If you're looking for a way to give a little of your time during the Christmas season, please allow me to make a recommendation. Last night, I spent a wonderful 90 minutes (after determining which door was actually facing west!) behind a red kettle, hymnal or bell in hand, with friends on either side.
The chilly breeze out of the north made for cold fingers and toes, but what does that matter when you're singing with friends? When 1 person walks by with a smile on their face? When you finally find the sweet alto notes of Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming? When two strangers join the singing in perfect harmony?
Give me a brisk Minnesota evening, surrounded by friends singing praise, and I will be a happy woman.
Joy to the world, indeed.
Want to do something? Go ring a bell yourself (http://www.registertoring.com/TwinCities/Search.aspx) or donate online (http://www.onlineredkettle.org/heidehosen).
December 18, 2011
December 14, 2011
Bottle It Up
While I was steering my red shopping cart through Target's grocery aisles last week, I couldn't help noticing the distress of another customer. It wasn't the medical attention sort of distress; rather, it involved some foot-stomping, loud grumbling, and a curse or two under her breath. As I steered my cart around her, I saw she was attempting to remove the battery from her phone. "Well if it's just her battery, I might be able to help," I thought. After inquiring, I found out that her phone, containing her entire grocery list, had stopped working. My rudimentary troubleshooting was not helpful, so I offered a few positive words and continued my shopping.
As I reflected on this encounter later, I realized how different this woman and I are. When she encountered trouble she dealt with it externally, in a way that was obvious to observers. When trouble comes my way, I take everything in and keep it inside, in a place where I can deal with it without being observed. For reasons I don't quite understand, I am more comfortable dealing with my emotions in private. If they are out in the open for all to see, then I feel vulnerable.
In processing the emotional side of recent events, I buried many of my feelings as deep down as possible. It's much easier to put on a face that says "I'll be fine," saving the real emotions for later. Sometimes, the emotions that I have worked so hard to keep under my control burst forth. The revelation that came with one unintended moment of honesty broke the hastily constructed dam, letting the full weight of those emotions settle in on me.
While searching for relief in the midst of the flood of emotion, I remembered a verse of one of my favorite hymns:
Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.
As I reflected on this encounter later, I realized how different this woman and I are. When she encountered trouble she dealt with it externally, in a way that was obvious to observers. When trouble comes my way, I take everything in and keep it inside, in a place where I can deal with it without being observed. For reasons I don't quite understand, I am more comfortable dealing with my emotions in private. If they are out in the open for all to see, then I feel vulnerable.
In processing the emotional side of recent events, I buried many of my feelings as deep down as possible. It's much easier to put on a face that says "I'll be fine," saving the real emotions for later. Sometimes, the emotions that I have worked so hard to keep under my control burst forth. The revelation that came with one unintended moment of honesty broke the hastily constructed dam, letting the full weight of those emotions settle in on me.
While searching for relief in the midst of the flood of emotion, I remembered a verse of one of my favorite hymns:
Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.
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