One hundred ten days…
I was at a party in a public place the other day when I accidentally used the men’s restroom. Even worse, I didn’t notice until a perfect stranger asked me for directions to the bathroom, and I sent her to the men’s room as well. My friend intervened giving proper directions to the woman, then said to me, “I thought I saw you walk out of there a moment ago.” Hmmm… I think Mr. Senility saw me standing on the doorstep to 40 and decided to briefly say hello.
I’m actually just using 40 to conceal my ditzy behavior. When I was a child, it was much worse. On one particular day, I was invited to a friend’s house to swim. Later that afternoon, we were asked to come in for a snack. Her mother had made onion rings, and she set the plate on the table for us. I really, really wanted an onion ring, but I was so backwards and shy that I said, “No thank you.” While everyone else was at the table gobbling their delicious, golden- fried, artery-clogging onions, I decided I was going to sneakily reach my hand in the bag, grab one, and no one would be the wiser. I waited to make sure they were occupied talking and eating, and I quickly stuck my hand in the bag only to be startled by the frostbite feeling in my fingers. The bag of onion rings was frozen! It was only seconds before the laughter erupted, since my reaction had drawn everyone’s attention. I have no idea why I just didn’t accept the plate of stupid, heart-attack-inducing onion rings in the first place! Why, God why????
Looking back at my life, I’ve modeled that behavior quite frequently. I don’t really like to impose on anyone (i.e., the onion rings). I have often tried to be sneaky and solve my problems on my own without anyone knowing there was anything wrong, only to have my “fingers frozen” and feel as if the whole world was laughing at me.
I couldn’t hide the fact I had only one child. The familiar question asked of me was, “Just one?” If I had a dollar for every time those insensitive words were spoken to me! People mean well; they just don’t stop to consider there might actually be no choice in the matter.
So, if I could relive those times, I would just be myself. I would say “yes” to things I want, and I would not hide from others the things I want but can’t have because I have no choice. If you are struggling with something, lean on someone you can trust. It’s okay. Supportive people who can encourage and pray for you will make a big difference in a difficult situation.
Say “yes” to the onion rings!!! Oh, and be observant so you don’t go in the wrong gender’s rest room… mm hmm, yeah, that too…
I did a similar thing when I was young. We were camping and watching a movie at the camps activity hall. The family behind me made a huge bowl of popcorn and it smelled so good. It was all I could think about. The lights were out so I thought, no one will see me casually sneak my hand back and grab some from the bowl, because everyone is watching the movie. Right? Well my parents didn’t catch me but the family behind me snickered and then politely asked me-“would you like some popcorn?” They pretended they just happened to ask, but I knew better.