When Your Porta Potty Does a Face Plant…
Friends! Ever had a really bad day when absolutely everything seems to go wrong? I call these a “Murphy’s Law” kind of day.
One of my favorite children’s books is by Judith Viorst. She humorously captures this idea with her long-drawn-out title:
I mean, could it get any worse?
Well, yes, maybe it could….Get this: John and I were out for a walk recently when we discovered a new home being built near us. The night before our walk, we’d had a loud and scary thunderstorm, rattling our windows, complete with lightning lighting up the rattling windows, accompanied by rain slamming into them, and let’s not forget whirling gusty winds (yes, there was a tornado watch), rendering many homes without power that morning.
As we approached the lot, hopping over stray branches, there was a curious thing in the middle of the road: an overturned porta potty!!! Huh? How in the world did that happen? We chocked it up to the wild wind from the night before, however I couldn’t resist snapping a pic:
Bottom line, the poor, pitiful thing made us laugh out loud, blessing us with a mental picture for when we’re having a bad day, reminding us at least our bathrooms are within reach and are upright…NOT doing a face plant in the middle of the street!!!
I’m happy to report this funny photo segues beautifully into a book (Oh, I’m so predictable…), and it’s a new one, by Robert J. Morgan, that I believe we all desperately need:
Whatever Happens: How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart
There are a million and one ways to read this book, however I’d like to suggest you take it as one would take a devotional—by either reading a chapter a day (there are 31 chapters) or slower, perhaps one chapter per week to really soak in the passages, all from the beautiful Book of Philippians.
Rob invites us,
“In the following pages, let’s linger awhile in our Philippian villa and ponder every word of the letter that was first read there—
crafted by Paul,
inspired by God,
highly useful,
written for us,
giving critical directions for these critical times.
The letter to the Philippians will show us what to do, whatever happens in this world.” (Even when your porta potty does a face plant.)
Of the 31 chapters in Rob’s book, many of them are my favorites. But for this post, I’ll share snippets from only two chapters so you may enjoy the rest of the book ASAP!
Chapter 15 is entitled: Whatever Happens….Stay as Cheerful as Possible in All Circumstances (Philippians 2:19-24) Being a glass-is-half-empty kind of girl, I need to read this chapter once a day! It’s chock-full of the best news ever because it addresses worry (hello?) and fills us with joy and cheer, invigorating us in a myriad of ways.
First check out the difference between being “reasonably concerned and unreasonably alarmed.” Rob tells us the key is “when our concern is healthy, it does NOT debilitate us. When it begins to feel debilitating, it has morphed into worry, which becomes a vicious cycle.”
To which I’ll add when worry becomes debilitating, it takes over our brain’s ability to function, leaving zero room for anything else, most of which is probably way more necessary for navigating our day…How quickly we forget! This is when we need 1 John 4:4 that says,
To help cheer himself up, Rob researched what the Bible has to say about living a life filled with joy. Peruse these “joyful words” in Scripture:
Oh, friends, we need to repeat that little stat: “1,088 times the Bible talks about being cheerful…” That’s almost “three verses for every day of the year.”
So now what? Rob suggests we choose some of these cheerful verses and claim them, memorize them, keeping them at the forefront of your mind.
We readers learn about a gal named Julie Chapman who was diagnosed with cancer. She is an elementary school teacher and while she was struggling with her diagnosis and treatments, her students and friends began sending her messages, many times with Bible verses included.
When Julie received these verses, she wrote down the Bible verse on a post-it note and posted it on her wall. Soon her walls were completely covered with Scripture! Rob says, “Julie literally surrounded herself with Scripture.” These verses became her source of comfort, a veritable lifeline for her sanity and health.
We can piggyback off this idea of surrounding ourselves in Scripture by popping over to Chapter 25: Improve Your Mental Chemistry. The mere title of this chapter beckoned me as my mental anything can totally check out at any time with no rhyme or reason.
I was tickled to see Dr. Daniel Amen is quoted after doing extensive research on the brain. He tells us,
“You are not stuck with the brain you have. You can make it better…
You can master your brain by controlling what goes into it.”
And now this scary statement: “Watching just fourteen consecutive minutes of negative news has been found to increase both anxious and sad moods.” (Which makes me wonder why we tape ABC Nightly News every night.😬)
And how about some good news? Dr. Amen adds, “Direct your attention toward what you’re grateful for, and your brain WILL WORK BETTER.” (These are quotes from Dr. Amen’s book, Change Your Brain Every Day.)
So Rob then reminds us of the “Philippians 4 Filter:”
“Finally, brothers and sisters,
Whatever is true,
Whatever is noble,
Whatever is right,
Whatever is pure,
Whatever is lovely,
Whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)
This reminds me of when John and I heard Zig Ziglar years ago warn a large audience about what they put in their minds—He said,
BUT….if we employ the Philippians 4 Filter—only putting good things in our heads, there’s a pretty perfect promise waiting for us: “And the God of peace will be with you.”
Rob also gives us different translations from Philippians 4:4-8 showing us different words for “think:”
Meditate (NKJV)
Dwell (CSB and NASB)
Keep your minds on…(CEV)
Think continually (AMP)
Fill your minds (GNT)
Our next question coming from all of this would be “HOW” exactly do you recommend we do this?
Ever the teacher, Rob gives us four ways to keep our minds guarded. The four ways all start with the letter “r,” so are easy to remember:
“Read our Bibles,
Remember what we’ve read,
Ruminate on what you’ve read, and
Realign our life to what we’ve learned.”
(All four ways are explained thoroughly in the chapter.)
Finally, remember the promise awaiting you! “And the God of peace will be with you.”
Rob closes this helpful chapter with a scary version, what we’d imagine to be the devil’s version of Philippians 4:8. I’ll not include it in this post, however I highly recommend you read it as it’s a good warning for us all.
You can see how valuable these two chapters are—just imagine the rest of the book! I’ve highlighted and dog-eared many a page….
I believe men and women would greatly benefit from this book. If you have a small group, they would also.
Now you know how we like to close: “Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and grab Whatever Happens: How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart!”
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”