Even Barbie Has a Best Friend

Actually, according to the Internet (where everything is factual!), Barbie has had at least two best friends (Teresa and Midge).  Sounds familiar, right?  I mean, friends come and go throughout our lives.  That's just how it is...accept it! Of course, there is the one your Momma warned you about that ends up being your "best NOT friend."  We've all had them.  We've all been glad to see them go...good riddance!   There's the one(s) that you get along great with and enjoy having around when you see them.  There are the ones that call you friend, but you don't really make THAT connection with...we'll call them our "fair weather" friends.  Then there's the one you feel so blessed to have around you.  The one you tell your secrets to...well, not all of them.  The one that picks you up when you fall, after they stop laughing.  The one that really gets you and still calls you friend.  I'm not talking about "the love of your life" kind of friend here.  That's a blog for another day!  I'm talking about a girlfriend, in a platonic sense, that is your ONE FRIEND for LIFE.  (Note: I say ONE because the majority of people are lucky to have that.  A person who has more than one is definitely in the minority, or confused!)

I have had a "Teresa" and a "Midge."  Well, I still have my "Midge."  I call her that because she was Barbie's first best friend and has therefore been her friend the longest.  "Teresa," on the other hand is no longer in my life and after much soul searching, I am glad about it.  She was not so much the "good riddance" kind of friend I mentioned, but the "I am not playing this silly high school game with you anymore" kind of friend. My life is better now that I can say she is a former friend.  On the other hand, I feel BLESSED to have my "Midge."  We have been friends since I was 11...yes, that is a LOOOOONG time!  (32 years!!!!)

"Midge," is my life long, God given best friend.  We have been through a lot together.  She has blessed my life in ways she will never know and in ways she is very aware of.  Starting at the beginning, she's been my teammate, confidant, drinking buddy, match maker, lunch partner, sanity provider, etc...  We have caused trouble, played, fought, caused trouble, started fires, put out fires, birthed babies, caused trouble, cooked 5 star meals, laughed, cried, cussed, caused trouble, shopped, lost touch, rescued one another, grieved together, cut corn...I can't possibly name it all.  It has been life molding and adventurous to call her friend. 

Recently, "Midge" and I have walked through a fire together (one of our many), that has reminded me what a wonderful woman she is.  It has been difficulty.  We have cried and cussed.  We have prayed, talked and been silent.  It has been hard.  It reminded me, yet again of this:

"Midge," you are my hero! You inspire me.  You are strength.  You are the complete definition of "Mother."  You are love.  You are fantastic.  You are everything it means to be a daughter, sister, aunt, niece and friend.  I am thankful to God for you everyday...thankful I can call you my "Midge"...my FOREVER BEST FRIEND.  Love you, mean it Girl!

May God bless each and every person with a "Midge!"

Happy Plastic People

"Happy Plastic People" is part of a lyric from a Casting Crowns Song.  As I was thinking about Barbie this morning, I realized that she is a happy plastic "person" (doll).  She is always smiling, right.  But the song isn't referring to molded BPA plastic dolls.  It is referring to believers who are going through the motions, not sharing their reality, hoping no one will see through the facade.  That's pretty heavy stuff.  This led me to think about prayer and how God sees through the facade, to who we really are:  through the "plastic" to the core of our reality.  There is such comfort in that.  Every single person on the face of the earth has this available to them...a relationship where all of the muck is stripped away to the simplicity of the real you and it is okay to let Him in.  There is no fear of Him using that to hurt, mock or destroy you.  You don't have to worry about His feelings for you changing or weather He will still like you.  There is no judgement in that place.  Instead, there is a true Friend who loves you just the way He made you.  Amazing!

So, I profess to anyone who wants to read about it that I am not perfect, but I am perfectly made.  I mess up, make mistakes, fail, have secrets and insecurities, hide my pain and regret my sin.  Thank God that He sees through the facade to the real me...and loves me, not in spite of it, but because of it.

Today, I am happy I am human and not a "Happy Plastic" doll.  She doesn't get to experience the awesomeness of a life as a believer, beloved by the One True God.  Today, I am glad I am not living in a "Barbie Doll World!"

God Bless you!

Positives

Most of the time, comparing ourselves to Barbie is...well...negative.  I am not skinny like her, I don't have big boobies like her, I can't walk in high heels like her, yada yada yada.  But, I wanna get real here!  Shes plastic! I mean, sure she is portrayed as having a perfect body, health, life, career(s), man, etc... but, in REALITY, she would want to be more like me.  If plastic could think and talk, she'd tell you that despite the not so skinny frame, the sagging...well, never mind that one, the not so high heels and such, my life looks more appealing than hers.

For starters, I am sure she spent the weekend naked, in the bottom of the closet with body parts detached.  Don't you just hate it when that happens!  I am sure she would rather have spent her time like I did...chasing, feeding, changing, singing to, rocking, pinching, smacking and laughing at my grand babies.  Barbie doesn't get to do that.  How sad for her.

Yes, my house was a t-total wreck.  Yes, there was pbj squished on my hardwood floor.  Yes, I smacked Moo's fanny a hundred times for climbing upon and sitting in the middle of the dining table.  Yes, they cried, screamed, spit and occasionally stunk.  I wouldn't trade any one's idea of a perfect "Barbie World" life for the chaos that graces my house when the family visits.  In all of that overwhelming mess, I find perfection.

A place where waist size, shoe preference, clean floors and serenity do not matter.  Chunk smiles and coos at me, Moo sits in my lap to sing and rock, Kimb destroys the kitchen while cooking, Leah retreats to the peace of her bedroom and RJ does his best to survive it all.  That is my place of perfection.  Life would be lonely without these blessings God has bestowed upon me.  I am so thankful for it all.




I am thinking that a weekend with my man, bbg's and gbbg's (baby girls / grand baby girls) is way more perfect than laying naked in the bottom of a closet under all of the toys and dirty clothes with an arm missing...or worse.  So, Barbie can have her doll world and I will keep my REALITY.