You Look Marvelous!

I may be dating myself, but how many of you remember the song "You Look Marvelous" by Billy Crystal?  It's a very silly song, complete with a "European Aristocrat" sort of accent.  One of the lines that has stuck in my head all these years goes "It's not how you feel, it's how you look.  And you look marvelous!"

We've had quite a week, here.  For most of it, I had two sick kids.  One was throwing up and the other was sniffling and coughing.  We missed the Tuesday whirlwind at the Library (Lily is scheduled for story time in the morning and Rory in the afternoon), but replaced it with an all-day doctor visit on Thursday. The good news is, I think we have fixed the stomach issue.  Now, we have to try to get the sniffles to go away by tomorrow so my little guy can go to his first ever week of sleep-away camp.

You can pretty much tell with kids when they don't feel good.  They look sick.  They act sick.  They don't go around pretending not to be sick.  Not so with adults.  We adults like to pretend we're fine.  We go on with our lives and "muscle through it."  We wear make-up to cover up the bags under our eyes.  We smile when we feel like crying, and always answer "Fine" to the question "How are you?"  It's expected.  It doesn't matter how we feel, we look marvelous.

Sometimes it's hard to tell what's wrong with kids.  They have a hard time explaining their symptoms.  Some pediatricians are gifted to be able to look at a hurting child and figure out how to heal them.  Sometimes it's hard to tell what's wrong with adults.  They have a hard time admitting to their symptoms.  Some Christians are gifted to be able to look at a hurting soul and figure out how to pray for them.

We had a long day at church.  After the service we had a pot-luck meal, then a meeting for the VBS workers.  That was all kind of routine.  The amazing thing happened after all that.  There were only a few of us left.  In this smaller, more intimate group, the masks started falling away.  Faces which had been frozen into pleasant smiles melted into tears.  Sobs replaced polite conversation.  Hearts were poured out, wounds were exposed, and prayers were offered.  Spirits connected.  The Holy Spirit was called upon, and the Great Physician was enabled to begin his healing work.

I don't know what is going to happen with the situations that were prayed about today.  I will continue to pray, and I'm sure others will, also.  I do know that those saints, with tears washing away their carefully applied make-up, shoulders stooped from the heavy loads they were trying to carry, spirits laid bare for all to see, looked marvelous.