SHOWER CURTAIN PROMISES

When I got divorced, I was the one who left. Many people think I am crazy for giving up a house and a full acre of land, but what is the house and land if the person who talked you into buying it lied to you from the first day you met? Some people would still argue with me, but the point is that when lies are found out, the promises are broken and it becomes unsafe to live there, you do what you have to do for your own survival…or sanity.
Shopping at the local “government store” as my sister and I now refer to Wal-Mart (Sam is rolling in his grave over what has happened to his store), I found a shower curtain that I liked because the statements on it were exactly what a person needed who was having to rebuild her life.

What happens, happens for a reason.

Can I tell you how many times I have heard this in my life, in the past year, in the past 2 months? If you are a firm believer that God is own his throne, then you will know that all things will come to pass. You will discover that because this one incident happened, no matter how painful for you to bear, this new incident could take place. Sometimes you are left with a string of incidents and a broken heart, and people will tell you that it is all for a reason, that one day you will look back and see the plan that God had. In the meanwhile you have to sit patiently and wait for that vision, wait for the effect that belongs with the cause. Matthew 6:25-34 Seek first the kingdom of God and all things (that you need) will be given to you.


The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.

For those of you who know my heart, I have simple dreams. Coach Rutledge in 11th grade once asked us to write down where we see ourselves in five years. While my classmates were aspiring to be paralegals and judges or follow the Grateful Dead, I had a basic, generic wish. I followed all the patterns that people asked me to: I went to college; I worked; I had an apartment. I was, for the most part, independent. I did not have my dream. My dream finally came true when I was unemployed and living in a large house with my mother, my sister and my first husband. I was the one who took care of the family. I cooked the meals, ran the errands, taxied everyone around, and cleaned the house. It was the most at-peace I ever was with a situation in my life. Now there were pieces missing to my existence, and my peace was short-lived, but for a while, I lived the dream. I did experience that same peace in a very similar situation about ten years later, but again, that dream was short-lived. I do still believe in the dream. I believe that God has that in store for me, that the events in my life have molded me to fit that position perfectly when the time comes.


The secret of getting ahead is getting started

This one is a hard pill to swallow at my age of 30something. While I have friends who are retiring from the military, I am starting all over again. I live in an apartment in a college town. This is exactly where my life was 16 years ago. I have a better job with better benefits and retirement of my own that I am working toward, but this time I am starting all the way over with two little girls. How do you get ahead under circumstances like those? Where do you start? You start on your knees in prayer on the front row in the center of the pew in church in front of the Blessed Sacrament. You start by getting out of bed each morning and offering your entire day to God…all parts of it, good and bad. You put money aside as you can and you live without cable, internet and privacy. You live under the Duke Boys who play the guitar and bongos late at night and watch the SEC Championship Game without inviting you to watch with them and their friends. You pray every day and ask the Saints to pray with you. You wait and hope because the future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.

The best things happen when least expected.

You wouldn’t think that taking chocolate chip cookies to the new neighbors or visiting an old schoolmate in the hospital would eventually lead to something as special as a friend for life. You are basically just doing what feels right, but once the deed is done you are left with a much greater reward than Thank You. When you are not looking for something is always the time that you find it. In just about every situation. The job you needed, the friend you longed for, the set of keys that you lost.


While the Shower Curtain Promises are not the Gospel, they are words to live by to bring hope to those who have lost it.