Today’s Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (full passage at bottom of the page)
“19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”
Choosing between blessing and curse is always before us. Yesterday our daughter Sara, a Community Columnist for the Battle Creek Enquirer, wrote an article entitled Poop and Ponies We offer you the grace of choosing through her words-
Poop and Ponies by Sara Loughrige
Growing up my grandma was famous for sharing little “nuggets” of wisdom. They came in the form of euphemisms, clichés and stories.
One that I treasured and repeat often was about a little boy who was found digging happily and swiftly through a pile of manure. When questioned about his actions he replied matter-of-factly, “With all this poop, there must be a pony in here somewhere!”
I like to think this story has in some hilarious way formed my outlook on life. There is always a choice to look at circumstances as overwhelming and insurmountable or as an opportunity and hopeful. I have countless examples throughout my life where this has proven true, but most recently, a trip to Cleveland will be my poop and pony narrative.
On Feb. 22, 2005, my son’s dad was murdered. His birthday would have been the very next day on. Each year we choose to honor his memory by celebrating life together as a family. We usually take a short trip somewhere and do things together that he loved or remind us of him. This year we chose to go and watch his favorite player, LeBron James, in Cleveland.
We prepaid for our hotel, bought our game tickets and set off on an adventure. Upon arriving at the hotel, we found an incredibly filthy lobby, room and pool area. I decided, prepaid or not, we would be leaving. At almost midnight we found a new hotel to check into that was amazingly beautiful. After explaining what had happened at the previous hotel, our front desk clerk provided us with an upgraded room and breakfast in the morning.
After a great night’s sleep and wonderful breakfast, we called valet for our car so we could venture out and explore the city. What we discovered is our nearly new vehicle had been crashed by the valet attendant sometime overnight. After filling out claim paperwork, we refused to let the hiccups stop us from our celebration of life and continued on our way.
While sitting together at a great restaurant in Little Italy, we overheard a conversation taking place between our waitress and a gentleman. What we learned, admittedly from eavesdropping, was that he was from Kuwait, was of Muslim faith, and had brought his father to the Cleveland Clinic because he was very ill. Before he left he walked over to us with a handful of money and said that he wanted to pay for our family’s dinner because our boys had blessed him.
Our trip continued like this, we had some huge frustrations, moments when I thought “Ugh, that’s it, let’s pack it in,” and moments where we saw glimmers of hope or rays of sunlight. In reality, the things that went wrong were far more expensive than what went right, but I didn’t choose to see it that way, and I didn’t teach my kids that either.
On the first night, when we lost a few hundred dollars but the new hotel gave us an upgraded room and breakfast, I pointed out to my kids how a stranger could see we had a really bad day and cared enough to go the extra mile to make us smile.
The person who crashed our car happened to be foreign, but so was the man who bought our meal in Little Italy. It was a gift to point out to my kids that a person who was different than us, who was dealing with his own pain because his dad was sick, cared enough to do something for people he didn’t even know.
I guess our celebration of life trip this year really was a celebration of life, all of life, the poop and the ponies. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly.
I was able to teach my kids that you don’t throw in the towel. You don’t stop because it’s overwhelming or insurmountable. Whether on our trip, or in life, there is opportunity and hope at every turn.
Sometimes you just have to keep digging.
Sara Hockett, MPH, is the founder and director of The Brian Project, based in Marshall. Email her at sarahockett@thebrianproject.org.
Thanks Sara for this heartfelt wisdom. When we choose to find the pony, we choose life. Try the 3G practice-
Give up – fearful, fatalistic, negative, self defeating, views of what’s happening to you.
Give in – and choose to find the pony!
Give out – ways to help others find their pony.
Deuteronomy30: 15-20
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.