Bermuda Shorts & Back Flips

I well remember the day I discovered my pastor was a REAL person. I was probably about 8 years old. We had been invited to the parsonage for a cookout. Exiting our car, there HE was...dressed, not in a suit and tie, but Bermuda shorts...acting like it was all normal or something! Like it's everyday I see my minister dressed like a tourist on the beach! If that wasn't enough, the evening progressed and he impressed us by doing back flips across the yard. I thought he was SO COOL! I'd never known a preacher who did stuff like that, and here it is, a whole bunch of years later and I still remember it!

Now I'm married to a preacher. I've never known him to do back flips, but he's pretty REAL and COOL to me. He wears shorts, though I don't think Bermuda is the term anymore, and watches football and news on TV. He drives a Mustang convertible and spikes his hair with gel. He likes to shop at American Eagle and orders Strawberry Frappucino's at Starbucks.

I like COOL preachers.

Comfortable in Your Own Skin

My Daddy was comfortable in his own skin.

He was who he was and was okay with that.

I don't ever remember him saying, "I'm too fat, I need to go on a diet".

I don't ever remember conversations about untruths people said about him. He didn't need to defend himself to them or us.

We KNEW who he was, so did he....others were just...well....wrong!

MISSING: "Want To" and "Woo Hoo"

I am a mess.

I've always been a "Suck-it-up-Get-over-it" kinda gal.

So when my Inner Dr. Phil asks, "How's that workin' for ya?", I must admit...not so good. My ability to suck it up and get over it has taken a hiatus. Therefore, this temporary departure has resulted in my serious lack of "want to" and a loss of my "woo hoo". Motivation and enthusiasm have vacated the premises, if you know what I mean.

Recent Sunday School lessons, sermons, and Bible study topics have all hit me squarely between the eye, right where I'm living. I'm not walking in a fog...I KNOW what's wrong, and I pretty much know where it came from and what caused it. What I do about it...now THERE's the rub!

The few with whom I've shared some of my struggles have said, "I understand"..."You've had a hard year. You lost your Daddy...you're living away from your family and kids"...and they are correct and there IS some sort of comfort in their compassion. But that too is a bit of frustration for me because...LOTS of people have lost their Daddy's...lots of people live away from their kids...lots of people SUCK IT UP AND GET OVER IT...why can't I???

I wish I could post a magical remedy I've discovered and tell you I'VE ARRIVED...but, some days I find myself on the Avenue of Acceptance, other days the Road to Recovery, and sadly, a lot of the time I find myself veering off on the Boulevard of Broodiness where I often spend way too much time.

Just a portion of a comment in Philippians 2:13 gives me hope for my missing "want to" and "woo hoo" when it says, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act..." or as my margin notes state, "to want to and to do"! I bear some responsibility in this, as stated in previous verses, but it is GOD who is doing the work, not me!

So...I continue to do the next thing, whatever that may be, trusting that God is helping me suck-it-up and get-over-it by restoring my WANT TO and my WOO HOO! And to that, I say...YIPPEE!