As I prepared for my first trip out to the grocery store, I knew I needed something to cover my face so I rummaged around the house (because we don’t keep surgical masks in our linen closet). Finally, I found the perfect thing! I came across one of my Dad’s old kerchiefs. As I picked up the kerchief, I was feeling melancholy reminiscing about and missing Dad. I decided to take a “selfie” and text it to our kids, my best friend, and my siblings. The reactions I got were hilarious and quickly lightened my mood.
My brother wrote, “Looks great, Lois. Especially on a former bank manager.”
Followed by our daughter who is a local Public Defender, “Gang colors? You look like a conflicted client.”
Then a follow-up response from my brother, “These are desperate times, ‘Former bank manager robs bank.’”
Then again from daughter, “Don’t forget your meatloaf gloves! … Now you are ready!” What a funny exchange of sentiments that had me laughing out loud when we were done.
And then there was our Skype call with the great-grandkids. Our daughter could not get the sound working on her laptop so they could see but not hear us. After 5-10 minutes of struggling with the audio on her computer, we finally decided to just do some “Gpa and Gma sign language.” WE – pointing to ourselves – LOVE – making the shape of a heart with our hands – YOU – pointing to the children. They caught on quickly and before we knew it, everyone was giggling with the various signs and faces we were making at each other. Even though they could not hear us, it was one of the funniest interactions we have ever had with them and I know they will remember it.
You know, God is so gracious to us. He is so ready to help us adjust to the bumps in the road we face in life and show us the humor in all of it. Just yesterday, I read I Peter 5:6-7 again,
“Humble yourselves therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
What a wonderful reminder. First, we need to
humble ourselves before God. We know that He is good and only wants what is best for us, so we need to trust him to
lift us up when the timing is right.
Then we need to
cast all of our anxiety
on Him. That means we need to toss all of it away and let go of anything that causes us to doubt and get trapped in the cycle of fear.
Why? Because
He cares for you! He cares so deeply for us that even the smallest concern of ours concerns Him. Now, who can argue with that.
