Toilet Days vs Beach Days

feb beach day

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.—1 Peter 5:10

My husband and I are in a Lifegroup with seven couples. We meet on Sunday after church service to share a meal, talk around the dinner table and then get serious for about an hour of Bible study. We also gather at other times, just to hang out. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love these people.

We have played the Newlywed Game for the past two years on the Sunday before Valentine’s Day. One of the questions last year asked the number of shoes each wife had, with the answer choices being very general and easy to get correct. However, when we got home my husband still had the question on his mind. He was literally in the closet counting—even my flip-flops—and sending out an email to everyone. By the end of the night, all the husbands had counted and we knew exactly how many pairs of shoes each of us girls had. It was such a fun time, filled with precious laughter.

The day before Valentine’s Day of that same year I sent an email to all of the girls, expressing my love for them. By the next day, I had received a reply back from everyone. I was surprised to hear from Teresa because she and her husband were off on a romantic getaway to a beach in Mexico. She sent her love to all of us girls and let us know they were having a wonderful time.

Sheji had a much different Valentine’s, though, because her husband was out of town on business. She had spent an eventful evening with her 11-year old son—unclogging the toilet—and replied, “Not the memory I was looking for, but one I won’t soon forget—boys!”

Even though Teresa was having fun in the sun with her hubby, she managed a response back to encourage Sheji, that was priceless. Some days are toilet days, but thankfully some are beach days.

Oh, how true! All of us women can relate to when poop hits the fan and everything goes wrong.

But thankfully there are beach days, when life is full of sunshine, laughter, warm breezes and romantic sunsets. Everyone is healthy, the house is clean, bills are paid, food is on the table, loved ones are employed and the kids are behaving. Reality or Fantasy Island?

Maybe those days aren’t as numerous as you might like or don’t exist at all right now, but life doesn’t come with a guarantee of more beach days than toilet days. Life isn’t about if we face trials, it’s about when.

It’s also about restoration. Dwell on 1 Peter 5:10. Linger on God’s promise for what awaits after He uses the plunger and unclogs the toilet. His light will shine so brightly upon your face you will feel as if you are on an island, having a glorious beach day. You will even be able to stand firm in the shifting sand, as the waves crash over your feet. The waves won’t stop, but in Christ, they won’t knock you down either.

In His Love!

Brenda

2 responses to “Toilet Days vs Beach Days

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