My Pete the Cat Revelation

I am startled by the question.

“How is it going, Liz?”

Wait, have I been immersed in my thoughts too long? Is that why she asked the question? Shoot, what expression do I have on my face?? Will it look weird if I smile big now? How much does that dear friend REALLY want to know about how it is going? How could I even explain how it is going?

“It’s all good,” I reply, in typical Pete the Cat fashion. Of course, if you know Pete the Cat (the title character in a popular children’s book series), you know that he doesn’t make that reply from a place of perfection. Quite the opposite, things often go terribly wrong for him, but he simply chooses to move on with a positive outlook.  I like him. A lot. But here’s the real answer….

“It’s going so well! I get to watch my granddaughter every day. It is a joy and a privilege to watch her grow and change and to be a big part of her little life.”

“Work is going great. I love my job and my coworkers. It’s not an easy job, but it’s a job that’s easy to love.”

But also…

“It’s been a long haul. We have been working on ‘getting a house ready to sell’ or ‘getting a house fixed up after moving in’ for about a year. I am taking a break now, but there is still more to do – especially yard work. I am tired.”

“It’s tough. I think about finances all the time – not because we are in a BAD place but because we are in an UNCERTAIN place. We moved and took on more debt at a time when I wanted to be paying off our mortgage. We are fully supporting our oldest daughter and son-in-law – plan to do so indefinitely – and we have not completely established how much that is going to cost. Things are going well so far, but it’s not easy to have all these unknowns.”

“It’s going so well. I love having Em and Eric downstairs where they can join us for meals or for family activities when they are up to it. It’s easy to help them when they need a hand or to share a meal. Em can come up and hang out with Elle and me any time she wants. They can help us when we need someone to watch the cat. There are so many things to love about this new arrangement.”

“My heart hurts. Eric’s mom died about a month and a half ago. The circumstances surrounding Darcy’s death and Eric’s connections to his family are complicated. My heart aches so much for all of them! I loved Darcy, too, and don’t feel I’ve really given myself much time to mourn the loss of my friend.”

“I am not crazy about the fact that I have neglected my exercise habit for quite some time. I am gaining back some of the weight that I hoped was gone once and for all, and I know exactly how to lose that weight all over again - BUT I am not doing what it takes. Why? Likely ice cream plays into it heavily.”

“I don’t feel well. I have had a cough for over a week and now have some congestion and a headache, plus my eyes are watering constantly. I just want to sleep.”

“I haven’t been out on many nature hikes lately, just around town, like I used to do. It’s hard to find the time or the energy for that, even though I know the hike itself would energize me.”

“I love to travel, and planning big trips is so much fun; however, we have no big trips on the horizon. That makes me a bit sad, and then I feel selfish and guilty for feeling sad. We are taking a quick trip to Grand Marais for my birthday, though, and that makes me excited.”

“Speaking of my birthday, did you know I am turning 60 in less than a week? That sounds the opposite of young, doesn’t it?“

It’s no wonder I say, “It’s all good.” It is so much simpler: no muss, no fuss, no trip on the bus. (Aside: my kids LOVE it when I make up sayings like this....)

Everyone has these inner dialogues. It hurts to be real, and it also hurts when we are NOT real.  My hope and prayer is that everyone has a safe place where they can get beyond, “It’s all good!” – a place where you KNOW that the “How is it going?” question is sincere, and that the person asking has time to listen to the real answer. Better yet, I hope you have a team of prayer warriors who already know your story and have been encouraging you and helping you along your journey. I have such a team. They are my wonderful coworkers at the preschool, women of integrity and faith. I have friends outside of the preschool as well who are on my team, but the women I work with are my frontline prayer warriors.  We laugh together, weep together, and forge ahead through a lot of tough stuff together. This is what the body of believers should be.

I’m pretty sure that life isn’t easy for anyone. Life is a mixed up bundle of lows and highs, loss and renewal, laughter and tears. There is no certainty about tomorrow, except as we rest in the arms of the One who has loved us longest and best, our Heavenly Father. To the best of our ability, let’s make this a world where if our hearts are broken and our resources are depleted, we can turn to the body of believers and receive sustenance. Let’s pray for each other and walk alongside each other and help each other. Let’s live out the indescribable love of Christ.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” --Ephesians 3: 14-21