Love Note #13 : The One Where I Get a Little Fed Up
Or Sassy. Feisty? One of those.
I wonder if you can tell how aggressively I’m typing right now.
I can be a loud typer anyway but I’m feeling especially sassy.
To be perfectly honest, I’m not even sure that sassy even covers it but I just don’t have a better word. I feel equal parts DONE and fired up. It’s complicated and a tiny bit exhausting.
I’m just so done with bad news. (In the actual news and in our personal lives.)
I’m appalled that people can be so terrible to each other.
I freaking hate cancer and also pandemics and racism. (And a whole host of other crap going on around us.)
I’m so sad when my people are hurting. (And it feels like so many are hurting.)
I’m bummed that it seems like we have to fight so hard to hold on to our joy.
Does it feel like we’re in a really terrible movie? Yes. Yes, it does. And we’re at the scene where it feels like the bad guy is winning.
Don’t worry. There will be joy in this Love Note to you. But it would be fake joy if I pretended that it’s only unicorns and rainbows over here. And I made a promise that I wouldn’t be Fake Joy Jill if I did this. That’s just a terrible idea AND a terrible name. So this is me being honest that there’s been a lot of crying in the past 5 days. And I really, really hate crying. I also hate admitting that I’ve been crying.
Here’s the good part: this is what we’ve been training for. Yes, I *do* have to keep reminding myself of this on a regular basis and sometimes I *do* forget. But. It also gets me all fired up because YOU GUYS. This is why we’re here. We know that we will experience some tough stuff. That’s life. We know that. But we also know that there is epic amounts of JOY in the midst of the mess. The RIDICULOUS kind of joy. And we’ve learned how to fight like hell to see it and find it and bring others along with us. The bad stuff doesn’t get to win.
So we show up each day, over and over and over again.
We dance as we cry.
We scream and we smile.
We remember that we’re not alone.
We have each other. And more importantly, we have the Joy Giver.
Always.
✨Song of the Week!✨
This week we’re not following all of my (arbitrary) rules here. We have TWO songs of the week. And, at first glance, they really don’t go together. Or maybe even with a second glance either. But. We need an epic and ridiculous dance party. And so our first song of the week kicks that off just perfectly:
But.
I also know that God’s got this and this song gets played on repeat pretty much every morning. It’s on a different playlist. But it’s still our second song of the week and I’m here for it:
✨Finding Joy (even on the internet!)✨
IT IS TIME. We’ve earned ridiculous joy from the internet. Buckle up, y’all.
☀️ I have nothing to add to this. But it’s a sheep. On a trampoline.
☀️ Jonathan the tortoise has a birthday. And honestly, that face makes me so happy.🐢
☀️ This is more for my own curiosity. But. Please report back and let me know if this is accurate for you. (It was for me. But am I just too easy to read???)
☀️ This video reminds me that there is still good in the world. And when I was reminded of it this week (thank you, Natalie!) and then THIS video popped up in my memories so what I’m saying is this: let’s blubber together.
☀️ Your dance party can start here:
☀️ THIS KID. His excitement. This is everything and I love him so much.
✨Tell Me Something Good✨
and a benediction for your week…
Our Father
Lord, as the seasons turn, creation teaches us of grief, patience, and renewal. Make us good students of these rhythms that we might not hurry the work of grief but receive the gift of your presence in our time of need. Amen.
I don’t prepare or look at the prayer book before writing. This prayer was actually from a few days ago but it just hit me over the head in the best possible way. May we learn from creation. May we be good students of these rhythms. And may we just sit in the safety of the presence of God.
Love you ALL. And my prayer is that somehow, some way, this brought a little comfort and joy. Have an amazing week…
Love,
Jill
P.S. I just wanted to put this here. I hope that’s what we have here. For everyone.
I really mean it. Love you guys.
I did the regional quiz and it said I was from Santa Rosa. Pretty darn close! I LOVE the turtle face, the Nike video, the number 50 helper, and that adorable baptism. Thank you for bringing joy into my week!