Laura L. Smith
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Hiccups  and  ear  pops

5/13/2019

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On Wednesdays of our True Reflections journey I’ve interrupted my usually scheduled blog to post the current day of our devotional together.

If you just stumbled onto us, you can start today and always go back to the previous days later (or not, that’s fine, too). This is a FREE 30-day devotional to dive into how much God loves you, and to discover what that means for your life. If you haven’t downloaded your free copy yet, just leave a comment, and I'll get you added. Share with friends. The more the merrier.
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​Flying home from California my ears filled with pressure. It felt like someone was stuffing thick, fuzzy bath towels in my ears. And believe me, there was no room for them. I feel it on most flights, but this was a doozy. I told my husband if I was a baby I would have been screaming. I turned to all the tricks—chewing gum, drinking water, fake yawning. And I was doing them all a bit too fervently, hoping for even the slightest relief in my ears. Then, probably, because of all the bizarre antics of chomping and swallowing, I got the hiccups. I attempted to contain them, because although my husband sat on my right, a stranger sat on my left, and I didn’t want to weird him out too much. So my body twitched every four seconds and my ears felt like they were going to explode, and I was trying to breathe deeply, in and out, but I felt like a cartoon. The plane could not land quickly enough.

​Somewhere in the midst of all the ridiculousness, I realized Jesus also got the hiccups. Jesus’s ears popped. I giggled in my seat—more antics. There was relief in this fact. It’s silly. And trivial. But also pretty cool. God, who designed oak trees to grow 80 feet tall and produce tiny acorns, less than an inch tall, with a point on the end so they could plant themselves insuring oaks won’t become extinct. That same God came down to earth to experience everything about being human. Everything. So Jesus could understand us better.
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Philippians 2:7-8
He didn’t have to. He could have stayed up on His royal throne. But Jesus chose this humbling condition—hiccups and all—out of love for us.
 
Jesus probably got splinters, experienced headaches. He sweat, got chilly, had to blow his nose. And maybe broke His ankle playing in the hills with His brother, James. Jesus most likely had nosebleeds, and definitely had his share of bad nights of sleep.

​Whatever your body is experiencing today—migraine, fatigue, sore muscles—Jesus knows what you’re up against. He doesn’t just sympathize, but empathizes. So talk to Him about it. And take comfort knowing the King of the universe loves you so much, that He experienced all kinds of peculiar bodily pain so He could relate to you.
 
Reflect:
Take inventory of your body. What’s working well—a healed cut? Cleared sinuses? Praise Jesus for it.
 
What’s not—cramps? Allergies? Ask Jesus for relief.
Thank Him for taking on a human body, so He could truly understand.
 

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STRAIGHTENING THINGS OUT

3/22/2012

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Every now and then, things need straightening in life. Teeth need braces.
Cars need their front ends realigned.
Mattresses need flipped.
Teeth need braces.

Every now and then things need straightening in life.
And then they need to be straightened again.

I had braces when I was in sixth grade. I had horrible, thick silver bands that dug into my gums. Wads of wax couldn’t provide comfort against the wicky-wacky wires poking the insides of my cheeks. My braces were so large and protruding my lips stuck out like a football player wearing a mouthpiece. Add that to my giant, bug-eye shaped glasses and permed hair, and I had quite the look going.

But thanks to the guidance of my orthodontist, my teeth shifted and straightened. My braces came off. My smile was in line.

And so it went until I was twenty-three and the pain in the back of my mouth felt like bee stings in my gums. My wild wisdom teeth decided not to come in up and down like normal teeth, but sideways instead – those rebels. They pushed along the other roots like dominoes squishing and slanting my smile, until all the work the braces had done was undone. The wisdom teeth were pulled. I got to drink a week’s worth of milkshakes, but the damage they’d done remained. My teeth were once again crooked.

And so, as an adult, I’m sporting braces AGAIN. They’re better this time. They’re clear, for one thing. Although not as “invisible” as their name, Invisaline, may indicate, they’re pretty close. Let’s just say my own mom didn’t notice them. They don’t dig into my gums, and since I pop them out to eat, gross particles of food don’t get stuck in them. But they’re still braces.

Some days as I’m turning down a piece of gum (because it’s impossible to chew with Invisalines on) or drooling with my mouth propped open in the orthodontist's chair, I ask myself, “How can I be doing this again?”

I often wonder the same thing about my life.

How can I need to get on track with my workouts again? When did I fall off track? It’s so hard to get back into it. I huff and puff and my muscles ache.

A venti here, an extra shot of espresso there - am I really drinking this much caffeine again – time to cut back, again. But those first few mornings, I’m soooo tired. I might even get a withdrawal headache. The list and its challenges goes on and on.

·      How many times have I rewritten this manuscript?
·      I can’t believe I messed up again, and therefore I need to ask forgiveness again.
·      I continuously need to work on my patience. Each and every single day.

For some people it’s ‘I can’t believe I’m going back to school! I need to quit biting my nails again. Is it possible that I’m moving or switching jobs or starting a new relationship again?’

Although working on straightening things all over again, is sometimes overwhelming and initially discouraging, it is almost always worth it.

When I get back in the swing of regular workouts, I sleep better at night, breathe better at day and am less stressed. When I cut back on caffeine, I’m less anxious. My skin looks better. Every time I rewrite a manuscript the plot quickens and the characters come more alive. Every time I try to make amends for my mistakes, I feel better for trying to do the right thing. And every day I pray for patience, bite my tongue, or count to ten, I’m thankful I, at least for the time being, avoided doing or saying something I know I’ll regret. And soon, I’ll smile wide and bright and confident that my teeth, are once again aligned.

Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God. Fill in the valleys, level off the hills, smooth out the ruts, clear out the rocks. Then God’s bright glory will shine and everyone will see it. Isaiah 40: 3-5

Just because I’ve fixed something once in my life, doesn’t mean it’s fixed forever (just ask my car, which must be crushing on the mechanic, it likes to visit him so much).


Every now and then things need straightening in life.
And then they need to be straightened again.
What needs realigned in your life today?

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    Laura  L. Smith

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Photo used under Creative Commons from Narisa
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