Finding Invisible Stanley

I've rediscovered a lost art recently - reading to our kids. The boys have become such proficient readers in the last year or two that I mostly let them read to themselves. But something recently inspired me to start reading with them again. It's so bonding to slouch on the couch together, snuggled up around a good book and each other. Ben and I have discovered the Flat Stanley series. Somehow I missed these books growing up. They're silly books written in the Fifties about a boy who is laying in bed one night and a poster falls on top of him. Voila - he's flat as a pancake. But like all cartoons of that era, his organs still function normally and he's able to walk around even though he's thinner than a sheet of College Rule paper. (A shout out for College Rule Paper!)

In one book, Stanley becomes invisible. No explanation really, he just eats fruit during a storm and poof - he's imperceptible to the human eye. His parents give him a helium balloon with his face drawn on it to carry around so everyone knows where he is. I've heard the warning that you shouldn't talk on the phone during a thunderstorm, but didn't know the dangers of ingesting fruit. Duly noted in my list of mother's paranoid warnings. The cool thing is that he is able to help people, solve mysteries, lend a helping, albeit, undetectable hand. At first he's a bit saddened by his lack of appearance, then he comes to enjoy it. There are drawbacks and positives, just like any other circumstance of life, but he is able to experience things on a new level b/c of this altered state of being.

From a young age, I have struggled with feeling invisible - awwww, poor thing, you might say. Silly, I know, but as a child I dreamed of being an actress so I could never be invisible. At first it was b/c I was shy, then later it was b/c I felt overlooked. Sometimes in life we all feel overlooked. We look at others and think they have it so much better than we do - people love them more, they're smarter, prettier, richer, fill in a superlative. But when we take our eyes off ourselves in comaparison to others, and simply focus on others, something amazing happens. We lose ourselves, but gain so much more. The world tells us to "find ourselves"; Jesus tells us to lose ourselves for the sake of others. Whom shall we believe?

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:39
"He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30
"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil 1:21
"Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10

How do we find or lose ourselves? One thing that I think is lacking in my own life recently is SERVING. When I think about myself too much, or worry about my invisibility instead of seeing it as a gift, there's a tug on my heart to lose myself for the sake of others. I want to engage more with the world around me, to feel the needs of others more than I feel my own. To help my kids see the importance of caring for those around us whose physical needs far exceed our own. Serving frees us from ourselves. Serving gives us God's perspective on the world. Serving changes us so that we can give w/o expected return. Serving allows us to allow others to care for us in unexpected ways. This is Christ's heart for His creation. This is true freedom.

Use it or Lose it

Why is it sometimes difficult to do the things that we know are good for us? Take exercise... rarely do I feel excited anticipation about the sheer act of exercise. I may be motivated by time with a friend or a kicking playlist that gets me moving or even some alone time (I am an introvert, after all), but the thought of the sheer act of exercise does little for me. BUT, the afterthoughts are GREAT. Endorphins are flowing, muscles are warm, I FEEL skinnier, even healthier. Reading God's word is often like that for me. Writing is also like that for me. Neither of which I do often enough.

God created us in His image, His complete image. Therefore all the components, the elements of our being are holy - I truly believe we are created to be spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual. Maybe relational as well, but that does play into the emotional aspect. When we workout, we're focusing on the physical. When we read scripture or pray, we're strengthening our spiritual component. When we cry at a sappy overpriced movie, we're just plain dumb. The Greek playwrights would claim catharsis - or purging of emotions. There is validity to that and I'm not just saying that b/c I'm a girl! :)

So for the sake of my intellectual, spiritual and emotional health, I am writing tonight. Not because I have a great burning desire to pen a beautiful poem or write an inspirational essay, but simply b/c it is good for me, and God wants good things for me and you. I hope that you will do something good for you and bask in the peace of knowing that God wants good things for you b/c You are His and He loves you.