Fear and Snot

"The Lord is my light and my salvation--
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.
For in the day of trouble
He will keep me safe in His dwelling;
He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at His tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, 'Seek His face!'
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide Your face from me,
do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
Teach me Your way, O Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

I am still confident of this;
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 27

And now for something less profound:

I think I have discovered a reason why I have trouble falling asleep at night. I don't know why it never occurred to me before, but I think last night I finally put two and two together.

Every night when I lie down to sleep, I get all cuddled up in my five million pillows, pull the blanket up to my chin, get all snuggly and settled. But if I stayed that way I would die. I can't breathe! Every night I have to sit back up in bed and blow my nose to clear the airways. Then I have to position myself in bed just right so that I can actually breathe. By the morning, I can sleep however I want and have no trouble breathing at all. But getting started... hoo boy. Who knew sleeping was so dangerous?!

Now, it's no secret that I inherited the earwax genes. I have to clean out my ears every other day. If I don't, I am probably reading your lips instead of actually hearing what you are saying. I theorize that I also inherited the snot gene.

My sister had allergies growing up, and there were always minor architectural mounds made of Kleenex at key locations around the house: next to the television, in the bathroom, next to the phone, in the seat of the recliner. We joked that she had the snot gene.

When I am crying and someone hands me one Kleenex, it almost makes me laugh. I mean, seriously? Who can use just one?! Not me... three, at least. And that's if I am really maximizing the space of the Kleenex. After watching my sister all these years, I have it down to an art. You can fold it over at least 3 times, and then use the outside to wipe any remaining residue. Then repeat (x 12).

So apparently I also inherited the snot gene. It has manifested itself in a different way, which I assume is why I never made the connection before. She had allergies; I can't breathe at night. Somehow I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick on this one...

I'm getting old enough, though, to realize that my mother, my sister and I are all basically the same person. They have skinny ankles and long calves; so do I. They have the snot gene; so do I. And the other day, I did in fact find one random long hair under my chin. *shudder* Good thing my mom and my sister also happen to be absolutely amazing ladies (and quite beautiful, too, at that).

Side Note: My sister eventually grew out of her allergies, has an impeccable fashion sense, has a very sweet and patient husband, the most adorable puppy EVER, and I love her very much. :-)