If you don’t like dentists…skip the first two paragraphs …
This week began with the dentist…a tooth extraction of a broken tooth that cannot be repaired. So I will need an implant( and sadly it wasn’t even the tooth that we’d been watching but another one!) …but I will have to wait another three months for that because the extraction was more “traumatic” than the dentist anticipated. Thankfully it’s not a front tooth so I don’t feel like a hillbilly everyday! And thankfully the removal wasn’t traumatic in the pain department. And since this tooth has been broken since July, I have learned to live with out it it just feels weird.
I don’t about you but dentist offices aren’t my favorite places to go.
I’m very grateful for their expertise and I am grateful that I am able to afford to go. I am also grateful for all my friends who prayed for me not to have a panic attack because that used to be a real possibility when dental work was involved. I realized that it matters who the dentist is and their personality. I think the dentists of today are much more compassionate that those of my childhood and for that I am extremely grateful. It took me a good while to find the right ones!
This post isn’t about dental work…but about the messiness of life. Let’s just say that replacing teeth wasn’t on my list for this summer. I had lots of plans. I just found my list of things I wanted to do and accomplish and the list has only a couple of check marks of completed tasks.
Life just happens that way sometimes. And honestly it’s been rather frustrating! I hadn’t anticipated my dad’s illness, the emotional roller coaster of miracles, caregiving, out of town family visits and then the recovery time necessary from this. My August has been in the “slow lane. “ I had hoped to clean the office AND the garage, but the one week we had nice temperatures for being outside was the week I was out of town working on next year’s pilgrimage! I am not a person who appreciates Nashville summers, even though I grew up here! It hit 100 yesterday! WAY TOO HOT for me to want to do anything!
I have had lots of details to work on that just haven’t happened. And when I procrastinate, it just makes things worse!
MESS….in the house, in the world, and in my head!
So I did the things that help me slow down and ground myself. I painted the view outside. And then I took a walk around the neighborhood to try to figure out what was bothering me beyond my mouth! I took time to notice things along the way. The zinnias In the front yard, the butterflies, the sun moving higher in the sky. I also noticed the bracelet on my wrist made of braided yarn from last year’s Finding Your Thinplace pilgrimage to Iona. I have had this bracelet on my arm for an entire year! This week last year, I was on the beautiful Island of Iona curating an experience of rest and reflection for people who needed to refill their cups and remember that JESUS IS WITH US IN THE MESS OF LIFE!
I sure needed this reminder today!
I need to remember that life is messiness. Life is interruptions. Yes that’s just reality.
BUT JESUS IS WITH US IN THE MESS!
Reminder that Jesus is with us in the MESS
I got to hear Father Greg Boyle speak a couple of weeks ago and I am reading his book The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness.
It’s a powerful book about how God really views us and how we can view ourselves and others through the lens of love and tenderness.
Father Greg reminds me that Jesus, that God, isn’t judging me today for all the things that I haven’t done on my list.
God is with me and is loving me just as I am, right where I am, just as I am. And God is just happy to be with me!
“ God doesn’t require anything of us except to believe this love that will change everything. This will guide what we do, not be a list of requirements.” Father Greg
“Behold God Beholding you and Smiling! “ Father Greg
Can I really choose to believe this today?
YES! Today I will choose the God of Abundant love JESUS!
Today I will choose to be still and to notice the God of love who brings butterflies and hummingbirds to remind me of God’s abundant love.
Today I will believe that God is beholding me and smiling!
“And, yes the god who thinks “we haven’t did enough” is the wrong god. Too small!” Father Greg Boyle P. 7
You can join us on Finding Your Thinplace Retreat Pilgrimage NEXT SEPTEMBER! For more information or questions findingyourthinplace@gmail.com Only 10 spots available . Sept 1-8/9, 2025! Reserve your spot today!
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com