SPLASHES OF JOY!

SPLASHES OF JOY!

Okay, the silliness has begun.............it's Monday morning and I am on unemployed. What do I start my day with?  Thinking about Splashes!!!  Why???  Because I am nuts, that's why!!!  So humor me, will you please?

I was driving down the road the other morning and looked over at the truck next to me carrying 7-Up products and what did the sign read?  Splash Transit!  That got me thinking as you can imagine!!!  How do we transport our "Splash" for God?  Do we spread it all around for others to see or do we keep it hidden inside an 18 wheeler??? 

Splash means to dash or scatter about in masses!  Okay, let's get going:  dash, splash, splatter, scatter, swirl, swash, spray, and sprinkle away!!!  Send out a flying mass of love through the air waives or the internet by email, Instagram, Facebook or whatever social media format you like!  Send out a dash of peace to your neighbor that bugs you!  Swish past your impatience and give your kid or your spouse a mass of patience today - just because!  Scatter kindness and goodness!!!  Add a dash of gentleness next time someone hurts your feelings!  Swirl all the faith you have together and show the world the "masses" of gifts that God has given you!!!  Transport those gifts as "Splashes" to others and show how God has changed your life since you came to know Him!  And, last, but not least, offer NO self-control in spreading God's love!!!

Yep!  The fruits of the Spirit are yours to splash around wherever you can (virtually that is) today!!!  And, splash them again tomorrow and each day after that!!!  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-control.  (Oops, I mean NO self-control on this one!!!)

Now, let’s add JOY!!!  Joy is an emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying!! 

Exceptionally good…………satisfying………..hmmm……think about that!  We have more time to really delve into our thoughts and lives.  What is most important to you now and what brings us joy??? Pure Joy???

Think about elation?  What is that???  Joy with a big name!!!  When was the last time you felt elation???

Was it the first time your baby smiled at you?  What is the news that you were pregnant after waiting 15 years???  Or, was it when your grandchild learned to ride his/her bike with you watching???  Or, was it when you bought your first Mustang…..Nova…..Honda……Harley???

When was the last time you felt delighted as you shared a fun experience with someone special or your family or friends?  Playing cards, playing games together, playing baseball or soccer together?  Going for a walk or a bicycle ride together? While that is on hold for now, but that does not mean you cannot remember those joyful times and journal about them.  Or, better yet!  Write your son or daughter, sister or brother, friend or co-worker a note to let them know how much fun you had with them and you can’t wait to do it again!

When was the last time you really laughed?  I mean a laugh clear down to your belly button laugh!  Can you remember when was the last time you laughed, giggled, or cried at something so funny your sides hurt???  Start a revolution of laughter!!!

Get a comic book or a book full of jokes – go online and look up Knock, Knock jokes!  Just be silly!!!

Splash, sprinkle, dash and scatter a mass of joy in your corner of the world!!!  Splash those thoughts and memories all around when you talk, email, Facetime, send photos, posts, texts to the people in your life!  We need massive amounts of joy, laughter and love right now!  Spread it all around in any way you can!!!

SPLASH TRANSIT, here we come!!!

SPLASH AWAY!!! We need to encourage each other with JOY!!!

SPLASHES OF JOY – We need an entire world of silliness right now to offset the severity of this COVID 19 virus!

Nehemiah 8:10 says: “The Joy of the Lord is my strength.”

Unthawing a heart....

Have you ever heard of someone having to thaw out their heart?  Their heart has grown so cold that they can't even imagine life with it being frozen.

Or, have you ever been hurt so deeply that you think you will never recover?  Have you chosen to go "Stone Cold" to survive?  Have you closed your heart so that you will never get hurt again?

I don't know the answer to that question for you, but I do have a very special friend of mine who has been through such an excruiciating experience that she cannot come up for air.  And, it is 12 years AFTER she left the relationship.

Excruiciate means to inflict severe pain upon; torture; to cause mental anguish to; irritate greatly.
This subject is not a light one.  And, unfortunately, I know more than one person who has been through such a grueling experience.

1) Severe pain.....how do you heal from that? 
2) Torture.....how do you live through years of abuse and not get tainted about relationships and life?
3) Mental anguish.....how do you not put up a wall around yourself, a baracade so high that you won't get hurt again?
4) How do you stop hearing the things that were said to you over and over?
5) Irritate someone on purpose? Do people really do that to others? 

You bet they do!  And, on a daily basis.........for years......how do you walk away from the abuse?  When is enough, enough???

If you know someone who is going through this now, they may be asking themselves:  "How do you explain to your young children that you need to leave the home they have grown up in?"
Or, after the experience is over, you ask yourself:  "How do you tell my adult children what I went through?"  At what point does the truth need to be told???

If I were going through such a horrific experience, these questions would run through my head:
1) Should I build a rampart around me to fortify myself? 
2) Shall I build a wall around myself like a broad elevation or mound of earth to fortify a city as in the ancient days? 
3) Should I build a bulwark that is so strong that my defenses are continuously keeping people out of my life? 
4) Or, do I isolate myself and never tell anyone?  "What would people think if they knew what was going on behind the doors of this "Happy Family?"

Then, once you are out of the situation, what next?  How do you possibly heal from all those wounds.........30 years worth! 

Imagine going into a meat locker where a restaurant owner keeps their meat frozen.  Can you imagine how frigid the temperature is so that the meat does not go bad?  What if you touch something and your finger freezes instantly?  What if the door locked behind you and you could not get out of the freezer? Everything on your body would go frozen......just imagine how horrific that would be!

Well, imagine that person who survived abuse for over 30 years has been in the meat locker.  Her heart is frozen.  Frozen solid.  No hope for a spring thaw either.

In such a grave situation as this, how do you think you would live the rest of your life?  Happy and carefree?  One might hope so, but unfortunately, abuse runs deep.  It goes to the core of your being and replaces joy with fear and anguish.  It is very difficult to come out of this type of situation and be "carefree!"   So, we need to encourage these wounded ones that there is hope.  Hope to heal.  Hope to find love again.  Hope to find JOY again!

Despite the severe pain, the anguish, the physical, verbal and/or emotional abuse that was inflicted, a person CAN heal.  They can choose to heal.  Yet, that is NOT as easy as it sounds.

Please understand, I am not making light of this type of abuse or situation, nor am I judging or criticizing anyone who has been through such pain and anguish.  My prayer is that each person who has been through such a stinging experience, would experience restoration.  A metamorphasis so beautiful that they feel like a butterfly coming into to a new life after being in a cold, dark cocoon of horror.

My hope in writing this is to point these precious wounded ones who have been through so much to forgiveness and love. 

Forgiveness.  Choose to forgive.  Allow the process of forgiveness to take place one day at a time.
One day, you will be happy again.  One day, you will rejoice that you have been able to let go of all that pain....all that grief....all that ugliness.

Love.  Love for the asking. Love for the taking.  Love for the giving.  Restored relationships with people you love dearly and have been at arms length for way too long.

Each is a gift in and of itself.  And, a gift any person can give themselves...despite the pain, despite the abuse, despite the anguish, despite the isolation, despite the enormous hurt. Is it easy to do?  Absolutely NOT!!!  It is so very hard to start the journey of recovery.  But, it IS possible.

And, again, I am NOT making light of this and I am NOT a therapist or an expert. I know that  healing does NOT happen overnight!!!  It may take years of therapy and counseling.  It may take years of learning new thought patterns that are healthy and realistic.  It may take years of hearing good things about yourself before you believe it.  It may take years of being gentle with yourself.

Let me share with you one idea: 
Turn to the One, True, Living God.  Turn to the God who heals.  The God who restores.  The God who transforms us from the inside out!  Come to the Living Water.
Come and rest awhile.

How do I know this? Because I went through a dark experience, too.  Not one of abuse, but one of divorce.  I could have chosen to remain isolated and bitter and resentful.  But, I chose to go to the God whose love is unbelievable, incredible, inexpressible and goes on forever.  I chose to heal.  I chose to let Him change me from the inside out.  I reached out and ASKED Him to heal me.
And, I still ask Him everyday to heal me.

The beautiful part is that  I have been healed.  I have been restored.  And, I know the God who heals!!!  I know the God who transforms us, and I know that He CAN heal anyone.  Anyone who chooses to lay it all down at the bottom of the cross.  Anyone who chooses to surrender their pain, their hurt and their anguish.

He WILL heal us, if we let Him. If we ask Him!!! And, I am convinced that He can heal anyone completely = 100%!  I am living proof.  And, I praise Him from the core of my being for healing me, restoring me and allowing me to share this story. 

I pray that if you are hurting so deeply, you will come to the well.  Come to the Living Waters of Jesus Christ and ask Him to heal you.  He will.  I promise!!!

John 7:38 says:  "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Come.

Lovely.....

Do you know someone who is simply "Lovely?"  I do!  She is beautiful and charmingly so.  And, she doesn't even know she is so lovely!!!  She is sweet, quiet, whispy, gentle, humble, and delightful to be around!!!  She fits the definition of lovely:  having a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind as well as to the eye, as a person or a face.  Her beauty does appeals to the heart!

This person is a friend named Loraine.  Even her name is lovely.  Spelled with one "r" because it is English.  And her middle name is Rose.  Imagine a rose which petals have such a velvety touch and an aroma that is so fragrantly beautiful that it is wonderful to behold.  That is Loraine.  How does one get more lovely than that?

Loraine loves to garden and her flower garden is exquisite!  The flowers are gorgeous and delightful and exude her loveliness!!! From Spring until Fall they bloom and grow as she tends to them in such a tender way....I love visiting her garden in the Spring and Summer and getting a bouquet to take home - they are simply exquisite!!

Another quality Loraine has is that she loves to quilt!   Anyone who sees one of the quilts she has made can see that she puts love into every piece, every stitch of the quilt and then, she gives it away!  From the moment she chooses the fabric to the moment the quilt is finished, there is a special love that is poured into every piece of fabric that is sewn.  Her loveliness comes out even in her sewing!!!  How's that for lovely???

Several songs that I sing often remind me of the description of Loraine:
One of my favorite Christmas songs sung by Barbra Streisand is called:  "A Christmas Lullaby."  And, one of the lines in the song says:  "For someone lovely as snow falling...."  Isn't that beautiful?  I hope to become as lovely as snow falling one day.....but in the meantime, while God is still working on me, He has put that loveliness into Loraine!   
She IS as lovely as snow falling!!!  And, everyone who knows her is blessed, including me....

And, another song from The Sound of Music called "Maria" has another line that describes Loraine:  "How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?"  "How do you find a word that means "Loraine?"  Lovely..........simply lovely!!!

That internal beauty that quietly exudes from her personality and life is something to behold.  Some people may wonder how one person can be that lovely???   I am not sure how God decided to put that much loveliness into one human being, but He did!  I believe that loveliness comes from her deep faith.

Thank you Lord for the exquisite gift you have given me in this sweet friend, Loraine!  
If you know Loraine, then you know exactly what I am describing and if not, may you be as blessed as I am to know someone this lovely.