people who let a dark culture invade their hearts and minds. “Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever … The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.”

Later at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Matthew records “‘…the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.’” God’s ancient promise, fulfilled.

I’m long past my teens when  that ray of hope kept me in the fight.  It wooed me for twelve more years until I saw no other way to peace. Though my life isn’t without pain, I now know the Light that always shows up. Then as a glimmer, now as my Bright Light. Jesus is my steady hope and abiding peace. Not only within reach, but dwelling with me.

The light of Christ changes everything.  I chose to walk with Him twenty-seven years ago and he still rescues me from my dark side. From stress, depression, and bad attitudes … when I let Him.

The promise still holds. When “death casts its shadow,” a Light shines for us.

Can you see it? It shows us The Way of hope and peace and a right relationship with God. It calls us to freedom.

 

 

Presents. Presents. Presents. I don’t always like shopping but I do love  finding the perfect present.  Especially for that hard-to-buy-for person, like my husband.

But, can the pursuit of the perfect present overshadow the perfect gift? Are we side-lining Jesus and forgetting God is with us? John tells us in chapter three of his gospel that God so loves us, He gave His presence to the world.

At the time of Jesus’ advent, the world was tumultuous and violent. He came to a discouraged people living in a messed up society. They were oppressed and over-taxed by a brutal Roman government. Children were sacrificed to false gods, burned alive in raging fires. Vicious ethnic divides over religion, culture, and tradition were fueled by hatred, ignorance and legalism. Sound a tad familiar?

I know this is gloomy talk so close to Christmas, but Christ’s arrival is a real story for real people in real trouble. Though Jesus came as a sweet babe, He was born to be a rebel. The news of his birth began a war in the human heart. Herod, already seeing Jesus as a threat to his throne, tried to kill Him by ordering the mass murder of babies and toddlers. Fear makes things really ugly, really fast.

Religious leaders were also threatened by Jesus’ birth and his prophesied future. During His three-year earthly ministry, Jesus declared war on religious leaders and bigots. He got angry and spoke up to defend the voiceless. He fought not for power nor to revolutionize governments but to rescue human hearts from sin, fear, pride, and despair.

 In John’s gospel we read, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”  Jesus gives us life even after our last breath.

In chapter ten, John recorded Jesus’ words, “The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” Jesus also offers abundant life, here and now, but there’s this thief ~our soul’s enemy. Call him a devil, Satan, or just plain evil. If you doubt his existence, you needn’t look far. Like a friend told me, in her sweet southern drawl, “He’s as real as you and me sittin’ here.” His aim is to distract us with bitterness or apathy or even good and shiny comforts until we forget what’s most important: Our personal relationships with God and people. All people.

I’m not gonna lie. I love UPS deliveries and those cheesy, classic songs from Bing, Nat, and Dean. But over all, I choose Jesus. He is my steady hope and perfect peace.

This may not be a typical Christmas story but Jesus isn’t a typical man. His arrival split history and started a revolution. His life, death, and words are still controversial. He’s unconventional but He is our beautiful Immanuel, God with us.

Will you let Him rescue your heart? May your pursuit of the perfect gift stop here. Find joy, freedom, and purpose in God’s presence, my friend.