Gumdrop Friends

Hello friends!

I almost became a blog slacker yet again, but some of you have smacked me back into the mode - many thanks!

Today I'd like to coin a new phrase - Gumdrop friend - you know, the kind of friend that you have that you're sure that bad things happen to, but you just never know about? The kind of friend who's life seems more like a really annoying clip from Wizard of Oz than real, with all of those little midgets running around so happy? Yep - you know you've got 'em - they are gumdrop friends.

Recently I've been bombarded with a slew of gumdrop good news - new jobs and promotions, relaxing vacations, perfectly planned pregnancies - it's all deliciously sweet and seemingly flawless - everything going according to some perfect plan that I am completely clueless about. I must have missed out on that committee meeting. What the crap!

I want to be very sensitive, because I know that I have gumdrop friends who read my blog. Know, sweethearts, that I understand in my mind that bad things do happen to you, probably often, and that you're life is not gumdrop perfect. However,in my heart, since the bad stuff isn't discussed very much or at all, I don't have much to go on in terms of being able to see reality versus fiction. Sometimes, I really do wonder if you and your husband ever fight like wild banchees, if the faucet in your very cool house leaks every once in a while, if there were any snags in your vacation plans, or if getting pregnant was any trouble at all.

It would help to hear Paul Harvey's "rest of the story" about life in general. Gumdrop friends are just fine, but having too many of them these days can really complicate my perspective. Let me rephrase - I choose to complicate my perspective when I hear too many things from my gumdrop friends, which I may have too many of at this point. Instead of being truly thankful for all God has done and is doing in my life, I occasionally choose to keep on wishing that life was as rosy as it is for the gumdrops. In doing so, I really do miss out on the abundant life that God offers me daily - I miss the every day pleasures and the every day life events that make it exciting. I miss the lessons and preparations for what God has in store down the road - God's perfect plan is getting lived out everyday. Perfect from my perspective? Not especially. Perfect in God's eyes? I'm thinking yes. Doesn't make it any easier though.

At the end of the day, I'd rather be, let's say, a piece of licorice. Gumdrops seem so semi-square, soft and chewy with exciting colors and sugary stuff on the outside, but licorice just fits me better - Among the other candies, I occasionally get rejected, I smell funky when it gets hot outside, and I'm pretty twisted. Pretty real, I'd say.