Lynette Bishop Snell

Have you ever known, just known, in the very depths of your soul that you are right?  That your stance is the correct one, the moral one, the righteous one?  Have you ever experienced utter befuddlement that those closest to you just don’t get it?  

This sensation has consumed me for quite some time.  I have seen relationships damaged deeply, I have seen love tarnished and jaded, and I have witnessed rejection and hurt.  There is no way I am wrong.  I know I am right.  

Or am I?  

I begin to wonder if I am too close to the situation to fully grasp all the ins and outs.  But on the other hand, perhaps so is everyone else.  I refuse to allow anyone else the same luxury of righteous indignation that I have granted myself.  You cannot have both parties in opposition to each other and both of them be right!  Can you?

I see no clear answer to that conundrum and I worry about the outcome.  But the issue is so complex that even resolution of this aspect leaves many unanswered questions, many hurts to be addressed, and conversations I really would rather never have.  

Can’t we all just get along?

I am told that love and concern are integral to the opposite side of my barrier fence.  I have been told that others want the best resolution.  But it is so hard to accept that.  To swallow my pride and admit it might be true.

To forgive.

There is a trite saying that swept the Christian world like wildfire for several years:  WWJD.  What would Jesus do?  It was printed on t-shirts, jewelry, artwork, bible covers, stationary, and gum, mints and candy!  I always wanted to say in response:  Well, for starters, I highly doubt Jesus would chew gum and say “Aha!  Who’s ready for wine?”  

But putting commercialism aside, it begs a difficult question.  What would Jesus do in this instance?  How would he respond?  If my purpose in life as a Christian is to become as Christ-like as possible, then I should be asking myself this question every single day.  But I don’t.  Partly because I just don’t think about it.  But perhaps more importantly, because I don’t want to know the answer.  

Jesus might say, “Lynette, you need to swallow your pride, get off your high horse, step down from your soap box,  and walk a few feet in someone else’s shoes.  Then ask that question again.”

The thing is, I really don’t like the taste of my pride.  It is bitter and disgusting.  My horse is about 24 hands high and if I try to hop down, I might just break one of my aging, potentially brittle bones.  And what in the world is a soap box?  I guess it implies standing above others, lording over the lesser masses that my opinion is the only opinion.  And yes, you may all kiss my hand now in grateful adoration for bestowing said opinion upon you.  

When I step back, it is truly a bitter pill to swallow:  forgiveness is really hard to do.  Asking for forgiveness is even harder.  My stance might be the correct one.  The opposite side might be the correct one.  Most likely, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  

I wonder if that is why God created compromise:  to force people to step away from their staunchly protected fortress and step into neutral territory.  If I leave my weapons on my side of the fence, and, hopefully, the others will do the same, we might find some common ground in between.  And there might just be room for all of us to stand.  Together.

I looked up the etymology of the word righteous.  It stems from an Old English phrase that literally meant “right” and “wise; having wisdom; prudent,” or “wise ways.”   

Wise ways.  Which way will I go?  

My way?  Or the wise, right way?

I love a freshly painted room, with rearranged or new furniture and decor.  I love the feeling that I just stepped off the set of a reality makeover tv show, and that my old room has transformed into something spectacular.  I also happen to be pretty good at painting.  I can trim a ceiling and baseboards in nothing flat, and painters tape?  Puh-leaze.  That’s for amateurs.   

Years ago, I was taught by a family member who was a painter by trade, that the best way to paint was to buy quality tools from the outset and that would save me time, effort and money in the long run.  Quality, in this case, equates to pricey.  But, I figured, he must know what he’s doing since his business is quite successful, and I gave it a shot.  I bought lambs wool, high nap rollers and the finest paint brushes.  And what happened?  He was right!  

The first room I painted with my new tools spurred me onward and before long, I was painting every single room in our first home.  After that, I became the “go-to” painter and painted a lot of rooms, in my homes and in my family members’ homes.  

In my current house, I have lived for close to 2 years with the previous owner’s gashes,  holes, and damage because I didn’t really have the time to repair the walls myself.  A couple months ago, I finally had the walls repaired so I could paint them myself.  My house was a shambles as I tried to squeeze in work, a social life, and a mini-vacation.   I finally buckled down this week and started in on the project.  I got the first three walls finished, and finally got my house back to a semblance of normal.  Last night I just stood smiling and enjoying the finished product.  I love my new color.  It lightens my house up considerably.  I love the freshness of it all.  And I relish the fact that I now have no giant gaps, holes and damage in my walls anymore.  But, it did not come without some issues.  

On Tuesday, I deftly painted sections of my ceiling trim at a time, perched precariously upon a ladder.  As I climbed down the ladder to move it and repeat the process on the next section, I focused on each step to ensure no chance of me falling…and I stepped right into the pan of paint. 

In the past, I would have been shocked, outraged and generally ticked off, trying to find someone, anyone to blame for my misfortunes.  But the moment I stepped into that cool, velvety liquid, I looked at my painted toes and instantly saw the ridiculousness of the situation.  

And I Laughed Out Loud.  

It felt good!  It’s been so long since I’ve been able to laugh at myself very much, because there hasn’t been much of myself worth laughing about.  But I tell you what…it was as refreshing and uplifting as the new color on my freshly repaired walls.  I coudln’t miss the parallels to my life.   

I have been putting my foot in “it” for so long now, that I was getting used to the darkness and dreariness of “it.”  But seeing the light, joyful color as it dripped between my chubby toes, I thought, “well isn’t that a nice change?!” 

I am determined to laugh at myself more.  Because I hope there is more to laugh at in my soul.  There is only one bad thing about the paint…

It definitely looks better on my walls.

Little black books have such a bad reputation.  They have become synonymous with players, swingers, or anyone who strolls through life collecting names and numbers of individuals they plan to use and easily discard.  There are no emotional attachments to the names,  nothing permanent that strikes at the heart of the owner of said book.  Oh, perhaps, memories of a particular night with a particular person might strike an emotional chord and elicit a brief reaction, but mostly, there are no long-term connections.  The goal of the book is quantity, rather than quality.

I, too, have a little black book.  Well, actually, it’s flowery and has cute little woodland creatures on the cover, but it still is the receptacle for things I gather.  Several months ago I began collecting inspirational quotes, bible verses, and things I’d read.  A person or group I followed on Instagram or Facebook would post something that applied so directly to my life, it seemed it was written just for me.  I would screenshot the item on my phone and save it in a photo album called “Encouragement.”  Sometimes I would just scroll through the pictures and drench myself in the uplifting words all over again.   One day, I realized I wanted something more tactile, something I could actually hold in my hands and absorb the words inside the book through emotional osmosis.  Last week I began printing out these little snapshots of wisdom and placing them in my book. 

I printed them in the order I had added them to my phone.  I was about 2 months’ worth of quotes into the album when a word popped into my head.

Movement.

I noticed that as the weeks and months of this year have progressed, the quotes and verses I was drawn to were changing.  Way back in December and January, I was broken, wounded, fractured and oh so lonely.  I craved words that were a balm to my damaged heart, phrases that kept me from shattering completely, and verses that promised, absolutely promised that one day I would understand and rejoice!  It’s pretty hard to think about rejoicing when you are a puddle of emotional goo stuck to the bottom of someone’s flip flop.

Towards the middle of  winter, things became a bit different.  The promises to hold on, and that God is working everything towards my good were the predominant themes.  I could feel a bit of hope beginning to grow here.  I was writing more, learning more about myself through my own words (and the responses of my readers), and taking the time to really explore what, exactly, I was meant to be doing with my life.   The puddle of goo was becoming more formed.

Within the last week or two, a distinct change has come over me.  I find my collectibles now center around thanksgiving, joy, hope and deliverance.  Deliverance!  Remember the goo?  I used to be so afraid to feel happy because I knew, I just knew that life was going to sneak up behind me and smack me over the head with a brick the next day as punishment for daring to be happy.   Now, I know I will have good days and bad.  I will have ups and downs.  Life will ebb and flow.  But I no longer fear the other side of happy.  I know that regardless of what I experience on a daily basis, I am not alone.  

I continue to collect quotes and verses.  I may even need another book at some point.  But let me tell you this:  seeing that movement did more for my battled-hardened, weary and scarred soul than you could ever imagine.    I can truly say that I am finding much to rejoice in and for.  Who knew?

God knew.  He knew because he figured out all those quotes and sayings long before I was even born.  And he knew when I would need them most.  I, however, plan to have an emotional attachment to all the words in my book.  I never want to forget the journey I’m on and from where I’ve come.   My Little Black Book has now become a map.  

Wonder where it will lead me next?

When I was in my twenties, I had a bucket list.  At the time, I’m not even sure I knew I had one.  But on a cold February evening in 1992, I sat in the back of a taxi as it hurtled through the darkened streets of London, chatting with a guy I had been set up on a blind date with.  My BFF and I had traveled to London to see her boyfriend who in turn set me up with this guy.  His name was Christoper Clark.  What a fabulously proper British name, right?  

I don’t remember exactly what brought up the topic of things Christopher Clark and I wanted to do with our lives, but I clearly remember sitting on the edge of the seat, almost as if I was about to leap out of the car and start on my list right then and there.   Before I had time to think, the worlds tumbled out of my mouth:

1. Learn to fly an airplane
2. Travel the world
3. Write a novel

Fast forward 25 years.  So many things stretch across those years:  experiences, jobs, marriage, kids, moves to different states, births, deaths, divorce.  I started thinking about my bucket list from all those years ago and wondered how different it looks today.

1. Travel more of the world
2. Publish a novel I have written
3. Become a renowned photographer (or, at least sell some of my photographs!)
4. Learn to fly an airplane and maybe jump out of it with a parachute (just in case, ya know?)
5. Buy an RV and travel the country
6. Live in France for an extended period of time (a few months?  A year?  Forever?)
7. Work and play with Pandas (who doesn’t want to do that?)
8. Be at peace in my soul

Isn’t it interesting how much my list changed, and yet, stayed the same?  I guess it all boils down to one thing:  adventure.  I really love adventure!  As long as it comes with a private bathroom/shower and clean sheets, that is.   A girl has to have standards.

When I last saw my therapist/guardian angel, and she asked how I have been doing, I said, “I am making progress. I am still searching for peace, which is my…” I hesitated, unsure what to say. 

 She already knew. She said, “it’s your goal.”

My goal.  The word goal implies so much:  a journey, a path, activity, movement, achievement!  Peace has become crucial to me.  But maybe it doesn’t belong on my bucket list. Bucket lists are one-and-done items. Peace is something I want to be everlasting. Peace makes me want to kick that bucket away and just take each day as it comes. To live in the moment.

I have recently been told by a couple of dear friends that my blog posts have left them worried about my sanity, or at least whether or not I am able to function in society because of my depression.   I am good.  I am not great.  I am not content.  I am not fully at peace.  But that, my friends, is my goal.  Peace is the purpose of this writing journey I’ve been on.  Peace is the foundation for the rest of my life to fall into place.  My goal of peace provides me with hope, a gate through which I can travel and a filter for which I want the rest of my life to be viewed.
So perhaps my peace-full bucket list should look more like this:

1. Anything
2. Everything
3. Whatever
4. What’s next?

What’s on your bucket list?  And does it bring you peace?

 
Each day is a fresh struggle for me.  Most days the struggle is less than others, but it is my constant companion — struggle. I want desperately to banish it and simply enjoy life, but it seems the struggle taints everything I do.

I wait, I watch, I wonder, I dream, I hope, I cry, I pray. I pray. And yet still I struggle.

Recently during a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby, I found a book in the back of the store on a clearance rack. It was a leather-bound book in a beautiful shade of summer, cloudless sky blue, and it had a word on it that grabbed me and pulled me inexorably to it. I picked it up and read Jesus Calling: Enjoying PEACE in His Presence. That word: peace. I crave it like a newborn craves its mother’s breast. I thirst and long for that seemingly elusive peace that passes all understanding. Why is it so hard to find?

I opened the book up and just randomly thumbed through the pages. The book is a daily devotional with each day’s reading consisting of one, but not more than two paragraphs. Short, sweet and to the point. My kinda peace.

So I bought it.  

I know nothing about the author (Sarah Young). I had never heard of her before picking up this book. But I am absolutely certain that she wrote that book for me.  Every single day I read something else that speaks specifically to my daily struggle. My daily pain. Oh alright, my daily whining.

Her overwhelming message throughout each devotional is one to which I relate so completely:  

Be. Still.

It’s interesting to think about. Are you ever still? I know I am not. But it’s worth considering: what you hear or observe or notice when you are still. It’s a great exercise. Wherever you are–at work, school, sitting at a restaurant, on the beach, in a store, at home–just sit for 60 seconds and listen. Close your eyes. What do you hear? What do you notice? What comes to your mind?

I’m sitting at a restaurant as I write this. I closed my eyes and here is what I absorbed in that 60 seconds:

• The amazing ocean breeze
• Delicious food smells
• Ice clinking in glasses
• Snippets of conversation
• Music from the restaurant’s speakers
• Motorcycle engines revving on the road behind me
• The industrial sized cooling fan overhead
• Seagulls cawing and chirping in the trees next to the patio where I sit
• The taste of my drink on my tongue.

Okay, so I didn’t hear any words from God or clear messages about my future. But that’s sort of the point, right? I kept listening to things that were around me. I did not quiet my mind. I did not sit and wait for God. I guess I expected God to just plow through all the noise and tap me on the shoulder. But he didn’t.
Why? If this clearance rack book I purchased is any indicator, it takes time. And practice. Nothing comes easily to me, except writing. So I write and expect God to direct my words. I think he does, mostly. But something the author of the book wrote in her introduction struck me.

She stated that she had been journaling her prayers and one day realized it was simply a monologue. She was speaking to God, but she wasn’t really listening to what he had to say. After making that realization, she changed the way she journaled and it became a dialogue. 

I am not certain how she did that, but one thing is abundantly clear to me: it involved a lot of listening and being still. Great. One more thing I have to work at. But I believe the promises God makes when he says he is with me. I just have to quit talking (and whining and crying) for a while so I can hear what he has to say. 

And he promises something else: his perfect peace.  

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Okay, God. I’m listening.