Foldin' and Thinkin', Thinkin' and Foldin'

I am taking a breather from folding laundry. I think our neighbors must be sneaking in and leaving their dirty clothes in our house. Cause I can't figure out how we could possibly have so much laundry to do. This is about a tenth of what I'm working on tonight.
I think this new baby will alternate between two outfits. Or can I buy some disposable clothes somewhere?

I actually (sometimes)like folding clothes cause it's mindless enough to give one time to think. Yesterday, Easter Sunday, we got a phone call at about 6:30 in the morning. A lady in our church had passed away from cancer. The family had begun attending church at the beginning of last year, a few weeks before her diagnosis. So over the last 14 months, our congregation really got involved. It was amazing to watch this woman's faith develop, strengthen and grow over the last year. I know from talking to her that when she died, she died with a greater trust in God and peace in Him than she'd ever had as a healthy person. I guess to many people, that doesn't make sense, in the light of such a grim prognosis. It's an apparent contradiction. I guess it doesn't always make sense to me, either!

I can't and wouldn't presume to understand why she died, why our prayers for her healing weren't answered on this side of heaven. Sometimes it's tempting to think that faith will package our lives neatly and in understandable units. I've come to realize (at the venerable age of 32) that faith sometimes makes us okay with the messiness of it all. There is a life beyond this one, there is a hope that outlasts it all, there is a love greater and more powerful than all our fears.

My good friend Holly lost her husband suddenly three years ago, while she was 6 months pregnant with their third child. It was a terrible shock to all of us. Months after he died, I remember her telling me that, in his death, she'd faced one of her worst fears and lived through it. She told me that it had strengthened and emboldened her to live differently. If what she'd feared most hadn't destroyed her, she reasoned, then what could? To me, that's the hope that comes from faith.

So that's what I'm thinkin' about as I fold an endless pile of towels and underwear. (That and this really lame Jennifer Aniston movie on TV.) I think Jesus put it best: (imagine that!) "You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all."

I am not someone who welcomes adversity. I am the first to ask for an Ibuprofen or an epidural! But it comforts me to know that my ability to face trouble does not rest on my own merits, but on the One who offers life and hope in the here and now. Some may call that belief a crutch to get through life, but I happen to believe that we were all born with a limp. So bring on the crutches--I'll take two!

Anyway, such are my laundry-folding, Easter season, hormone-tinged musings. Hope all is well where you are. Now, speaking of adversity--back to matching endless pairs of socks! Next time, you might just see a photo of me in those aformentioned mom jeans, so stay tuned, peeps!