A five-years-later April bonus
This muttered list from the bathroom floor is far from pretty, but it's honest.
“Good news: I am no longer shivering on the bathroom floor. I’ve returned to the land of the living to give you two honest book reviews.”
^ from today's All The Things Instagram Stories
You know “the land of the living” is said half-jokingly when it’s from the girl who, from day one of Even If Not being available, has written Psalm 27:13-14 below her signature. BUT I'M BACK. Or, well, approximately 65% back after taking after Alexander and his “terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.”1
I’m officially upright, no longer keeping a bowl always within arms reach (possibly TMI but this is All The Things #blessit), and praying all the prayers that I don't have the same parasite a friend brought home with her from the (in)courage trip. Several of us came down with Something Terrible, Horrible... you get it... but somewhere in the haze of the last 48 hours an old, old print came to mind, just three simple words on repeat.
I designed this five years ago, stuck it in a “haven’t shared yet” folder on my computer, and eventually forgot about it as I just kept on creating other designs. Somewhere in between fading in and out of naps (you know alarm bells are going off when the girl who legitimately can. not. sleep. is all the way out at 6:30pm), checking email for any work emergencies, and trying to stay hydrated, the somewhat ironic phrase dropped into my lap… so I started naming things, no matter how small or silly, ignoring how very much I didn’t want to think of a single non-complaining thing in that moment.
To be clear, it was far from pretty or holy, this muttered list from the bathroom floor.
But I’m still thinking about this corresponding quote, and now that I’m (please Lord) on the mend and able to look at a screen again, I thought I’d send it + a snippet of the list + the old print your way, moving it from the “never shared” folder into your inbox... A little April All The Things bonus, if you will, before our Author Call next week.2
Grace isn’t about having a second chance; grace is having so many chances that you could use them through all eternity and never come up empty. It’s when you finally realize that the other shoe isn’t going to drop, ever. Grace is when you finally stop keeping score and when you realize that God never was. – Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet