God in My Corner
I’ve done some radio in the last couple of years, but I’ve not done anything filmed in a loooong time. I was all, Am I moving my hands too much? Because the minute the filming light went on, I remembered I used to move my hands too much. Or was it too little? There is nothing better for the neurotic personality that being filmed.
Also, I may have mixed up Glennon Doyle Melton’s and Francis Chan’s books. I had Melton’s Carry On, Warrior, and Love Warrior in my head and also Kevin Kwan’s novel Crazy Rich Asians. And then I’d head Beyonce’s Crazy in Love that morning. And so I think I called Melton’s book, from which I was quoting, Crazy Love, which is Francis Chan’s book and – ya, well – totally not the same books.
And now you know what the inside of my brain looks like.
Also, it’s super, super hot in studio, under the lights. I’d forgotten about that too.
On the plus side, I had my makeup done. So I had cheekbones. And eyelashes! Elizabeth is a very gifted makeup artist.
And I got to hang out with some amazing and inspiring people.
And did I mention that at lunch, they served potato chips? These people know how to speak to my heart.
Plus – and this is the big part – I had kind of a God moment on my way to the studio where I was preparing to speak about God moments. On my way there, I was slowed by some construction, and I was stressing. I hate being late and I’d wanted to sit in the parking lot and take a few prayerful moments before going in.
When the traffic slowed, I started to worry and I turned on the radio for distraction. A woman was talking and it became clear that she was a wife of a former widower, like I am. I turned up the volume since young wives of widowers are like hen’s teeth. I know, because I’m forever looking for other people out there like me. She talked about how the neighbors’ reaction could be overwhelming and how it felt like stepping into someone else’s life. And she talked about how it was hard to help people through hard times when you were going through hard times too.
Well, knock me over with a feather! This woman was speaking directly to me!
It turns out, I had tuned into an interview of Kathleen Tucci by Focus on the Family. Tucci has written a children’s book for families going through grief. She spoke about some of the early things she faced when she married her husband and I was all God is that you??
Because, oh how it’s cool when you are on the way to the studio to try to talk about how you can find God in books and quotes and in really weird places – and you find God on the radio in a traffic jam. I was given the exact words of encouragement I needed at the exact moment I needed encouraging.
So, even when I was trying to get my studio legs back, and was feeling hot, and was worried about mixing thing up, and was self-conscious about not wanting to mess up my makeup, I was all, I’ve got this, because I knew God was in my corner all along.