I recently renewed my license plates. When I ordered my license plate I wanted it to say something inspirational and encouraging to the driver behind me. I thought of things like “LOOKUP”, “TRSTGD”, “BEKIND”, “PRSHIM”, & “LUVYOU”. All of these were taken.
So, in the crunch of time, as my husband was pressuring me to give him an answer on what the total cost would be so that he could record it into our checkbook, I spontaneously chose his childhood nickname. He was a little boy who loved Winnie the Pooh. His nickname rhymes with Scooby Dooby or booby!
When the new license plate arrived we got a good laugh out of it. I changed my license plate to support the hospital where my daughter was hospitalized after the accident. I’d had the same combination of letters and numbers for years and I did not like the provocative combo. So when I switched to the hospital license plate I thought I would also switch up the label. I chose this as a laugh for my husband. I did not think about what it would look like to anyone else. The nickname doesn't have any other meaning (that I am aware of).
After I drove through the car wash the other day I had to Google it to make sure that was true.
At the car wash, the 20-something-year-old attendant was assisting an elderly customer ahead of me. She stood there expressionless after he pulled away and & took my card. As I pulled away, I looked in the rearview mirror and saw her reading my license plate and saying the word out loud a few times. I could see her lips moving. I'm sure she thought, "What in the world?"
She went inside the car wash office and retrieved everyone that was inside to come out to the car wash terminal. She tried to be nonchalant, but as everyone stood there at the side of my vehicle waiting for it to pass on the conveyor belt they were very obviously reading my license plate. All of them got a good laugh.
Our current world has conditioned us to immediately be offended by everything, hasn't it? I'd be lying if I said my feelings weren't hurt a little bit. For Pete's sake, they were laughing at me! But before my car exited the car wash, I too was smiling. What a stupid thing. The nickname is silly. It sounds funny coming out of your mouth. It has absolutely no meaning. The fact that it made those 4 people laugh that day was wonderful. From here on out I hope that the Shmoobee - Ruby - Flooby name on the back of my minivan has people scratching their heads and wondering. I hope that as they say it, it makes them giggle. It's sad that our immediate reaction to most things is to become offended. We are all so easily offended by each other that we miss the opportunity to just laugh at life and the stupidity of most things. Why in the world we can't laugh at ourselves & each other, is beyond me. We are all fighting for justice in all the wrong places. This girl did not look like she wanted to be at work that day. I can't imagine that working at a car wash is the most enjoyable job. I would think that your feet probably get wet and you feel like a cooked noodle by the end of the day. After I got over myself I was able to call my husband and let him know that he was making people laugh. It was nice to see people laugh. I got to thinking about the people that I regularly encounter when I venture out into town. People lack personality nearly everywhere I go. Remember when it was customary to smile at those we pass? As we are all so easily offended by each other and just going through the motions of life without love and compassion, we are zombies wandering around. People walk around with their heads down avoiding eye contact with others while grumping and groaning. We take every chance we can get to gripe about each other online. I miss the days when we could just show up at each other's houses and share some iced tea. I haven’t experienced that type of communal living since I was a child! My kids know that if the driveway alarm goes off and it's a vehicle we don't recognize they get away from the windows. They hide!
I don't find the current state of the world easy to live in. But I believe that God put me here and this time for a reason. I also believe that every generation has its struggles. It's easy to romance nostalgia. Lately, I have thought a lot about how lovely it must've been to live in “simpler times”. There is always war and disease or rape and murder. But it seems like years and years ago they were getting things right in other ways. I've always heard that “it takes a village” to raise a family. However, I have never experienced the village. Looking back on the times past, it seems it was easier to have that village. People lived on shared land, they shared meals and could rely on each other. Aside from the bizarre man-made religious beliefs, in some ways, the Amish community still reflects this way of living in fellowship with each other. I love that. I know enough Amish people to know that they aren't getting it all right either. There is a lot of misery, abuse, and mental health issues in that community as well. But, our current society has grown so distant from each other, it’s sad. I have become so accustomed to raising my children on my own, doing my own thing, and avoiding human interaction as much as possible that I'm not sure how to comfortably bridge that gap.
Do you just come to a screeching halt one day and open your doors?
Or is there a way to gradually build those bridges?
I've had three friends recently - who do not know each other - that I have met with individually - that have all said the same thing, “We need some land somewhere to build a commune”. It seems as though I am not the only person aching to exit the zombie apocalypse that our current world has become. People are yearning for connection, simplicity, & fellowship. People want safety and protection for their children.
The task of raising zombies from the dead feels daunting! It's not something that you or I can solve on our own. It's going to take more than a ridiculous license plate name that sparks laughter. It's going to take more than smiling in public. These are good things and we have to start somewhere but it's not JUST that. It will take us all continually choosing on a day-to-day basis to show up and fight the good fight. We must be putting on the armor of God daily, not just when we feel like it. (Ephesians 6:10–18)
We must constantly be advocating for love & kindness. We must act like we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must be showing grace and mercy to those who least deserve it. I don't have all the answers. I don't believe that here on earth we are supposed to know everything. Someday it may all be revealed to us, but in the meantime, we must constantly fight against our flesh nature. The only way to do this is to live in the word. (Romans 12:2)
If we want to experience connection we must be going out of our way to connect. It's OK to be uncomfortable sometimes. If we are never uncomfortable, we will never grow. If we want to live simply we must fight against worldly ways of consumerism. If we want fellowship, we have to open our doors. Figuratively and literally. We have to be willing to open our hearts to others and this might mean, as scary as it may sound, opening our homes.
Today is the day that we stop acting like mindless zombies wandering the Earth, waiting to devour the first sad sap that hurts our last precious little feeling.
We must be looking for ways to be kind to those that we encounter. Listen to your God feelings. We must show compassion, love, and grace when we are out in the world. The world needs Jesus. We are so distant from God that we are walking around like zombies grunting at one another. “If we want to see the change, we must be the change.”
We have to prioritize people out of love.
Love God - Love others.
Have you ever been out, let's say getting groceries, and you see someone struggling in the store? Have you felt the urge to help them or offer a hand but you push the urge away thinking they'll figure it out? What if we acted on those urges? Maybe this is a good place to start bridging the gap. Simple gestures of kindness and love.
I believe when we feel that tugging on our hearts to serve those around us, it is God.
The Holy Spirit is in us. The Holy Spirit wants us to do good. When we ignore those nudges from God, the devil wins.
I was at the grocery store a few months ago and I didn't have a ton of money but I had a little extra. There was an old man behind me who was only getting a few things. I felt the urge to pay for his groceries. I ignored this urge. I found myself thinking he probably has plenty of money or he's driving a Cadillac home… I got in my car and immediately felt very guilty. God told me it didn't matter what type of car he was driving. That man needed God that day. It didn't matter if he had more money in his bank account than I did. It's not about money. It's about being the hands and feet of Jesus and witnessing to those around me. I denied that man the opportunity to see Jesus at work. I denied the clerk checking out the groceries the opportunity to see an act of love and compassion. When we ignore the Holy Spirit the damage goes far beyond someone missing out on free groceries. I felt so guilty about not buying his groceries when I clearly knew that God was telling me I needed to do it. I called my husband and told him and he said, “You should have.” I was fearful that I would upset him (because we can barely afford to feed our own family most weeks) but he told me he wouldn't have been upset. I should've listened to God.
I missed out on the opportunity to show my children how to love others. I was a part of the problem that day. So, after this, I decided not to ignore The Spirit when he speaks to me.
“As we love like Jesus, we will become more like Him!”
“LOVE one another as I have loved you.” -Jesus (John 15:12)
GO AND DO GOOD.
Love is an action. We must take action.
Say hello, send a card, take a meal, help someone at the store, we must start somewhere. We can do this!
“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” - Hebrews 13:16
Our time here is fleeting. There's no better time than now to be His hands and feet.
Godspeed,
Kelsey
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