It's happened again!!!!

February 26, 2014

It’s happened again!!

I don’t do real well with February.  It has always been the longest month of the year.  Yes, I get it, it has the fewest days, but they are such dark days.  The local weatherman cheered me right up yesterday when he said we set a new record for the snowiest February on record, like that would cheer me up.

 

Maybe it was hearing good old Tom talk about breaking the snow record that tipped the scales, that allowed that Seasonal Affective Disorder to just explode, dragging me down where I cannot even

laugh at videos of animals and people running into windows or mirrors.  Me, I’m the person who never, ever naps.  It is just pointless for me to lie down, cover up, close my eyes, and expect to wake up refreshed, so I just don’t do it.  Sleep eludes me enough at night, but in the daytime, forget it! But yesterday, I actually took a nap in the family room, and slept.  So I knew I was in bad shape.

Then this morning, my Bible reading took me to I Thessalonians, again!  I have been there for over a week, and today I decided to open up chapter 3 and read from these words written by Paul to his old friends in Thessaloniki.  Here is what it sounded like to the first readers, from The Message: “we…send Timothy to get you up and about, cheering you on so you wouldn’t be discouraged by these hard times………In the middle of our trouble and hard times here, just knowing how you’re doing keeps us going.  Knowing that your faith is alive keeps us alive…..We do what we can, praying away night and say, asking for the bonus of seeing your faces again and doing what we can to help when you faith falters………May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with His followers.”

First off, it is not that I am having some kind of remarkably bad times.  It is just that they seem to collect in February and look a lot worse.  So, you’d think God knew what I needed this morning.  It is especially interesting to me because I have been thinking, these last few days about how thankful I am for Facebook, for how encouraging it is to see the posts from former students, now more like old friends are persevering, even through their own challenges.

So I can say with Paul at the end of chapter 2, “Who do you think we’re going to be proud of when our Master Jesus appears if it’s not you? You’re our pride and joy!”  When I reread the posts of old friends, friends who have remained faithful despite the many challenges they have all faced, I am encouraged.  You are the best medicine for SAD that there is.  You remind me what it is all about and I am thankful once again for you…and for Facebook, and for God, Who knows just what we need when we need it.

Thank you Jen and Joy and Christie and Kelly and Anna and Summer and Laura and Deneice and….