I'm trying to squeeze in a long-lost bit of catching up while listening to the delightful older couple behind me talk about going home from Panera to take a nap.
Did you get that Joel?
A very Happy Wednesday friends.
I decided to wring all I can out of a day away from laundry and keeping kids looking at workbooks and screens and up and became the dreaded, "Walk-In" for a haircut.
I know it says, "Walk-in's Welcome," but are they really welcome?
Really?
Are people really just hoping someone comes in, has no idea what they want done with their hair that only does one crazy thing anyway and messes up their regularly scheduled programming?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
That's why this morning I brought chocolate.
True story.
I shoved it in my bright pink bag that I got in Italy when my carry-on decided to give up the ghost.
That was a series of really fortunate events that I will have to come back to at a later time.
Anywho, I left the house a half hour after my adorable husband and saw him at a stop light on my way to freedom- er, I mean, to study and write for the day- and waved to him like I had just come off the Appalachian Trail and hadn't seen him in a week.
That's good, right Joel?
Well I passed him on my way to Rita who always cuts my hair in an entirely different way each time I see her, per my request and yet it still looks just about as homeless as the last time.
I just love Rita.
I leave feeling like a million bucks for literally 20 bucks and head to write leaving hair in my wake at every turn.
I've been out for hours now and it's still like confetti on my computer.
This weekend holds another pretty monumental day for this very unprofessional speaker.
I am studying and praying and look forward to encouraging new friends to just keep one foot in front of the other.
Last Sunday, Easter Sunday marked ten years here in Ohio, today my fourth turns 17 and in just over two week's time my oldest girl graduates college.
There are a lot of emotions falling like little bits of cut hair these days.
I love that God is never-changing, that my husband sends me to Panera and that my kids still can't facetime without inside jokes reminding us that we are all just going to be alright.
And I love that that last sentence was a bit wonky but I can leave it there because this is the space my husband purchased as a Valentine's gift for me to do so.
Today I'm full of Earl Grey and thanks.
For a space to not answer problems of brothers Rubix Cube-ing instead of working, for a peace that in the midst of speaking to ladies I can just ask the Lord to show himself strong and in the midst of change I can still get in a cold bed at night like clockwork with a delightful man who reminds me of all the things I forget.
And hands me Tums when I still think I am 20.
The other day I sat in church, preparing to give public praise for all that the Lord has been doing in my heart when I already felt the tears welling up.
I waited for the infamous, "Alright we are going to just have a few more testimonies.." because I was too busy crying at everyone else's thanks to even try to give mine.
I silently prayed that the Lord would dry these crazy tears so I could just clearly thank him.
Of course I didn't make it two sentences without the ugly cry and afterwards apologized to my teens whom I thought I had horrifically embarrassed.
I told one of them that I had specifically prayed for the Lord to take my tears away, and he didn't miss a beat.
"Mom, John R Rice prayed that the Lord would take his tears and he did. He later said that that was the worst sermon he ever preached."
(Insert wide Mom eyes, him noticing them and continuing on.)
"Yeah. He had to pray that the Lord would give them again. He always felt badly about crying while he preached. The Lord did give them back to him. So don't pray that way."
Wellalrightythen
There you have it friends.
Don't pray away tears.
Just get really good waterproof mascara.
A sweet older lady keeps looking my way and for fun I finally caught her eye with a big smile.
She now thinks I'm a creeper and her husband just broke his plastic knife in the apple he is attempting to cut so she'll have to tend to that and forget about me for a bit.
So the time is fleeting today but I am grateful for an unchangeable God.
For strength to be faithful.
For grace to go on.
For faith to be strong.
For peace when things seem a bit frazzled around us.
When Hair turns color again and you make peace with it,
When kids pray about big decisions that He sees and knows before they do,
When waistlines come and go and your hands begin to look just like your Mom's he remains.
With his amazing sameness as two breaths ago.
Hebrews 13:8 is this season's life-changing verse: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Deena 13:8 would read, "Deena Royalty the same mess in a different location yesterday, today and forever."
I mean think about it.
Hebrews 13:8 can't NOT give you encouragement in any situation.
Try it.
The van needs new brakes? The Lord is the same today and promises to meet my needs as only He can.
Covid is on the rise again? Jesus promises to be with us forever and if he is with us we don't need to fear.
Same promises, same Savior.
Same limitless amount of time, same provision.
Same love drawing us, forgiving us, same security.
If Ephesians 2:6 says what it does, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." then doesn't that mean that we are so close to the LORD at all times that our deepest sighs are prayers for help?
Always seated in the same place with the Same power at our disposal every moment of every difficulty?
Same closeness for the enjoying?
I'm tucking Hebrews 13:8 in my heart and back pocket and heading into some new territory today.
Maybe you are too?
Might I suggest that the tears can fall and hearts can feel a million things almost simultaneously, and God is still faithful to bottle them and understand what we call a conundrum.
Yesterday, today and forever.
Amen.
