Greetings from the road! Right now our family is escaping the winter chill of Colorado and spending seven weeks in Southern California – soaking up precious family time and trying to squeeze in a bit of writing each day while the kids are sleeping. But for the most part, we’ve been biking along the ocean, watching dolphins, visiting Disneyland and Legoland and enjoying a brief visit from Eric’s parents who have joined us for a week out here. Hudson, with an extra-special fervor, has especially loved being around his Gee-ma and Gee-pa (the names he picked for his grandparents when he was two).
Just yesterday, Eric and I snuck off for a few minutes to enjoy the beach while Harper was taking a nap and Hudson was playing with Gee-ma and Gee-pa. When we got back to the condo, Hudson seemed quite disturbed. He came up to me and asked, “Is that funny lady still laying over there on the couch?” I looked around to see what “funny lady” he was talking about. The only person lying on the couch was Eric’s mom “Gee-ma”, but surely Hudson wouldn’t be terming her “that funny lady”? Would he? This went on for quite some time. Hudson would talk of nothing else. We tried to talk with him about his new little kid-version digital camera, but his mind was consumed with the “funny lady”. We attempted to talk with him about his amazing day at Legoland, but all he could think about was the “funny lady”. It turns out that, while we were out, Eric’s mom had slipped on a rubber mask of an old wrinkled lady and just laid there on the couch acting like she was sleeping. As the story goes, Hudson saw this old “funny lady” and just stared at her for ten minutes straight, mouth agape. Hudson was so disturbed by this incident that he now refuses to go back to his grandparent’s condo where the “funny lady” lays around on the couch.
Even as I was putting him down to bed last night, he was still thinking about it, telling me that he didn’t want to go back to Gee-ma and Gee-pa’s condo anymore. It’s amazing how similar this whole “funny lady” saga is with Christianity. We are happy as a lark, just returned from the joys and untold delights of our own spiritual Legoland adventures with Christ only to run into the distraction of the “funny lady laying around on the couch”. Suddenly we can think about nothing but this funny lady ~ "who is this woman? How did she get here? Is she dangerous? What happened to Gee-ma? Boy, is she wrinkly!" And meanwhile, all the simple joys and delights experienced only hours earlier are swept under the rug of this new and seemingly imposing mask of illusion. It would seem that my past two months have been crammed full of “funny lady” masks. Eric and I have made the statement over and over again lately, “This situation seems like a major crisis, but it’s just an illusion from the enemy!” Again and again, we have encouraged each other to “not give in to the distraction, but stay focused on Christ.” The truth is ~ It’s just a mask, the “funny lady”doesn’t really exist. But our senses are screaming otherwise saying, “yeah, I know, but I’m looking at her right now, and she looks quite real to me!”
There are a hundred things planted inside every day that seek to distract us from our true purpose (aka ~funny ladies). Health issues, money problems (usually shortages), friendship debacles, family strains, job pressures, emails, cell phones, etc and etc., however, the true Christian existence will not allow anything to distract, no matter how loud it barks and how big its footprint in the sands of our life. I know exactly what Hudson is feeling right now. I know what it is like to fixate on the ominous presence of a “funny lady”. But what is needed is not fear, anxiety, and trepidation, but the boldness and daring of our Jesus, to walk right up to that “funny lady” and grab that mask and yank it off ~ we must expose it for what it is. That “funny lady” shouldn’t be allowed to keep Hudson away from his grandparent’s condo, anymore than our own “funny ladies” should be allowed to keep us from our Father’s grand presence.
I want to encourage each of you that those fresh joys of your spiritual Legoland adventure are still yours to enjoy and take delight in. If you too are experiencing the ominous presence of a “funny lady” in your life, then grab yourself by the scruff of the neck and rouse your inner man (or woman) for a confrontation and march right up to that couch and say, “Hey Funny Lady! I hereby unmask you and expose you for what you really are!” There is amazing victory when we don’t allow the enemy’s illusions to intimidate us. As Leonard Ravenhill said, “Satan fools and feigns, blows and bluffs, and we so often take his threats to heart and forget the “exceeding greatness of God’s power to us.” (Eph 1:19)
Unmasking the Funny Ladies,
Leslie
Unmasking the Funny Lady
1-8-08
Greetings from the road! Right now our family is escaping the winter chill of Colorado and spending seven weeks in Southern California – soaking up precious family time and trying to squeeze in a bit of writing each day while the kids are sleeping. But for the most part, we’ve been biking along the ocean, watching dolphins, visiting Disneyland and Legoland and enjoying a brief visit from Eric’s parents who have joined us for a week out here. Hudson, with an extra-special fervor, has especially loved being around his Gee-ma and Gee-pa (the names he picked for his grandparents when he was two).
Just yesterday, Eric and I snuck off for a few minutes to enjoy the beach while Harper was taking a nap and Hudson was playing with Gee-ma and Gee-pa. When we got back to the condo, Hudson seemed quite disturbed. He came up to me and asked, “Is that funny lady still laying over there on the couch?” I looked around to see what “funny lady” he was talking about. The only person lying on the couch was Eric’s mom “Gee-ma”, but surely Hudson wouldn’t be terming her “that funny lady”? Would he? This went on for quite some time. Hudson would talk of nothing else. We tried to talk with him about his new little kid-version digital camera, but his mind was consumed with the “funny lady”. We attempted to talk with him about his amazing day at Legoland, but all he could think about was the “funny lady”. It turns out that, while we were out, Eric’s mom had slipped on a rubber mask of an old wrinkled lady and just laid there on the couch acting like she was sleeping. As the story goes, Hudson saw this old “funny lady” and just stared at her for ten minutes straight, mouth agape. Hudson was so disturbed by this incident that he now refuses to go back to his grandparent’s condo where the “funny lady” lays around on the couch.
Even as I was putting him down to bed last night, he was still thinking about it, telling me that he didn’t want to go back to Gee-ma and Gee-pa’s condo anymore. It’s amazing how similar this whole “funny lady” saga is with Christianity. We are happy as a lark, just returned from the joys and untold delights of our own spiritual Legoland adventures with Christ only to run into the distraction of the “funny lady laying around on the couch”. Suddenly we can think about nothing but this funny lady ~ "who is this woman? How did she get here? Is she dangerous? What happened to Gee-ma? Boy, is she wrinkly!" And meanwhile, all the simple joys and delights experienced only hours earlier are swept under the rug of this new and seemingly imposing mask of illusion. It would seem that my past two months have been crammed full of “funny lady” masks. Eric and I have made the statement over and over again lately, “This situation seems like a major crisis, but it’s just an illusion from the enemy!” Again and again, we have encouraged each other to “not give in to the distraction, but stay focused on Christ.” The truth is ~ It’s just a mask, the “funny lady”doesn’t really exist. But our senses are screaming otherwise saying, “yeah, I know, but I’m looking at her right now, and she looks quite real to me!”
There are a hundred things planted inside every day that seek to distract us from our true purpose (aka ~funny ladies). Health issues, money problems (usually shortages), friendship debacles, family strains, job pressures, emails, cell phones, etc and etc., however, the true Christian existence will not allow anything to distract, no matter how loud it barks and how big its footprint in the sands of our life. I know exactly what Hudson is feeling right now. I know what it is like to fixate on the ominous presence of a “funny lady”. But what is needed is not fear, anxiety, and trepidation, but the boldness and daring of our Jesus, to walk right up to that “funny lady” and grab that mask and yank it off ~ we must expose it for what it is. That “funny lady” shouldn’t be allowed to keep Hudson away from his grandparent’s condo, anymore than our own “funny ladies” should be allowed to keep us from our Father’s grand presence.
I want to encourage each of you that those fresh joys of your spiritual Legoland adventure are still yours to enjoy and take delight in. If you too are experiencing the ominous presence of a “funny lady” in your life, then grab yourself by the scruff of the neck and rouse your inner man (or woman) for a confrontation and march right up to that couch and say, “Hey Funny Lady! I hereby unmask you and expose you for what you really are!” There is amazing victory when we don’t allow the enemy’s illusions to intimidate us. As Leonard Ravenhill said, “Satan fools and feigns, blows and bluffs, and we so often take his threats to heart and forget the “exceeding greatness of God’s power to us.” (Eph 1:19)
Unmasking the Funny Ladies,
Leslie
