Shine On!

Psalm 56:13...that I might walk before God in the light of life.

This is the wedding week. The entire family has looked forward to this one week this year more than any other for the past twelve months. Although the planning has taken place for a long time, there is still plenty to do. The last-minute details are being tended to include mine.

After trying on what seemed like 300 pairs of shoes ('shoe' is a word, by the way, I think should be included in the negative four-letter word category) to go with this dress, I finally settled on just the right pair. Did you know they hardly make designer dress shoes in wide? So what? Don't wide-footed women dress up? Don't they like high heels? Maybe not…I know I am not the biggest fan of them either. So after a stressful couple of hours on both my emotions and my toes, I headed to La Bella salon for a manicure and a pedicure. What perfect timing!

Aaaaaah, the warmth of the water was terrific on my toes which were still yelling at me about pair # 257 we tried on. After a long day of wedding shopping, I began to relax and chatted through the next two hours with Sam, my nail tech. If you ever find yourself in Waterford-Clarkston, Michigan, look her up; she's terrific!

Finally, I headed home after my "therapy" for dinner with a better spring in my step and a better attitude. It was a good day, and I remembered why I experienced it. The thought of the upcoming events, once again, made me smile.

Although we were exhausted by ten o'clock, my husband and I could not fall asleep with all the anticipatory excitement floating through our brains. Because the dark stillness always seems to cause me to delve into important stuff in my mind, like the meaning of life, etc., I did what was normal for me in those quiet moments: I rolled over to ask my husband some poignant, life-pondering question. As I spoke my first few words, he interrupted me. "Look at your hand," he said flatly. "What?" was my brilliant 'after ten-o'clock-at-night' answer. "Look at your hand," he repeated. But this time, did I hear a giggle?

As I raised my hand, halfway expecting him to slide that ring onto my finger, I had oohed and awed over at the jewelers earlier in the day; I thought, "Raise my hand"? This guest bedroom is so dark; I cannot even see my hand".

But as I raised my hands, I saw what looked like fireflies on the ceiling! Then, as my soggy brain tried to comprehend what my tired red eyes were looking at, I heard, "Look at your toes," This time, there was no masking his laughter. It then dawned on me that, for some reason or another, my nail tech Sam had used glow-in-the-dark nail polish on my French mani and pedi! So my fingertips and toe tips were all glowing in the dark!

Without hesitation, my husband and I began to snicker and giggle, which inevitably gave way to a full roar of laughter. Then, like two six-year-olds at a slumber party, we covered ourselves under the blankets and "played" with all twenty of my glowing nails like people, animals, and puppets, even impersonating some of the expected wedding guests to attend this weekend's festivities.

We laughed and laughed at all the configurations and images one can make from twenty glowing nail tips. The last sigh/giggle I let out before I drifted off to sleep left a smile on my face that must have stayed there all night because it was there this morning when I woke up!

It strikes me that we experience many life events and surprises as one of God's children. My heart this morning is suspect that perhaps I was set up by my heavenly Father yesterday to provide me with some much-needed yet unexpected comic relief smack in the middle of what could really be a stress-filled time.

I picture Him watching over me as I inwardly curse whoever invented high heels. I imagine Him there with a tad bit of a smile across His face as I walked into the salon. I see His eyes light up as I feel the warmth of the bubbly water swirling around my toes. And I think I see Him take his elbow and gently nudge Jesus with it, saying in a joy-filled God voice, "Watch this!"

And then He and my big brother were giggling right alongside my husband and me as we delighted in this little prank! Glow in the dark fingernails and toenails! Whoever heard of such? Only a God who makes the stars glow in the dark would lead my path to this moment. Only a God who delights in the joys of his people could provide such a stress reliever. Only the Father of a prankster daughter would pull a prank on her knowing how it would become an occasion for uncontrollable laughter and joy!

Considering all this makes my mouth smile, my heart warm, and my spirit sparkle as bright as my toes. I thought about calling the tech this morning to see if she could get me back in to change the color. But, instead, I'll keep my glow-in-the-dark nails to remind me that no matter how stressful, how dark some moments of even the most joyous of occasions can be, there's always Jesus' light shining through it!

And the possibility of my nails glowing sometime during the reception makes me smile every time I imagine it! Seriously, you're not even going to the wedding, but doesn't it make you smile to think about that one uncle who's had a little too much to drink and his reaction if, indeed, for a moment, he believes he sees my fingers and toes glowing on the dance floor? Me too!

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