little ball, lots of smoke

We didn't watch fireworks this year. We stayed home and put the kids to bed on time. We did have some fun in the backyard with smoke bombs. They are small, cheap and unassuming. If you're looking for a pop or a bang, they are pretty useless. But for my preschoolers, they sure are entertaining. All they do is make lots and lots of smoke. Very environmentally conscious, we are.

Watching those smoke bombs light from a spark and then fog up the yard in a matter of seconds, it made me think about the crazy way our minds work sometimes. For example, the other day in a brief moment of four-year-old panic, one of my girls blurted out "I don't like these clothes, my face is wrong and I don't want to have that smile." Well, then.

My face is wrong? Are you kidding me? She's four. How can her face be wrong? Her face couldn't be more right. I thought of how dramatic she was being. How irrational. How ridiculous.

And how familiar. She sounded just like me. She was simply brave enough to say it out loud.

To be honest, sometimes I feel badly about myself just like she does. I feel insecure and listen to the voice in my head that says I'm not good enough or don't measure up. What starts like a spark in my mind quickly ignites and fogs up the truth. And the emotions burst forth from their familiar hiding place and run around aimlessly, untamed and unruly.

The truth is, the smoke bombs will go off. The sparks will come, the emotions will swing from high to low. That is normal, neutral even. The challenge comes in knowing what to do in the midst of the smoke, in remembering that my identity is secure in Christ even if my emotions imply otherwise. Even harder than believing that myself is teaching my little ones what it means to not allow those crazy emotions to rule the day.

So here's to an even keel Monday. May the smoke bombs be few and far between at your house. And if they happen to go off, as I'm sure they will, look on the bright side: at least they are colorful.