It’s been a crazy few days here in the “Normal Household”. Lots of changes at DH’s work- job/no job? Pay cut? How much? Lots of decisions and adjustments to be made. But, in the end, life is life and you roll, right? Let’s be honest here… we aren’t living in our car, we have food on the table, and our children will continue to get 100% of what they need and a good 90% of what they want. You won’t be hearing any complaints from me. Well… you might, but that’s just because I’m snarky and like to complain through sarcasm, not because I’m really unhappy.
But as DH and I clung to one another and began to sort through these crazy times together I had some time to reflect. And I have discovered two things. First, I am grateful for the foundation of Truth upon which we base our lives. And yes, I meant Truth with a capital “T”. As our finances twist in the wind and stress continues to grow, we have a faith that is unyielding and solid. I know the plan my Father has for me. I know He is made perfect and strong in my weakness. I know that He who began a good work in me will see it through to completion. I know that if I do not lean on my own understanding, He will direct my path. And Lord knows I know that His ways are not my ways. These are not phrases I have found in self-help books or greeting cards. These aren’t words of encouragement to get me through a difficult time. These are words of power and strength. They are timeless. They are the Word of God that don’t just help me push through during a difficult time, they pick me up, wrap themseleves around me, comfort me and carry me through those times.
The second thing I discovered is that you don’t have to look hard to find other “words of wisdom” that the world will toss at you to get through the challenges of life. Although encouragement is wonderful in any form, I have found that most of these are cliches that don’t hold much weight with me. And, to be honest, a lot of them are just plain stupid.
So I have chosen a few of the cliches I hear most often. And using my wonderful gift of humor *cough yeah right cough* I will attempt to show you just how lame many of them are.
1) “Life is a journey…” So I decided to do a mini word study here. (By word study I mean I looked up the word “journey” on dictionary.com. Not real academic, but cut me some slack) According to said source a “journey” is defined as “a travelling from one place to another, ususally taking a long time.” Well if that isn’t the most accurate definition I’ve heard, I don’t know what is. I am traveling from one place to another and some days it seems to be taking a really freakn’ long time. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a journey. A nice stroll sounds good. How about “meandering”? Is that a choice? A journey sounds like those people who go on vacation to the middle of no where with a tent, a frisbee for a plate and a bag of rice. That’s no vacation. A vacation includes room service, a pool and a spa. Can’t my “journey” look a little like that? Now I know where my end is. I am confident that through my relationship with Jesus I am headed to a great place; and believe me, I couldn’t be looking forward to that day any more than I am. But in a small way, I think that’s a little sick-my journey is toward death? Just think about it for a minute.
2) “The world would be a boring place if everyone was the same.” Actually, no it wouldn’t. I think the world would be wonderful. If we were all the same, we’d all want the same things and there would be little conflict. Isn’t a large part of the world’s confrontations about the clashing of conflicting goals and desires?Now I know there’s the issue of wanting the same things so we’d all be in constant competition, but if everyone was the same we would probably come up with a way to create, produce or provide enough of it. I mean, come on, if we all want it and we all can do it, we all will. Besides, “the same” is all we’d know. So we wouldn’t even realize that there could be a difference so it couldn’t be boring.
** And let me add in here that if the world was full of people like me it would be even better. Streamlined efficiency? Constant sarcasm? Schedules? Plans? Twilight blogs 24/7? Could you really ask for anything better? I think not.
3) “It’s the tough times that make you grow the most.” Ummm….yeah… Now we all know this is true. If life was easy we would rarely be forced to change or grow. Hard times are the breeding ground for new ideas. I get it. But I have to say that if I’m going through a particularly difficult time and you come up to me with a hug and that phrase, I’m probably going to punch you in the nose. Sorry. Just being authentic. Who in their right mind wants to grow? Who wants to be stretched to become a better person? Just listen to those words- grow, stretched. ugh! It even sounds painful. Let’s be honest, most of us, deep down inside, really would be happy with lives that were just plain easy. The growing and the stretching lead us to a great place but that also requires growing and stretching! I don’t want to be a better person right now. I want my husband to have a guaranteed job until the day we decide to retire. I want him to have an awesome salary that will allow us to pay off our house and his student loans, keep my kids in a private school and allow me to splurge on $50 pants now and then. Is that really too much to ask for? Geesh!
**Now this next one has nothing to do with getting through tough times, but whenever I hear it from someone I pretty much just want to yell “HA! Liar!” in his or her face.**
4) “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.” Really? Are you sure about that? Because I’m about to take a monster bite out of this Big Mac, wash it down with an X-Large container of fries and a chocolate shake and I’m pretty freakn’ sure it will be fan-freakin-tastic! I love the new size 4 shorts and pants I just bought last week, but I’d be willing to skip eating all together for the next few days just to scarf down that lunch of champions. I’m just sayn’. Thin-shmin- hook me up with some Mickey D’s.
Now that’s the kind of journey I’m looking for!
Praise God for Truth.
that’s just my normal…
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