Snowflakes and Joy

Last night a storm blew through town. 65 mile per hour wind gusts, pounding rain and reports of huge balls of hail north of town.  It moved through quickly but left its mark.  At my house the mark was drowned tree limbs and the glass on my storm door broke. My Saturday morning was spent cleaning up.  Cleaning up tiny shards of glass from a wooden deck is not my first idea of how to spend a lovely Saturday morning. Yet I did it because I wanted to protect my family from getting hurt and messes require clean up before growing into even bigger ones.  That is true of emotional storms as well. Many of the storms I've endured have required work in order to move on. It isn't always fun or easy, but cleaning up the emotional mess in our lives helps us move forward and protects our loved ones. If you don't deal with the glass shards of fear, shame, guilt, & unforgiveness your loved ones are at risk from a short temper, an inability to take care of them and more....

Oh summer.  You bring us the heat of Hell, hamburgers sizzling on the grill, kids splashing in sprinklers, the woderful aroma of sunscreen, tents in the backyard, cars loaded for cross country trips and ice cream melting down the cone. Summer also brings so much more. Lazy days that stretch on forever. Twilight taking her time to arrive and the slowly growing fruits and veggies in the garden. I am not a fan of heat. I melt in 70°F weather. I thrive in Winter.  The chillier the better. Still, I am learning to embrace with joy all that summer brings. I love evenings in the hammock with my Snowflake, watching her play with her water balloons or going for evenings walks around the 'hood. Lazy summer days are not so bad. It's only taken me 30+ years to reach this monumental conclusion!

Many of us fight this battle.  The battle of social anxiety.  Our brains lie to us. They tell us what isn't true, bit to the point that we believe it. Social anxiety makes it hard to function, keeps from doing things we may otherwise enjoy.  Others of us battle PTS, post-traumatic stress.  This is not the feeling you get after a scary dream or an adrenaline rush.  PTS occurs 30+ days after a traumatic event.  It can last for days, weeks, months or years (if not treated). It is debilitating and awful. Many fight both battles each once feeding the other.  Mental health is important and not to be taken lightly. Mental and emotional struggles are not a sign of weakness, they do not mean you are "crazy". We live in fallen, sinful, broken world.  It is not as it once was nor as it will be when God restores it. There is hope because whatever struggles we face, no matter hope much of our life we have to battle, it is all temporary.  With death ...

I apologize for my month long absence. I will endeavor to be more faithful.  I can hardly believe that summer is half over. Back to school ads are filling up TV, the WWW and social media. All to remind me that time marches ever onward.  It has been a quieter summer, I am working pretty much full time while trying to give Snowflake some fun summer memories. My childhood is full of summer travel memories. Alas, that is not to be for my child, as my job pays the bills but not any frills. Still, I am thankful for my job and the people I work with. It is a great place to be. This week is VBS at our church. 4 evenings of Jesus, Joy and fun. My Snowflake loves VBS. She will be reciting the verses and doing the hand motions to the songs all year.  I love that it is a fun way to learn about Jesus. That's what I don't get.  As adults we tend to take the fun out of our faith. We were created by God and He has a terrific sense of fun. Have you seen some of the crazy an...