I never like having to leave at 5:30am. You might be a morning person, but to me it’s a punishment! Then to have a day like today! Ugh! You won’t believe this.
Our 5am wake up call came at 5:30. I told the man, ‘I had a 5am call’ (of course in a polite voice – ummm, NOT). He responded, ‘I actually didn’t have a wake up call for you at all. Your staff just told me to call you.’
We were supposed to leave the hotel for our flight fifteen minutes ago!
So what does my husband do? Get in the shower, like all humans about to miss a flight! SERIOUSLY?!?!
Our team didn’t get a taxi or get loaded and in the hustle and bustle we end up at opposite ends of the airport, bags in all the wrong places and our personal suitcase left in the lobby of the hotel 15 minutes away.
In the midst of the craziness and bedlam, I’m going to to just get honest. I had the capacity to get ugly.
Blazing words were on the tip of my tongue. Entire imaginary conversations were happening in my head where people were being straightened out.
Unfortunately, every time I saw myself in these made-up conversations I had a face that reminded me of the evil witch in Snow White.
She always wanted to be the fairest of them all, but she never made it because we could never see her outer beauty past her inner ugly.
So as I called the hotel manager, because the concierge couldn’t seen to find my bag in the empty hotel lobby, I remind myself that I have the opportunity to either match the vision of the ugly witch in my head or somehow manage to be beautiful in the middle of the bedlam.
There will ALWAYS be circumstances that try to strip our joy, fun, or opportunity. Always? Yep. Everyday.
Miley Cyrus isn’t a lady I quote often, but she does have a lyric that is playing in my head at this moment, “Everyone has bad days”.
So how do we stay beautiful in the middle of it all? Psalm 149:4 says, “He will beautify the humble with salvation.” That is not saying that we have to be weak, just meek.
I can still call the hotel manager, I just can’t be a crazy woman. You don’t have to be anyone’s door mat, but we don’t have to run people over either. We can be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, not our own.
Even as I wrote that last sentence, my husband spilled his full soda on my lap while I’m sitting on the airplane!
I lifted myself out of the flooded seat using a blanket as a towel to dry myself so I didn’t look EXACTLY like I had wet my pants. And my loving husband, sitting so innocently in his seat with his legs crossed and his arms now folded says, ‘You might want to get that off of your computer.’
Visions of the evil witch start coming back to my mind as I formulate the appropriate snotty quip that will likely start a fight!
Any other day I might have yelled,
So my response today with inner beauty in mind? I laugh.
That makes David laugh. Which brings over the flight attendant who joins in and becomes very helpful. She’s even willing to make an all-plane announcement that in fact I did NOT wet my pants.
Instead of the article being ruined, I have VERY current material.
WHY?
Because instead of roaring like a lion like I wanted to. Like I do at my kids sometimes. Like I do at people on staff sometimes – just because someone made a mistake or life got crazy and out of control.
Today I am meek. Today I laughed. Today I DECIDED that I wasn’t going to allow bedlam to steal my inner beauty (because let’s face it y’all – the outer beauty thing isn’t an option today without a shower).
God can bring joy to our heats regardless of our situation IF we allow Him too. Allow Him too? Yep.
Pride, anger, rising up on our own behalf, all the typical and somewhat fleshy natural things that occur in a bedlam moment steal our inner beauty.
The older I get the more I realize that if someone isn’t beautiful on the inside, they don’t stand a chance at being beautiful on the outside.
Beauty isn’t a treatment we receive to our body, it is a treatment that we give others. And in giving that treatment, we are really the ones that benefit!
I wish you a beautiful day – inside and out!
This was great to read today! I had 2 whole weeks like that! After a year of waiting for a family friend of 43 years to complete the sponsorship paperwork so I could study in Saudi Arabia, I made the decision to meet him in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I had never heard of that place except in relation to service personnel returning from neighboring countries! Using all the money I had, I got reservations within 24-hours and boarded a plane. My host was an hour late. Normally, that wouldn’t rattle me to the point of ugly but the Bishkek airport was crowded with unrelenting taxi drivers and airport personnel who didn’t speak English. (My Russian is limited to a few phrases.) Then when the host arrived, we get to the apartment and his intentions were less than honorable. What was running through my mind at 5:00 a.m.? Every single Scripture of God’s provision and promise of deliverance! I stayed for 10 days, mostly alone, (one of those days was my 50th birthday!) But God showed up and showed out, money became available (even when the host threatened to leave me stranded if I didn’t give in to his advances) and I had the most incredible, priceless, experiences! The thought of returning home with no job, no money, no apartment and no car having let all of it go based on promises made over a year was disheartening to say the least. But if God provided for me in a “foreign” land, he will provide for me now. No weapon formed against me will prosper. I am more than a conqueror in Him. He shall provide ALL my needs according to His riches and glory! I will not get wrinkles and have my face frozen into a scary Halloween mask for life due to ugly behavior on my part!
Ria – You have such a brilliant outlook on what could have been a life altering event! I applaud you for leaving your hope and security in our Father!
I can relate 100%! I’ve had many days like this, and — as you’ve suggested — your attitude toward difficult situations is totally up to you. Nobody can take your peace of mind. You must give it away. Although, it is MUCH easier said than done sometimes! Prayer and calm breathing, that’s my secret. If I had a dollar for every time I prayed for God to help me calm down…! 😉
I like you’re secret, David, and I think I may steal it for myself!
Wow, that is a wonderful perspective on inner beauty – a treatment that we give others!! Thank you!
Love this article! How true everything you said really is and how often
are we faced with an immediate decision to let our “inner beauty” shine
or let our selfish “me” attitude surface. No fears…We all have one! And we all struggle with it from time to time. But the closer we walk with Jesus the less likely we are to “manifest” on someone. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit that says “whoa baby” to me when I cross one of those lines… I always repent… and vow to never do it again… until next time. Growing in Him is a process and His Grace is there for us all along the way.
It is a process indeed and I’m happy to be in the process! Thanks for reading, Sheila!