Lemons… Curveball… And the Wringer…
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life throws you a curveball, hit it out of the park. When life puts you through the wringer… Have you had enough of this one liners yet? I have! Someone once said, “I’m not a rainbow shooter,” meaning that they were not going to be making things pretty for the sake of the feelings and emotions of themselves and others. Shooting rainbows is exhausting, and cannot be a long-term reality. We need to leave the rainbows up to God and remember why he places them in the sky. As a reminder of a very faithful promise to Noah and his family. (this is a whole other post 😊)
I understand what the originators of these one liners were attempting to do, but it just not possible to narrow down life’s “knock you off your feet” moments, down to lemons, curveballs, and a wringer. Although the wringer does come close!
Allow me to just state a downright honest fact: I DO NOT LIKE SUMMER! Never have, and do not anticipate I ever will. I do not like to be hot. I do not like to sweat. I literally could hibernate the whole summer and be perfectly fine! It’s harder to breathe, which triggers reflux, which then triggers stress and tension, which triggers migraines. Migraines are triggered by heat, humidity, dehydration, air pressure, and so on. I do my best to not dread summer, but this is a challenge.
One thing that I have discovered in the tough moments, along with the grieving times, moments of confusion, and “flat on my back” sick moments, is that remembering the things that bring me joy. Reminding myself of the simple everyday happenings to the abundance of God’s goodness and faithfulness. A lot of my “aha” moments come during these reflection times. Because in the tough moments, it is extremely hard to clear the clutter and have clarity to see exactly what God is doing, but I believe strongly, that He gives us these times of exhaustion, fall on our knees, even sickness as a time to reflect on what He has done.
Many migraine days, I have had to lay flat on my back and listen to children playing around me. And this gives me joy, but also this is possibly the only time I really have FOMO. I really do not like missing out on interacting with children. But some migraine days I have had to miss out on other things, small and big, I can’t always say “God had a reason,” but there have been a few times that I can truly say, “WOW, thank you Jesus!”
I get really anxious when I have extremely painful migraines. Thankfully these occur less and less due to medicine and knowing my triggers and having a plan of action. But when they do, I start by taking deep breaths in and then breathing out and saying the name of Jesus. Once my heart rate is down, I begin to list the things that He has provided that bring me joy. This is where my “practice” of this began. It usually goes like this:
- Starts with things surrounding me:
- Fans
- Air condition
- Pictures
- Lucy’s swaddles and lovie blankets that I can hold
- Bubble baths
- Essential oils
- Ice packs
- Then it expands to the things that bring me joy everyday:
- Birds singing
- Handprint and footprint art that reminds me everyday the Lucy was here- and how tiny and unique my niece and nephew and the children I kept truly are
- Laughter
- Color
- Rain
- Music
- Art/Crafts
- Children loving and knowing Jesus
- Children’s handwritten notes
- home videos
- Baby noises
- Playing
- Tulips
- Squirrels
- Butterflies
- Bows
- Books
- Movies
- Smell of Pampers Swaddlers 😊
- Snail Mail
- Clean Water
- Sweet Tea
- And the list goes on
Some of the list is the same every time, and then things are added too. The point is to pivot my focus from me to Jesus, from pain to Jesus, from chaos to calm, that only He can give.
Now anxiety does come with my migraines, but it also likes to sneak up on me at other times, and I do the exact same thing- breathe, say the same of Jesus, and list the things that bring me joy.
I don’t know where you are in life today or what you are facing head on, but I do hope you know that you are not in it alone! I pray every week that whoever is to come across this blog will be encouraged and know that there are others with invisible pain, chaos, and struggles. And that these things are absolutely real! Practice saying or writing down all your “I don’t likes” and then saying or writing down all the things that bring you joy. I like to call this a balanced mental health regimen 😊
Life Book of the Week: Noah the Narwhal: A Tale of Ups and Downs, by Judith Klausner and Sarah Gould
The picture today brings me tremendous joy! I recently had a migraine and stepped out of my bedroom to this scene. My niece and art supplies scattered and a lot of creating happening. Pure Joy! I have put together an “Art Cart” and love watching what will be created from the things I provide. This picture THRILLS my heart, and it especially was a heart lifter in the midst of pain. Joy. Pure. Joy.
Art Cart I purchased and assembled with all kinds of supplies: markers, all kinds paper, stickers, glue, tape, beads, string, etc
