Careful planning culminated in a two-car caravan to Panera
Bread for a quick bite after church with an immediate departure to the Houston
Livestock Show & Rodeo. Those folks who hail from this neck of the woods
know without saying what a big deal this annual event is. Trial rides stop
traffic throughout the greater-Houston area. Volunteer commitments turn into
lifetime traditions. I don’t know how many millions in scholarships have been
awarded. I want to say it’s the world’s second largest rodeo. It is a Texas-sized
big deal!
This year was extra special because my family was in town.
My brother-in-law team ropes for sport, and their family has been involved with
livestock of some form or fashion for as long as I can remember. The cousins
were excited to be together doing anything, and Boompa and Bug (terms of
endearment for my dad and his wife) completed the entourage. Bellies full, we
headed for our wagons. Ride full, I back out and turn for the freeway. Out of
the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of my sister and do a mental check.
Everyone is where they’re supposed to be.
“Oh no, mother!” cries a daughter. “I don’t have my allergy
medicine. What am I going to do?!?! I can’t be around all those animals. I
won’t be able to breathe!”
Knowing she truly wouldn’t make it through the event without
some sort of antihistamine, I concede, “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll pull
off the freeway to the front of the Target that’s just ahead, and you can
run…and I mean RUN…in to the store and get what you need.” Pulling to a stop, a
unanimous chant rang forth from the peanut gallery: “Go, go, go!”
Waiting out front, the phone rings. “Heeeeyyyy, wus up?” I
answer playfully. Music piping, kids chatting, it’s going to be a great
afternoon!
“Where are you?” comes the reply.
“Oh, there’s no way this daughter will make it through the
rodeo without allergy medicine. She’s allergic to short-haired animals, so I
told her I’d stop so she could buy some medicine...yada, yada, yada…” I’m not
sure, but I think I continued with quite a long-winded explanation.
“You left me!!!”
Without seeing her face, I could see her face. Thank God she
was laughing!
Shock. Disbelief.
“Are you serious?!? Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! Oh, Pam, I
can’t believe I did that!!! It’s a good thing we stopped. We’re only a block or
so down the road. I’m coming right back to get you!”
Shopper back in her seat, we reverse course for Panera
Bread.
The phone rings again. “Hello?”
“I raised you better than to leave your sister behind!”
Boompa teases, having a little fun at my expense.
There was nothing I could do but laugh at myself. I started
to plead an, “I can’t believe I did that!” But really, I could believe it. I do
mindless things like that all the time. Just ask my kids. I’m an endless source
of live entertainment, and I’ve found the best antidote for embarrassment is
learning to laugh at myself. So that’s what I did. And profusely asked my
sister to forgive me!
When our foolishness, absentmindedness, or even simple
humanness mortifies, laughter dispels despair. I’m not talking about laughing
at other people. I’m talking about learning to laugh at ourselves. And tell on
ourselves. It truly is the best way to combat condemnation, steal ammunition
from those who
might want to use it against us, and most important, mute the devil’s attempts
to shame us over our mistakes.
One daughter, who must remain unnamed, came home from school one
day absolutely horrified by something she did, which must remain unspoken. It
was nothing bad or wrong, just very embarrassing for her. “What am I going to
do, mother? You just don’t understand! How am I ever going to go back in there
again?!?!” she despaired. Being the tender, loving mother I am, I chuckled as
she told her story. She was so cute as she confessed the humiliating event.
After consoling her, because she was genuinely upset about what happened, I
gave her my best advice: “When things like this happen, the best thing you can
do is learn to laugh at yourself!”
Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by
sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”
Likewise, Proverbs 17:22 tells us, “A merry heart
does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”
Embarrassing situations, if blown out of proportion in our own
minds or by others, can bring sorrow to our hearts and break our spirits.
Laughing and telling on ourselves produces a merry heart, for the bearer and hearer.
I can’t tell you how many endorphins my friend Jill has produced in me as she
retells her embarrassing moments. It’s the best entertainment ever! And the
stories never get old. She is a master at laughing at herself, because like me,
she provides herself with ample material.
So she’s the first one I called after making a complete fool of
myself at the bank drive thru. Becoming invisible would not have been radical
enough at that moment.
Even though I was already running late, I stopped to make a
deposit. I truly have the slowest bank in the entire world, and this day was no
different. Irritation stirred the longer I waited. The speaker came to life:
“Mrs. Wallace, you added your deposit wrong, so I’m going to change the total
and send it back for your signature.” Great! I said to myself. A longer delay.
“That will be fine, thank you.” I initialed the change, returned the slip, and
waited.
And waited. And waited.
The speaker cracked again, “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Wallace, but your
first total was correct. I miscalculated. I’ll have your cash out to you right
away.” Excellent. A light at the end of the tunnel! Let’s just get this done so
I’m not later than I already am. The tube whined, I grabbed the canister, took
my cash, and prepared to pull away, first counting the money. A $20 bill was
missing. Window rolled back down, patience expired, blood boiling, I pressed
the “Call” button, still attempting to keep my cool.
“Yes, Mrs. Wallace?”
“I’m missing $20,” I declared.
“I don’t see how that’s possible, Mrs. Wallace. I counted the
money exactly," to which I graciously replied: “Given the fact that you
miscalculated my deposit, do you not think it’s possible that you’ve made a mistake with my cash back?” Remaining firm,
he answered, “I don’t see how that’s possible. Just one moment. Let me recount
my drawer.”
Are you kidding me???? I thought to myself. Recount his drawer!?!?
Settling in, I knew it was going to be a while longer. This time a woman’s
voice broke the silence. “Mrs. Wallace, I’m sorry it’s taking so long, but my
teller counted his drawer, and I recounted it as well, and it’s correct. The
only thing left to do is watch the security tapes after we close this evening.”
Past my whit’s end, I huffed, “Fine, do that, and for your information, I will
be closing all of my accounts!”
Shoving the gear into drive, foot on the gas, my youngest daughter
who witnessed the entire drama from the back seat, asked, “Mommy, what’s that
under your leg?” Yep. You got it. The $20 bill!
Deflated, I determined in my mind I would simply slink to my next
stop without a word and never set foot in that bank again. To crawl in a hole
would not even have begun to make me feel better! However, I would have
preferred it to what happened next. The phone rang. “Hello?” I answered. A
woman’s voice responded, “Mrs. Wallace, this is so-and-so from the bank. I’m
sorry to bother you, but you forgot to sign one of your checks.”
Not only was my slinking plan averted, but I had to IMMEDIATELY
show my face again. Head bent, pride bruised, and heart convicted, I proceeded
into the lobby, approached the very teller I had accused of ruining my banking
experience, and simply asked him to forgive me for acting so inappropriately.
Not my proudest moment.
We are not alone. We all have moments that send us diving for
cover. Lighten up. Make another person’s day. Tell on yourself, and then laugh.
“All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast” (Proverbs 15:15). I most
certainly do!
Lord, give us discernment for the various twists and turns of
life, and give us the ability to laugh off the embarrassing moments that threaten
to break our spirit as we learn to be wholly Yours even when we blow it.
Shauna Wallace
Holy His
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