Joy is the best makeup. Anne Lamott

Sometimes joy comes in the strangest packages.

Picture it…bummed out IPG. Crying on the phone with her mom. Lonely in Phoenix. Sad to be away from the handsome Bey. Bling Bling Bling. Goes her blackberry. And to her surprise is an offer for some more course development and some more money. This makes IPG feel slightly better.

Then covering up with her blanket IPG spots a baby lizard. The tiniest thing she has ever seen. He really is SMALL! So IPG catches him and releases him outside to roam in his backyard dominion.

Finally IPG logs on to Facebook and sees that one of her friends has mentioned Matthew 6: 33. For the purpose of this post (Matthew 6:25-34)

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.“

I have to stop talking in third person or I will be unable to make this post make sense. But basically after seeing that and reading that verse I realized a small miracle occurred in my house today. That tiny lizard made me think. I worried what if I hadn’t seen him and he starved to death in my home? Or what if I had accidentally sat on him? But then I read Matthew 6:33 and I remembered that everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what it is. But my darling husband will be here soon. We won’t be separated forever, and that right now I need to not worry. That isn’t my job.

In other less exciting academic news…I am snowed under with course development. I am literally snowed under with them. I love the work, and the money it brings, but today I just wanted to play hooky!