The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:9
Are you able to agree with me about being sick and tired of winter? It’s so bad, right? If only we could see that sun again! Have you been able to keep your body energized, a smile on your face, and high hopes for the day? I’m so proud of you if you said, “Yes!”
I’m sorry to say that all the rest of you fall into my group. Let’s just let it out and own it. I’m sending you an imaginary balloon to hold, so here we go…we’ve dealt with sickness, dreary weather, no sunshine, miserable attitudes, and it’s even too cold for ice-cream! The animals seem to have disappeared too. It’s miserable, and I’m tired of it. Ok, you can let your balloon go now that the pity-party is over. Feel better?
I’m not quite done with mine, but almost. Let me give you a recap of my Monday. We had to be out the door by 7:30 because my youngest was getting braces put on. He was in no mood to put a smile on his face because he feared the process. It was a battle to get any happiness out of him. My hubby was packed up and getting ready to leave for work. He’d be gone for several days, so I knew I was on my own with the whole braces issue.
Now let’s talk about my oldest. My hubby and he were several hours away from Friday morning until Sunday night at an event out of state. They got home late fighting exhaustion, and my oldest was dealing with a cold. After he struggled to get going Monday morning, I told him to make sure he had all his school work to take with him because he’d be sitting for some hours after his own appointment while waiting for his brother.
When we made it to the orthodontist’s office, my oldest looked at me and informed me he forgot his math book. The book that I specifically said to make sure he had. Well, nothing we could do at that point except some extra literature. It was shortly after 8:00 in the morning; this didn’t bode well for the rest of the day!
The braces were on and my youngest was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t that big of a deal…yet. We stopped at the grocery store and a pharmacy on the way home to get some cold medicine. We got back to our humble abode and got everything put away. We had lunch before my oldest crashed for a short bit. The phone rang letting us know we were getting company. I warned them about the sickie in our house, but they were ok with that.
Our company left and my oldest wasn’t looking that great. All I kept thinking about was how we needed to do some more school! At this point my youngest was complaining that his teeth hurt, and my oldest was complaining about his stomach hurting. What? I didn’t have anything for a stomach issue, I was prepared for the cold. I realized then that school wasn’t going to be happening. So, I made my oldest get a bucket to keep near him. It’s a good thing I did too because he promptly lost everything that was in his stomach and then some!
After getting everything under control in the house, my pup had to go out. I didn’t notice anything wrong until I started coming back to the door. That’s when I noticed the bulb (that I just had my hubby replace that morning) on the landing under the light. I was a bit confused because the light was still shining! I picked it up to find that it apparently burst from the socket, leaving the inside behind. I’d never seen such a thing. Chalk it up to another crazy part of my day!
Now that I look back, I choose to believe it was God sending me a message. I needed to stop my moping about what’s going on in life and see that no matter what was blowing up around me, I could keep on shining. I was ashamed to admit that I hadn’t been shining too much lately.
You see, all we need is the inside to stay plugged into the electricity of God. All that outside stuff…the things that go wrong, the healthy body that feels like it left, the money that has dried up, the sunshine that’s not showing up, the attitudes all around us…that can’t take away our connection that keeps the light shining from inside us. Even if there are clouds, the sun is still shining above, and we need to trust the days will eventually become bright again, right?
I challenge you to stay connected to the true source of light and keep on shining when the outer covering is blowing up around you. Remember how my youngest feared the process? Don’t fear the process; learn from it. Become a stronger person because of it.
When we keep the inside light shining, it illuminates the things we missed because of the dark. Suddenly, I noticed the robins are all around again and all types of birds were outside singing away! There’s the first step telling me the days are going to get warmer and brighter. Reconnect if that’s what you need to do, then let everyone see that you still shine!
