Reality isn't Always Pretty

Merry Christmas! I really should have titled this post, "What Looks Like Ordinary on a Crazy Day."  That title was a little long for a blog post. It is a riff off of one of my favorite Pearl Cleage novels. I could write a book under this title but I think I am going to keep this post short and sweet but give each of you something to think about. I was prompted to blog this by the foolishness that I have dealt with this week and something a very dear friend said to me after dinner last night.

Everyone can't handle your dysfunction. Take that nugget to the bank and cash it. That being said, let me encourage you to have some one with whom you can dialogue the crazy/ridiculous/foolish in your life so you aren't left thinking you are crazy. I am so thankful to have pared my friends down to folks I can bare most of my soul to and know that they aren't going to let me go off a cliff.  Life takes turns and twists that you can't even imagine. Sometimes, you hit that proverbial wall and don't know how you are going to break through it. Venting to others can help you deal with it. Pretending that things are okay when they aren't, is being phony. It also keeps people from praying for you and encouraging you through the dark moments. If you are stuck in a dark time and don't reach out, you may find that it wasn't you who needed to be heard at that moment but the other person. They needed you as much as you needed them. That is the balance of friendship.

When there is no one to go to, Jesus is always there. Emmanuel, God with us, is always present. You can cry out to Him at any time, in any place. You don't have to fake it with Him because He already knows. He can handle it all, just remember to cry out to Him.  I am guilty of making things look great even when the world is crashing down all around me. The more I think about it, the more I realize that part of the testimony is not looking like the mess that you are in, but being forthright enough to be real about it. Women perpetrate daily and that is okay to some degree, but pretending every thing is honky-dory when it isn't doesn't allow others to see God to do His best work in you and through you.  It also fails to acknowledge the fact that we were built for relationship, thus we need the prayers and encouragement (and yes, sometimes even correction) of others.

As we go about the Christmas season, ask God to show you just one person you can bless with your words or an act of kindness each day. You may turn their fraudulently ordinary day in to a real ordinary day; but even if you can't solve their crazy, you can give them hope that a brighter moment is coming, because it is. Be blessed and be a blessing--that is what this season really is all about!

In Christ's Love,

Pam