{illuminate}
The Sparkle Series. Ever heard of it? I'm writing it. It's my take on what it means to shine. Go here to catch up with all us cool cats. Now then. We're ready. Everybody stretched? Yoga-ed up? Limber? Good. Let's illuminate, shall we?
This life is full of snags. Pits. Deep dark sneaky corners where monsters really do live. Those monsters have names.
Complete with jaws full of yellowy jagged teeth dripping with green fungus fur, these monsters rule. They camp out in our closeted hearts and sabotage our situations. Subtly, these Goliath type giants fold back our accordion trifold doors only to smother us inside our own skin. Suffocating and life squelching, our days ensue.
True story. Yep, it happens. The "choose your own adventure" options for the story of these villains looks like so:
Choice A: You don't cognitively get it. You have yet to realize these nincompoops are all up in your club. And you're pissed likeallthetime and have no clue why. But, you're pretty certain blaming others, perhaps even criticizing them will make you feel waaay better.
Choice B: You see'em. Peeking out of the closet glaring at you with their evil eyes through the cracks of your closet door. You watch them eyeball to eyeball. You loathe how heavy they make you feel. How cloudy with with a chance of negativity they are. But you give into them. You keep feeding them your Velveeta cheese slices and handing them wad-fuls of the top notch candy from your Halloween candy bag. Yes, YOU give them your Kit-Kats. Your Starburst too. Leaving yourself with just the chalky sleeve of Sweettart tablets and the orange & black mystery twists.
Choice C: Every morning you step foot from mattress to floor unkindly. You inhale the horridly rancid breath of those monsters only to exhale it right back out on yourself and every single person around you. At your best, you muster up melancholy. Events and deadlines consume you with an attitude of "let's just get this over with already". Your patience is thin ice shattered with everyone around you knee-caving in single blade skates holding onto one another so to brace themselves for the icy plummet into your waters. Again. Approximately 2-3 months transpire and you kinda notice it. You know that feeling when you realize your own breath is nasty crackalackin? It's that kinda feeling. You sense it. And you don't know what to do about it. There you stand in a crowd full of people close in proximity with no breath mints, no gum and no way of brushing your teeth either.
Choice A: The Ignorantly Ill Choice B: The Unhappy Enabler Choice C: Convicted But CluelessAnyone? Anyone feel me here? Perhaps you're a hybrid. A cross-breed. You may be a Choice C-B or a maybe you toddle back & forth from C-A. It's human. We are. All of us. Human. Flawed. Fantastically feeble to the imperfect life. Over time, I have gathered am gathering this to be true. And, over time, I am kinda beginning to dig the feeble part of this life flow. For it's when I completely surrender to my monsters, the smack down "take this whippin" really gets under way.
Illuminating means to decorate, to enlighten or clarify a subject matter. I like to think of it as the way a Christmas tree looks when its the only light in a room at night. Or, perhaps even the way you see the stars propped up all glittery in a crystal clear night sky: multi-faceted and shimmering. It's the spectacular that happens at sunset when God shows off all the colors He can muster from His box of crayons. And it's the morning dew's mission to touch each tiny blade of spring grass.
Illuminating is flipping the light switch, y'all. From OFF to ON. Monsters hate the light. They panic and retreat from it. Their schemes of scare only work best in the dimly lit deceptions of the dark and the unmentioned. It's the feeble in us that makes us monster slayers. Weak not in allowing the monsters to run your life, but weak in saying, "I can't do this alone. Hold on, you heathens. I'm going to go get back up."
God is your back up. He is the ultimate weapon; His skills with the sword are trump tight. When He enters the battle, it gets good. God illuminates. He is the reason for decoration; He is the clarity we all need.
I speak from experience. My monsters were many. A heavy life I have lived. Crackalackin bad breath? I've had it. I've chosen all of the adventure choices above. Again and again and again. I still battle. But, the one thing I have learned am learning is that the best answer is choice D.
Choice D: Flip His light on.
Hold to it. {Buy extra light bulbs so when your current one goes out, you're prepared. Surround yourself with people who love and support you. People who lift you up; people who know you, the real you.} Carry it with you. {Make prayer your flashlight. Seek His guidance and direction just as simply as you can. Call out your hurts; your heavy too. Ask that He make your walk stronger and monster free.} Shine it out. {Leave the lamp on for yourself and others. Worry not about the impending electric wattage used. Feel the good. Allow the smile. Enjoy every ounce of it as it stretches across your face. Remember what put it there. Then do that more often. Help. Hug. Hear the hearts of those around you. Life doesn't have to be as hard as we oftentimes make it. Happy is simple; joy is free. It is found in the humble of our everyday. It's contagious I tell you. It's real. It's genuine. It's monster mutilating too.}Decorate your life with Him. It takes getting over the whole lotta YOU who happens to be in the monster making business. It takes the admission that they're's always a chance you'll see their furry teeth again from time to time too. But His light will illuminate your dark corners each and every time you ask. I have learned am learning this more and more each day.
The answer.
Choice D.
Shine on, peeps.
.mac :)
