Hammer on Anvil '

In high school I met a guy, we dated for almost three years. We went everywhere together, including my family's VW bus road trip to the beach. We made plans for life after high school; however, not too long after graduation, we broke up and I was in absolute disarray. My whole life was planned with this guy in mind. For days I sat in my room and played the Smashing Pumpkin's version of Landslide on repeat and wrote tragic poetry. My parents were growing weary of always seeing me mope around and they asked often if there was anything they could do. I just quoted Over The Rhine lyrics to them and went back to moping, writing and lamenting. I was embarrassingly sad.

 Eventually, I began to open up about the hurt and disappointment I had felt. My friends and family listened and tried to comfort my crazy, but I was so wrapped up in my own problems that I lost sight of who I was and what I was becoming. I let hurt turn into bitterness and I was becoming a terrible example of the joy we should have in the Lord. My dad suggested that perhaps I should remove myself from my own dark drama and plug into something that is more illuminating.

These kids were probably fine five minutes later.

That week at church, there was a desperate need for nursery and children's church workers. I signed up and I was promptly placed on rotation to help teach.

My first day on the rotation, a little three-year- old was amazed at the "shine-ees" on my face. He loved to point out my facial piercings and he told me often that he "liked me anyway." I needed to hear that.

The next time I was placed with infants. I snuggled up to a cranky little guy that I was determined to soothe. I prayed, swayed and sang for an over an hour, and eventually he cuddled himself into a nap on my shoulder. I needed to feel that peace after some big fussing.

On my next rotation, I was leading praise for the preschoolers. We set out a box of tiny instruments and we sang, marched and made noise for the Lord. At the end of one song, a robust four-year-old ran up, almost knocking me over. He enthusiastically hugged me and thanked me for being "fun."  When it was time to go, he excitedly told his Mom, "Miss Hannah makes loud like a kid, because she loves Jesus a lot." I needed to hear that Jesus could be seen through my joy and silliness.

During one stormy night at VBS, there was a tornado siren blaring. Instead of panic and chaos, a group of six-year-olds huddled around me and asked if we could pray. We prayed and then lights flickered before going out. A little girl spoke up and said, "Well, since we've already prayed, can I sing you a song I made about a Popsicle? It would be funner than just waiting in the dark." I needed to see that faithfulness in action and joy through patience.

The times I wasn't working, I spent praying and on a mission to renew my spirit. I prayed for fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and hoped that working with these little kids would make me overflowing with childlike faith. Kids, however wild and crazy they can get, are still more loving, joyful, gentle, thankful, patient, peaceful and kind than 90% of the adults I know. Sure, some of them need to work on self-control, but really who doesn't? When they are upset or hurt, they get over it amazingly quick. They do not mope for days. They get up and do something about it. They are resilient like nobody's business. They aren't ashamed to seek help. They don't let disappointment turn into bitterness. If they hurt someone, they are quick to apologize. They are amazed by things we adults scoff at and they find hope and have faith for all things. Even during the roughest times, children will find something to be cheerful about ... and this is the message I needed to witness. This is what Mark 10:13-16 illustrates so clearly. Jesus said we must become like children. At the end of each shift I left thinking, Man, I've got a lot of work to do.

Now, I am still learning to be both mature in faith and childlike in hope, and I still have mopey sad times, but Proverbs 26:11 has already called me out on that. The Proverb says, "As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly." Ew. I want to be fun like a child, but I am real tired of acting like a fool. This is  why I still volunteer for children's ministry at my church and precisely why I cherish it so dearly. It also may stand to reason, also, as to why I tweet so many of my children's, The States', quotes. We all have a lot to learn from children.

So here's your mission, should you choose to accept it: Whatever you are going through, whatever is happening in your life, I want to encourage you to remove yourself from your drama and plug into the Lord. Find something else to do that isn't sitting around and pouting about how things did not turn out the way you had planned. It's fine to feel sad sometimes, but don't be high school Hannah. Find something to be cheerful for, friends. Get out and do something different. I mean, if it is making you so mad/sad/bad and indifferent, change it. And if you can't change it, find something else to focus on.

Friends, you cannot control what happens to you, what others do, or the success of your plans, but you can control your attitude. Today, pray that the Lord ignites childlike faith, wonder and hope in your life.

I would love to hear from you! Have you been renewed by removing yourself from the focus? Do you have verses that helped you through a time you needed hope and peace? Let me know! I would love to rejoice and praise God with you.
 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his MIGHTY power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18 (emphasis mine)

On Tuesday morning, after a few days of feeling like poo, Doug got up and went to go pick up his reserved copy of some game called Black Ops 2. It's apparently a big deal and my husband is really into his game right now. And yes, eventually this torrid affair will fizzle and he will go back to talking about the lawn or a new gadget he wants to save for, but for a few days, it's fun to watch a hardworking and incredibly faithful man act like a total kid about something he simply enjoys.

I love it! I love it when my husband gets caught up in a new video game. He gets enthralled. It's adorable. And I am not being factious here. I genuinely love watching grown people get really excited about something in their lives. It can be anything. Needlepoint, gaming, cosplay, barbecue, traveling, Christmas, Halloween, parades, Lord of the Rings, tools, coupons...I dunno, something. I love watching people get excited about something that brings them joy!

Sadly, though, some of us forget to simply enjoy life. We are so busy just living that we forget to notice that life, even when it's ugly, is still oh-so-wonderful.

This is not an opinion shared by most. I remember as I kid my love for all things cute was met with jeers and snide comments. "One day you'll grow up and see that Happy Meal toy is just a gimmick, sweetie," a counselor said to me while we stopped at McDonalds on the way back from a week of church camp. All my friends were ordering huge portions of nasty food. I decided to order a smaller portion with a nice price tag and added bonus - I got a wee Cruella de Vil toy with the food. Neat! Then I had four different people try to tell me how bizarre and immature my choice was. Really? Of course it is, but I was just a kid enjoying some junk for a few minutes. I knew brussels sprouts would be on the dinner table later, but I just wanted for a brief moment to be excited and enjoy the cheap toy and junk food my parents rarely allowed me to get.

A few months back, one of my dearest, best, good friends, Katie (from KatieMade Baked Goods & Confections) came over to bring her tasty baked goods, her brilliant wisdom and her much needed humor for my weary soul. (Oh friends, everyone needs a friend like Katie. She is a friend that makes even the heaviest of hearts rejoice.) In the middle of my over dramatic tangent about something absurd, she points out that I might not be crazy, but I may just be a personality type that is not often understood. She then found a web site and, like a shrink, began to ask me questions on how I feel about various things. Ten minutes later I read the results of a profile for a INFP personality. And let me tell you: It was the closest thing I have ever read to describing me. Way to nail it, Myers Briggs personality test. The weirdest part is that even my oh-so-accurate personality profile references Star Wars. Yes, I can't even get profiled without some nerdy charm. Like I was saying, it's me to a tee.

Anyway, the point is this profile stated something that I have always held dear to my heart as a great resource. Sure, it makes me seem a tad off, or a bit kooky, but I believe God gave me this personality for a reason. The beginning description for an INFP personality type states: "INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It's as though they live at the edge of a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities."

Whoa. This makes me sound like Alice in Wonderland, but it's the truth. That's how my head feels. I am not all rainbows and butterflies all the time, but I try to keep my head as cotton candy and Disneyland as possible. Now, this does not give me a pass on hurts and fails, but in most cases I can look past the current struggle and find something magnificent.

Children are a lot like that. Despite what is happening around them, children have this inane ability to find something fun, something good, something to hope for, even when things are falling apart.

Last week our family was passing around some stomach funk. My son Indie had been dealing with a brand of tummy yuck for days, and despite the fact he felt gross, he was still up, ready to play and, as he says, "ready for an adventure." And in between jaunts to the toilet, he was still so cheerful.

Oh Pretenders, please find that childlike joy. Let's look for good in things, instead of always being on a witch hunt. That's the point, friends, we can stop searching and planning to see evil around every corner!  And we are supposed to. Philippians 4:8 says,"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

Maybe it's time to take your statistics about this sick, sad world, and simply find something enjoyable. I hope that joy is in the Lord, but at this juncture, I will be pleased as punch to see you get excited about Black Ops 2. I just want to see that you are still able to feel, express and extend joy and excitement about something in your life. And the world needs to see that, too.

Oh honey, I get that there are evil things out there. I know there are bad people. I know good people do bad things. I further know that just because we claim to love Jesus won't stop us from being terrible humans sometimes. I know this. But this does not mean we need to stay planted in front of Fox News all day, writhing about how the world has gone to crap. Darlin', the world has been crap since people were put on it. It's nothing new, but the object of our faith is to show light and salt to a world that is so dark, bland and stale. We should try to shed light on the truth and then while adding flavor we will preserve that childlike faith in others. That's not easy, but it's vital.