Several reminders have come to me over the last month of the importance of returning to this blog. I certainly have had the ideas. I have even promised people that I would write a blog post about this or that. So this morning as I stood in the mirror at 2:45 am, I had yet another idea. This blog post is both the prequel and the sequel to a previous post. In that post I had promised to write about the beginning. That was almost two years ago. So here we are at the beginning.
When I was in college I did the thing that many do- I got a piercing. First my belly button. Then my nose. I wanted it done and so it was. I was growing in my understanding of what it means to walk with the Lord, and so needless to say I consulted him about neither piercing. I actually thought little about them until summer 2006. I was scheduled to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was laying in the chair all prepared except for one tiny obstacle: my nose ring. The dentist refused to perform the oral surgery with my nose ring in. I was annoyed that he felt my nose would interfere with his work in my mouth. I tried to explain to him that I could not take it out for him because I would then have to go get it re-pierced. He wasn't hearing it. If I wanted my wisdom teeth out I had to take the nose ring out.
For whatever reason my nose doesn't tolerate the hole like my ears do. Moments after my nose ring is removed, my nose begins to close. To have the ring out during an entire surgery without the ability to immediately put the ring back in meant no more ring. I was heated. I didn't see it then, but the nose ring was a sign of my independence, and it was being stripped away. This is a pattern that God uses in my life. He requires something that I cannot see the purpose of, yet it is more about stripping away my independent spirit than anything else. It is His plan to make me totally God Reliant.
Having the nose ring removed ended up working for my good. A few weeks later I was hired to work at a restaurant that did not permit facial piercings. I probably would have walked away from that much needed job at Legal Sea Foods if removing my nose ring had been a precondition for work. So life continued nose ring less and I didn't think too much about it. I was much further along in my walk with the Lord by this point and He had reminded me that I had never asked Him for the piercing in the first place.
You can imagine my surprise several years later when I had a dream in which my nose was pierced again. As I talked with the Lord about a nose ring, I knew that this renewed piercing would be nothing like the first. While the Lord had not been a factor in my initial decision to get the piercing, he would be the entire purpose of this one. For years I had worn a ring on my left ring finger as a symbol of my relationship with the Lord. It had brought many opportunities to talk about the Lord as people old and young inquired about my marital status. However, as I grew older I began to become increasingly more uncomfortable with the idea of replacing the Lord's ring with the ring of some man. Future husband or not, displacing the Lord, even symbolically, was no longer acceptable to me. The new nose ring was the solution. In the right season I would get a new piercing that would serve as a permanent symbol of my union with the Lord. As for many women in India whose nose rings symbolize fidelity to their gods and husband, my nose ring would represent my loyalty to the one true God, my husband forever.
I loved the idea and knew that my nose ring would have to be something unique. Not long after my birthday in 2014 I had the funds to get the re-piercing. Different side. Different meaning. Different place in my walk with the Lord. Not only did it hurt powerfully, there was blood that I had not accounted for. Yet even as my nose bled on the way home, I had the opportunity to share about this new symbol in my life. I slid the old symbol off of my finger and memorialized it in my prayer closet. Funny thing is it didn't take long for it to darken as if it were some relic from my distant past.
I thought that besides the waiting period to change to the ornate ring I preferred, the whole nose piercing deal was complete. Oh how wrong I was. My nose did not want to hold on to the piercing. With absolutely no regard for where I was or what I was doing, the nose ring would pop out of my nose. Same as before, my nose would immediately begin closing. So this meant everything had to come to a screeching halt. I remember one day while working with pre-k students, out it popped. Imagine 3 and 4 year olds and a tiny nose ring on the floor!
I revisited the studio so that they could place something in my nose that would stay a little better, but I still had to keep an eye on it. It was during this season that I wrote the previous post. The nose ring loved to pop out while I was sleeping. If the nose ring had simply been for my own beautification, I would have ditched it. God knows I had no interest in waking up in the middle of the night to push prod poke and pierce. I especially had no desire to repeat that process in random public spaces. Yet I saw it as indicative of what marriage is like. It requires sacrifices that we would normally not make, but for the sake of the covenant we do without complaint.
Eventually, I obtained an expensive flower nose ring that was bent to remain in my nose. For the most part it did exactly that. Occasionally it would pop out, like onto the sidewalk while on a field trip. However, things settled down immensely until recently. The curvature of the nose ring began to hang from the bottom of my nose. This caused me to be constantly turning my nose ring and wondering whether or not it was hanging. Although it was growing rather annoying and slightly embarrassing, removing the nose ring was not under consideration for me. But I did begin to consider revisiting the studio to have it re configured for my nose. Finally a few nights ago while on the phone with a friend, I popped it out, bent it with a hammer and slid it back in. With the new bent it was more prominent and I continued on about my life. Then it happened.
This morning I was sleeping and my nose ring popped out. It had been so long I had forgotten the protocol. I held the nose ring in my hand and drifted back to sleep. I only awoke when the nose ring dropped from my hand. Is that not how we become in our earthly marriages? Just a little lazy. Once upon a time our ear stayed stuck to the chest of our spouse. The slightest irregularity sent us scrambling for resolution. Then the hum drum of everyday life set in. No longer is our marriage something to behold and marvel at, it is just a part of who we are. The familiarity has a dulling effect. Passion is not the same and fervency looses its urgency. Only when things slip into the crevices of the couch do we begin to act.
This morning I could not get my nose ring back in. I tried the old tricks plus some new. I searched high and low for my old nose rings to aid with the re- piercing process as my nose had already begun to close. I availed not. I could easily leave it be. There is no genuine pursuit occurring for my left hand. My old ring sits in my closet ready to be adorned again. The mark on my nose would easily fade and most would not notice. Besides I could sleep in the wee hours of the morning or even accomplish tasks for ministry instead of enduring self inflicted pain.
My initial nose piercing was an act of self for self. Yet this nose piercing is about a reliance on the only husband who can be ever faithful, present, and fulfilling. Despite my thoughts on what is most efficient, my life does not belong to me. It is a life of reliance on the one who died and raised for me. So as soon as the stores open up, I will do what is necessary, no questions asked.
Are You Willing to Do What is Necessary? Or do you prefer to be self reliant?
When I was in college I did the thing that many do- I got a piercing. First my belly button. Then my nose. I wanted it done and so it was. I was growing in my understanding of what it means to walk with the Lord, and so needless to say I consulted him about neither piercing. I actually thought little about them until summer 2006. I was scheduled to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was laying in the chair all prepared except for one tiny obstacle: my nose ring. The dentist refused to perform the oral surgery with my nose ring in. I was annoyed that he felt my nose would interfere with his work in my mouth. I tried to explain to him that I could not take it out for him because I would then have to go get it re-pierced. He wasn't hearing it. If I wanted my wisdom teeth out I had to take the nose ring out.
For whatever reason my nose doesn't tolerate the hole like my ears do. Moments after my nose ring is removed, my nose begins to close. To have the ring out during an entire surgery without the ability to immediately put the ring back in meant no more ring. I was heated. I didn't see it then, but the nose ring was a sign of my independence, and it was being stripped away. This is a pattern that God uses in my life. He requires something that I cannot see the purpose of, yet it is more about stripping away my independent spirit than anything else. It is His plan to make me totally God Reliant.
Having the nose ring removed ended up working for my good. A few weeks later I was hired to work at a restaurant that did not permit facial piercings. I probably would have walked away from that much needed job at Legal Sea Foods if removing my nose ring had been a precondition for work. So life continued nose ring less and I didn't think too much about it. I was much further along in my walk with the Lord by this point and He had reminded me that I had never asked Him for the piercing in the first place.
You can imagine my surprise several years later when I had a dream in which my nose was pierced again. As I talked with the Lord about a nose ring, I knew that this renewed piercing would be nothing like the first. While the Lord had not been a factor in my initial decision to get the piercing, he would be the entire purpose of this one. For years I had worn a ring on my left ring finger as a symbol of my relationship with the Lord. It had brought many opportunities to talk about the Lord as people old and young inquired about my marital status. However, as I grew older I began to become increasingly more uncomfortable with the idea of replacing the Lord's ring with the ring of some man. Future husband or not, displacing the Lord, even symbolically, was no longer acceptable to me. The new nose ring was the solution. In the right season I would get a new piercing that would serve as a permanent symbol of my union with the Lord. As for many women in India whose nose rings symbolize fidelity to their gods and husband, my nose ring would represent my loyalty to the one true God, my husband forever.I loved the idea and knew that my nose ring would have to be something unique. Not long after my birthday in 2014 I had the funds to get the re-piercing. Different side. Different meaning. Different place in my walk with the Lord. Not only did it hurt powerfully, there was blood that I had not accounted for. Yet even as my nose bled on the way home, I had the opportunity to share about this new symbol in my life. I slid the old symbol off of my finger and memorialized it in my prayer closet. Funny thing is it didn't take long for it to darken as if it were some relic from my distant past.
I thought that besides the waiting period to change to the ornate ring I preferred, the whole nose piercing deal was complete. Oh how wrong I was. My nose did not want to hold on to the piercing. With absolutely no regard for where I was or what I was doing, the nose ring would pop out of my nose. Same as before, my nose would immediately begin closing. So this meant everything had to come to a screeching halt. I remember one day while working with pre-k students, out it popped. Imagine 3 and 4 year olds and a tiny nose ring on the floor!
I revisited the studio so that they could place something in my nose that would stay a little better, but I still had to keep an eye on it. It was during this season that I wrote the previous post. The nose ring loved to pop out while I was sleeping. If the nose ring had simply been for my own beautification, I would have ditched it. God knows I had no interest in waking up in the middle of the night to push prod poke and pierce. I especially had no desire to repeat that process in random public spaces. Yet I saw it as indicative of what marriage is like. It requires sacrifices that we would normally not make, but for the sake of the covenant we do without complaint.Eventually, I obtained an expensive flower nose ring that was bent to remain in my nose. For the most part it did exactly that. Occasionally it would pop out, like onto the sidewalk while on a field trip. However, things settled down immensely until recently. The curvature of the nose ring began to hang from the bottom of my nose. This caused me to be constantly turning my nose ring and wondering whether or not it was hanging. Although it was growing rather annoying and slightly embarrassing, removing the nose ring was not under consideration for me. But I did begin to consider revisiting the studio to have it re configured for my nose. Finally a few nights ago while on the phone with a friend, I popped it out, bent it with a hammer and slid it back in. With the new bent it was more prominent and I continued on about my life. Then it happened.
This morning I was sleeping and my nose ring popped out. It had been so long I had forgotten the protocol. I held the nose ring in my hand and drifted back to sleep. I only awoke when the nose ring dropped from my hand. Is that not how we become in our earthly marriages? Just a little lazy. Once upon a time our ear stayed stuck to the chest of our spouse. The slightest irregularity sent us scrambling for resolution. Then the hum drum of everyday life set in. No longer is our marriage something to behold and marvel at, it is just a part of who we are. The familiarity has a dulling effect. Passion is not the same and fervency looses its urgency. Only when things slip into the crevices of the couch do we begin to act.
This morning I could not get my nose ring back in. I tried the old tricks plus some new. I searched high and low for my old nose rings to aid with the re- piercing process as my nose had already begun to close. I availed not. I could easily leave it be. There is no genuine pursuit occurring for my left hand. My old ring sits in my closet ready to be adorned again. The mark on my nose would easily fade and most would not notice. Besides I could sleep in the wee hours of the morning or even accomplish tasks for ministry instead of enduring self inflicted pain.My initial nose piercing was an act of self for self. Yet this nose piercing is about a reliance on the only husband who can be ever faithful, present, and fulfilling. Despite my thoughts on what is most efficient, my life does not belong to me. It is a life of reliance on the one who died and raised for me. So as soon as the stores open up, I will do what is necessary, no questions asked.
Are You Willing to Do What is Necessary? Or do you prefer to be self reliant?
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