June Twenty-Second; Happily Quirky

 I’m sitting here, enjoying my coffee and the sounds of the rain falling outside. Between the rain, the leaves of the trees shedding the droplets and the occasional breeze that stirs the dance, the rhythm is calming. Ever so often the tree frogs will call for more rain, while the birds are joyfully singing to the day.  The windows are open, allowing in the symphony of the woods, while the stirring of the ceiling fan draws in and creates a cross breeze that cools the room comfortably. All very much normal.

I want to be more quirky.

My heart and imagination cries out for originality and uniqueness. I don’t want to be your fit in the box, square peg in the square hole person. I want to dare to be me, yet a more unusual me. Sometimes that me sneaks out. Especially after watching a Johnny Depp movie like Alice in Wonderland or the Pirates movies. It did take a while to come to appreciate the Chocolate Factory one but then that was because of my love for Willy Wonka the original. But I digress.

For a while, my front yard gave the appearance of Christmas all year round thanks to the solar lights that adorned the fence. That lighting was used more than once as a landmark to use while searching for somewhere after sunset. It was fun, it was bright, it was amazing. Unfortunately those tend to wear out after a while just like everything else. Now I am down to a few strands on the inside fence that are alight for a few hours and the tikki torch lights that flicker atop the fence posts for a while longer. The only thing preventing a return to a better lit world..finances or lack of. Maybe someday.

 My Jeep, is partially decalled with her name, a compass, and stars that ribbon down the driver’s side. Eventually I hope to finish with the passenger side but again, that dollar thing. Funny how that is such a detriment to that expression of quirky. 

I love designing special articles of clothing. I have shirts and jackets that stand out due to their being original.*Side note, I take normal, store bought clothing and decorate it, making it unique. Back to what I was saying.  Part of me is drawn to creating more, while the other side is cautious. Is the world ready for that? The fact that I share some of my writing with people and their reactions vary makes me wonder, how would freeing the quirky work out in a world determined to be balanced, normal and…boring. Normal is boring by the way.

I don’t know that anyone would call Lord Jesus quirky, but He was definitely unique. Not only that, but He was not afraid, not ashamed, not hesitant to be so. He did things that the so called upright and religious refused to even consider. He walked, talked, ate with sinners. He not only healed lepers, He dared place His hands on them. Them, the unclean. He brought and shared the Word in ways that everyone could understand. Those who had ears to hear anyway. He dared to clear the temple of the money changers, He called a tax collector to be one of His disciples. He called fishermen, not religious leaders to follow, to learn from Him, then to go out and change the world. He spoke against the leaders who placed their trust in rules and laws not in faith and love.

He dared to stand against and alone. He was different, He was sinless, He was and is and always will be love and Lord.

I sit here, and I dream of being different and unique in earthly ways, and yet I am already different in spiritual ways. When I answered the call on my life, surrendering that life to Jesus the Christ, I became a member of the family of God. I became different when I joined the family, a family set apart, unique. Sojourners through this life, to the next. The eternal life spent with Jesus. The difference that allows and helps me to find the peace in the day to day. Find the calm in the storm and the understanding in the confusion. The difference, that has me seeking ways to reflect and shine a light of hope for others. Knowing, in the grand scheme of things, there are those who would already call me quirky in a spiritual sense, and I’ll take that happily.