Yes, literally. In an effort, I suppose, to stay true to my life’s overall theme, my knees are weird. FYI, my knees have ALWAYS hurt. When I was a teenager running bleachers during basketball conditioning I thought it was normal– that everyone’s knees were aching. A trip to the ortho in my 30′s when I was playing tons of team tennis and my knees were killing me revealed that no, not so much. I’m just consistently weird. After x-raying my knees and studying the film, the doc seemed to find it genuinely amazing that I could even walk. He pointed out the uniquely non-simpatico parts of my oddly shaped joint and asked incredulously, “Are you in pain?!” I considered directing his attention to the appropriate blank on the form I had completed while vacationing that morning in his luxurious waiting room (not) with his up to date magazines. (We landed on the moon! Who knew?!) Instead, because I have noticed that not everyone on the planet gets my equally weird humor, I explained that I thought it was normal. That would be when he joined an increasingly large choir and their same tired old refrain to let me know I was not–normal, which brings me to the point of this post I am writing in my IPhone while I’m walking because, well, I don’t know. Don’t distract me. Hear ye, hear ye: Having reached the delicious age of fifty I may be actually showing signs of maturity. Stop, that! I have evidence! I’m through acting like my knees don’t hurt. I asked God for new ones and the answer seems to be, “I’d rather you appreciate the ones you have.” I’m now doing way less jogging and way more walking. Granted, I COULD still jog all the time because I have discovered that my interesting knees DO NOT HURT ONE LITTLE BIT when I jog backwards. (What? The experiment just occured to me one day.) That said, my darling husband does have to live in this town and the poor fellow can only be expected to endure so much ribbing about me. “Phil, I saw Shellie jogging this morning. Backwards.” What’s more, Dixie Belle acts like she doesn’t know me when I do it. So, I am raising the flag on this one. No more backwards jogging. Unless I drive out to the turn roads on the farm. Hugs, Shellie ~And we have now made it back to the dock. Here’s a pic of my loyal friend now. I can’t imagine why she won’t look at the camera…
Serendipity: a happy accident or pleasant surprise. Our lives are full of accidents and surprises. Being able to see the happy and find the pleasant in them– that’s the hat trick. More than a decade ago, after filling away yet another rejection letter, I squared my shoulders and took another path. I spent the next several years working feverishly to build a platform for my writing. Progress was painfully slow. Little by little I obligated myself here and committed myself there until one day I found myself back into the proverbial corner. I’d worked myself into a position where I had to create content week in and week out for my website and radio affiliates. All Things Southern became a burden. I began chaffing at the demands of my own creation. She was requiring too much effort, too many words. I felt sure I was spinning my wheels. I longed to lay it down and write the books I felt sure she was preventing me from writing. Despite having felt that ATS was my mission field from the onset, that I was meant to lighten loads and ease burdens with weekly stories and chuckles wrapped around little nuggets of devotional thoughts, I began negotiatingwith God. I’ll lay this all down, I told Him repeatedly, if He would just give me the okay. He wouldn’t. I’m sorry. I don’t know how else to say that. But I’ll do ladies’ seminars and concentrate on teaching the Word, I told Him. You know how I love that! All I got from heaven was a big fat no. In the middle of that season IT finally happened. I became a published author. After having self-published my first three books, I now found myself with a for real agent and a contract with a for real publishing house. Booksellers and readers embraced Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On, (and I’m eternally grateful), allowing me the privilege of working on a follow-up, Sue Ellen’s Girl Ain’t Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy. Still, I persisted in kicking against the weekly deadlines. I continued dreaming of the “other things” I wanted to write that All Things Southern was keeping me from writing. One day I’ll tell you the story of how I came to lay my want-to down. God and I didn’t “strike a deal.” I yielded. I decided to want what He wanted before I wanted it. And then I asked Him to make it so, to move my heart by what moved His. Ever so slowly I began to value the weight of All Things Southern that was always forcing me to cry out to Him. And strangely, that led me to gratitude for the very demands I’d been resenting. Talk about your pleasant surprises! Oh, and those words I had been hammering out week after week? With my new perspective I began to see how they had become the bones of those first two Penguin releases. That whole time in the trenches–…
The other day my author friend prefaced what she was about to say to me by telling me it would make me laugh. Duly warned, I was prepared for a chuckle but her next comment gave me the kind of belly laugh that I dearly love. Author Friend said I was “the sanest person she knew.” If you are a friend, family member, or long-time reader you will need a moment to compose yourself. You might also be briefly preoccupied with concern over said author’s inner circle, but I’m going to move on. Catch up when you can, ’k? So, here’s the context for that little funny. I am turning FIFTY today and I’m stinking excited about it! I don’t know this for sure but I’m thinking my level of enthusiasm for this milestone birthday could be rare and some might even think a tad cray. (I understand the cool kids say cray instead of crazy but I just typed it and my spell check isn’t at all pleased. My spell check is apparently a dinosaur.) I was already looking forward to turning fifty when that same author friend emailed me with a story that sent my enthusiasm off the charts. She had told her preteen daughter that I was turning 50 and her baby girl said, “She should have a Jubilee!” The young girl went on to explain to her mother that it was one of her vocabulary words and it meant a celebration. Well now, after reading that email– and seeing the Scripture links my friend included where Jubilee is mentioned in the Word, I went on my own Scriptural treasure hunt and came out plum slap happy! As I type these words, I’m bursting with excitement about what I believe the Lord is showing me about this upcoming year. I share them with y’all, my lovely readers, to invite you to come with me and share the journey. I intend to write to you more about Jubilee in the coming year. What I want to share with you right now will be a very simplistic explanation of the Biblical Jubilee. First mentioned in the Old Testament, the year of Jubilee was a once every 50 year celebration. It was a time of freedom, joy, and festivity ordained by God Himself when offenses were forgiven, debts were cancelled, and slaves were set free. That’s good, but it only got better. Centuries later, Messiah would open the scroll to Isaiah and read these words aloud to those listening in the temple, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because He hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” According to the translation, that last line in your Bible might read “to proclaim the favorable of the Lord”, or “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Regardless of how it is translated, however, it is widely accepted that Jesus was proclaiming Jubilee! Oh, but friends, lean in a tad closer and hear Him announcing what I would call Jubilee on…
This may be the quickest post I ever write. I can type fast if you can read fast. 5,4,3,2,1– let’s go! DO make plans to join me on ATS LIVE this evening. My in studio guests are my friends Aubrey Greiser and John Rea, we’ll be talking about the Love Your Community initiative, complete with vision and verbs for your hometown! At the bottom of the hour, Jack Wisdom will call in to talk about his new book,Get Low.(Get this– he’s a lawyer writing about humility! Yeah, you’ll want to hear this!) Yes– there will be giveaways! Yes– the streaming live link is here. Yes– we’ll be holding the talk show live chat on the All Things Southern Facebook wall! That’s it for now. See you this afternoon. (And she reminds herself to breathe…) Hugs, Shellie
