What If...

Well, I can no longer say I never win anything. As of this week, I have now won two amazing prizes in my lifetime. One, a large leafy plant that threatens to one day become something huge enough for Rick Moranis to deal with, and two, a movie on DVD called simply What if...

 

It's a story about a man who is gently forced (is that an oxymoron?) to see what his life might have been like had he made a different choice at a major crossroads in his life. Kind of It's a Wonderful Life in reverse.

 

After watching it, the idea of “what if...” got me thinking.  What if I started thinking outside the box?

 

What if...learning a foreign language wasn't as hard as I thought? I've found that spending a mere 10 minutes a day 'gently forces' these new words into my subconscious until the new language starts to become intuitive.  This became apparent one day when I mispronounced "Chinco de Mayo" on the back of someone's t-shirt coming out of Costco.  It was then I knew my Italian letters and sounds had become second nature.

 

What if....everything I knew about healthy eating was wrong. Gary Taubes, a highly acclaimed scientific journalist, tackles this controversial topic in his exhaustive tome, Good Calories, Bad Calories, and, since reading said tome, I have made different decisions because he took the time to think outside the box.

 

What if....you could write a novel in thirty days? My daughter and her cousins are about to stretch their imaginations and find out.  I'm looking forward to reading them on December first!

What if... the extremely long, well-thought out and detailed email I wrote to my cousin regarding homeschooling that was subsequently lost when my computer went down unexpectedly, what if that was supposed to happen because Someone wanted me to say something different? 

 

What if...God really was bigger than my problems?

What if...He really does have a plan and purpose for my life?

What if...even though I don't understand why He's allowed certain trials and challenges in my life, He really does know best?

What if....because He unconditionally loves me, I can, after all, unconditionally trust Him...with everything.

Hurricane Season

 I know it's a real phenomenon, but what's up with hurricane season?  Six months out of every year there's a weather condition so bad that it destroys homes, businesses and even lives.  Every year!  And these people continue to live in these places?  It's kind of like saying, "Ok, everyone, just a reminder that Godzilla season is coming up, so be on the lookout for a large T-Rex-like creature roaming the countryside seeking to destroy everything in its path.  Oh, and be sure to stock up on food and supplies."

 I don't have to move to the Southeast to experience a hurricane.  I'm living in one right now.  From the car needing a new transmission, a dog requiring teeth removal, a son desperate for help with a long writing assignment for school, a daughter requesting advice on finding the perfect man, a husband traveling across the country for work, to starting a new company, filing tax forms, getting business licenses, serving at church at o'dark hundred, learning to paint in the hopes that one day it can be a potential source of income, all the while living with a chronic health condition that gives me less hours in the day to get things done than I'd like....whew.  Out of breath.  It's hard to breathe in a hurricane.

And I'm supposed to be the glue, the hub that my family revolves around; offering wisdom, comfort, and perspective.  How do I do that when everything is swirling around me so fast that it's hard to focus on any one thing?

Then I see it.  Blue sky, sunshine, light ahead.  The eye of the storm.  Fighting my way out of the swirling mass, I head to the center and look up.  And He's there waiting for me.  It's calm here, quiet, peaceful.  He offers me wisdom, gives me comfort, and puts everything in perspective. 

Finally, I get it.  He's the glue, the hub that everything revolves around.  And, while I can show others the way in, I'm not designed to be the center.  He is.  And as the hurricanes of life move through, I need to move with them, keeping a weather "eye" on Him.

iPhone Home

You've probably seen the ads.  A basic cell phone with really big numbers.  And NO extras.  This is what I told my husband that I wanted.  I don't want to text, surf the net, play games or take pictures.  I just want a BASIC phone that calls people.  Really, that's all I want. 

Then I saw the iphone for the first time.  It was elegant.  Intuitive.  Comfortable to hold and very easy to use.  In the twenty or so minutes I spent waiting for my husband to handle whatever business he had at the AT&T store, I was hooked. 

That was two years ago.  Now, as I prepare for my upgrade to the latest and greatest, I realize that I would be hard pressed to live without this amazing device.  I have been able to keep in better contact with friends I don't see very often by using Facebook.  I get periodic updates from my kids during their work/school day via text that they never would have called me about.  I have taken pictures I never would have captured since I'm forever leaving my camera at home.  And then, of course, there's Angry Birds....nuff said.

I realize that I make some pretty ridiculous demands of God too.  I give Him my list letting Him know exactly what I want..... and don't want.  Specifically.  I think He must be chuckling up there as He prepares to give me exactly what I need instead.  I may think I want simple or basic, but He, out of all of His vast storehouse of resources, wants to give me elegance.  I want to settle for easy; He wants to challenge me to try something new.  I want to focus on one thing; He wants to show me my potential.  

Staying in close connection with Him in that comfortable, intuitive relationship that I constantly seek is key to accepting all He has for me...whether blessing or challenge.  And that's a great reminder to "phone Home."

Thinner

The year I turned 15, my life was forever changed by a number.  A seemingly innocent question by a friend of mine about how much I weighed ripped off the rose-colored glasses of childhood.  Not only had it never occurred to me to weigh myself, it had also never crossed my mind to compare that number with everyone else.   And so began a thirty year battle with numbers - numbers on a scale, numbers on a measuring tape, numbers on a clothing tag.

Growing up as a dancer didn't help.  No bump or roll could be hidden in the leotards we wore to class.  Every Monday was a new diet to be tried and every Friday was the beginning of a weekend food bender.  Working out and studying diet books became my hobbies.  Everything revolved around getting thinner.

Amazingly, it's only been in the past few years that I've come to terms with who I am and how I'm made.  I'll never look like Angelina Jolie.  And, that's ok, because I'm finally discovering the power of true thinness.

In truth, I am just a clay jar sitting on the Potter's wheel.  But slowly, as He turns the wheel and works that clay, bit by bit, I become thinner.  The process is not easy, and is sometimes downright painful.  Over time, the clay softens in His skilled fingers. As I allow myself to be stretched and shaped, I become thinner and thinner until the once thick, heavy clay now appears almost transparent.  But the power isn't in my transparency; the power is only found inside the jar....filled with the pure gold of the Master Potter Himself. 

Pure gold that can now be seen because He has changed me. And made me thinner.