Wash the buff. Have a snack. Get on with your life.
Welcome to Ladd Family real life. If you were one of the 124,872 actual flies in our house today, you might have been a witness to one of these scenarios:
Sunday, on a morning walk-jog, using buffs as face masks:
Lifa: “DO YOU SMELL THAT TRASH!?!”
Me: “Lifa, I think you have forgotten what fresh air smells like.”
Lifa: “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DON’T SMELL THAT TRASH. IT SMELLS LIKE SOMETHING DIED.”
Me: “No, it doesn’t. I betcha it’s the buff you’re wearing around your neck.”
Today... Pre-teen goes silent... Denies truth for three days... Hands over wretched buff to be washed on day four.
Me this morning: “EVERYTHING IS BROKEN. THE INTERNET IS BROKEN. THERE WILL BE NO WINTER CLOTHES FOR ANYONE. ONLINE SHOPPING IS THE WORST. THIS IS WHAT YOU BOYS GET FOR ALWAYS GROWING.”
...Kicks everyone out of the kitchen while Benjamin smears scrambled egg and avocado on counter, face and tile... Prepares and eats breakfast for myself in 32 seconds before dealing with said counter, face and tile situation...
Me after food has hit the system and 35th cup of coffee has been poured: “Everybody relax. We are not in a crisis. Mom just needed a snack. Let’s have a great day!”
...Beats the internet, finds new ways to shop online, orders all the things..
Anybody else have moments of temporary insanity during lockdown? It’s the smallest things that feel they’re going to get you when there’s really big stuff going on. We’re living in unprecedented times. Families, finances, education, careers, relationships, future, health... everything and everyone is affected. History is being written, and our futures are being altered.
But that stanky buff... And that frickin’ online shopping cart... Those are the things that make you lose your marbles and eat oats on the floor next to an avocado slip-n-slide.
I get you, Benjamin.
One time, Jesus said that if you are trustworthy with little, you can be trusted with much. I wonder if the same is true about His peace... What if I become a good steward of His peace in the smallest moments, even when they feel extra-large? Will that help me find it in the bigger, more broken places of my heart?
Can I train my spirit by seizing that promised peace and joy in the daily moments of insanity, and will it rise up during those hard nights or seasons?
I’ll give it a shot. I’ll wash the buff. I’ll eat a snack. And I’ll go on with this one more day that the Lord has made.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Luke 16:10
“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24