After the Oompa Loompa Dance

I laid down for a five-minute nap today after a rushed trip into town. The phone rang. One of Micaela's care coordinators had some paperwork to do and needed a signature. By the time we ended the call, Adela's favorite part of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had ended. "All hands on deck!" my mind shouted. Naptime was over.

​I smiled as I kicked my feet out of the bed and went to heat a cup of coffee. My heart hummed. I did an Oompa Loompa dance with Adela as Augustus Gloop went up the pipe. Then I settled down to my computer. In that moment, I realized that I am so different than how I used to be. A half-day like today with the summer heat, cranky children, and an unexpected errand that took four hours would have made me feel quite defeated. Instead, I shrugged it off and decided it could be the adventure that Adela proclaimed it to be.

​The woman I am today is so different. She is so different because God never stops working on me.

​Isn't that a peaceful idea? God never gives up on us. He surrounds our life with intricate understanding of who His children can become and He is ever working towards that goal.

​Today I have more energy, a better attitude, a more peaceful heart, and a more solid faith than ever before in my adult life. And it isn't me who has done these great works. I was never cut out to properly fix a thousand flaws of which half I can not even see and the other half I give up on time and again.

​But God, He is different. If God were to hand out a business card He would promise to be a life instructor, counselor, trainer, father, and friend who never turned His back on us no matter how undisciplined or un-invested we were. God's treatment of us is not in any way related to who we are and is everything about who He is.

​As God's children we have been given unlimited access to guidance that will bring us far beyond the perfect us we imagine and crave to be.

​I have to remind myself of this. I want so much more from myself than what I am today, but faithfully I remember that God is always working. Sometimes he is gently sanding off my sharp edges and sometimes he has taken a hammer and chisel to slam away stubborn faults. Whatever His methods, the results I can see, I can feel.

Take a moment today to thank God for all the miraculous changes you see and feel in who you are. And thank Him too for all the work He still has to do, for coming along side you, and in you, and breathing new life into your every day, your every moment.

​​As for me, Violet is turning violet. Looks like I have more dancing to do.​

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