First, I will explain to you what the definition of “whimsy” is so that you understand the title of my post. Whimsy according to the online dictionary means:

“Whimsy is behavior that is unusual, playful, and unpredictable, rather than having any serious reason or purpose behind it.” (Source: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/whimsy)

Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from my neurologist about the results of my MRI. You know how an IPhone transcribes voice messages? This is a screenshot of what I saw when I checked my voicemail.

I laughed out loud that “Duck Smith” had called me. And even better the MRI was a game. Who knew?

I love to laugh and joke around a lot, so this tickled my funny bone and helped me to laugh even though the diagnosis wasn’t so great. Apparently, I need to see a surgeon (which I already knew and have an appointment for) since I have five herniated discs in my spine and lots of compression of nerves going on. Now, back to whimsy.

If you read the headlines of the newspapers, you will probably get stressed. If you listen to news all the time, you will probably get stressed. Instead, I choose to read my Bible, starting the day with God’s Word. Sometimes, I find humor in what God says because it’s like He’s shouting at the people, “You aren’t listening to me!” And indeed, they didn’t listen, just as we sometimes don’t listen. God says “go” and we sit and wait for Him to tell us more loudly, or perhaps to dump us out of our chair and onto the floor just to get our attention.

I also enjoy reading fiction, much to the dismay of my husband who only reads (besides the news) non-fiction like biographies, memoirs and other educational things that he can then expound upon and debate. Debating is one of his favorite things, but it’s not mine, so I just listen, comment rarely and he moves on to the next topic. Anyway, I read a lot of clean fiction that amuses me, inspires me and entertains me. I find it a lot better than most of the TV shows that are prevalent today.

I do like PureFlix and its choices of shows. Last week, before my daughter and her family arrived, I was tired of reading so I decided to watch a show on PureFlix. But I couldn’t get signed in. So, I called customer service. One hour and thirty-five minutes later, a nice, heavily accented voice answered. At last! A person! Another forty-five minutes later, she had my PureFlix account working again…shut down, remove the app, install the app, shut off the internet, turn it on again. The directions seemed endless. I thanked her for her help and her patience, but by then, it was too late for me to want to watch a show. So the next day, I turned on PureFlix. Uh-oh! It wouldn’t start up again. Not wanting to call and remain in a queue for over an hour again, I tried to remember the steps the nice lady had told me (Who knew that I should have been taking notes?) and got it on again within a few minutes. This was whimsical to me because my being able to get an electronic gadget to work without my son right there next to me is an unusual occurrence. But it happened!

I joke with my family that my body parts are deciding to rebel and they have recently joined together in a revolution. I could whine, moan and complain but that doesn’t help me or anyone else. Yes, the pain is there. So? It’s part of aging. Accept it and move on. Shoulder pain? Yep! Back pain? Yep! Surgery? Nope! Not if I can help it. I like surgeons. They are genuinely nice people with great skills, but I don’t like the idea of being asleep while someone digs around inside of me and tries to fix things. I feel like an old car where the mechanic looks inside and says, “Well, I can fix it, but it’s going to cost you.” The cost is not always monetary either when it’s your body. I have had more than one physician tell me that I don’t need to worry about cost because my insurance will pay. That’s true…because of my husband’s military insurance, we are well covered. But just because the insurance will pay for it doesn’t mean that I want to have the surgery. Surgery is unpredictable, the outcome is uncertain and I prefer not to have it unless there is no other alternative and only then if God gives me the green light.

I like things that are whimsical, like a flower growing in a field of weeds and a child smiling as though they have a secret that they will never share. I don’t pick the flower because I want others to enjoy it. And I don’t demand that the child tell me the truth because I want that smiling light to continue to shine in their eyes. I want the child to trust me and talk to me when they are ready.

You know, that brings me to the end of my discourse on whimsy. God is like that to us. He knows what we need, He sees what we need and He wants us to spend time with Him talking to Him about what we think we need. It’s okay to talk to God without being all serious and speaking in a stern voice. When I talk to God, I talk to Him as though He is a friend and a Father. I laugh with Him, cry with Him, rant about my issues and then sit quietly and wait for Him to speak to me or reassure me that He is right there, going through whatever the current problem is right alongside me. God is One who is big enough to handle my swinging emotions and understands that sometimes I need to vent and sometimes I need to laugh. Today was a day to laugh a little and enjoy the new day that God has given me.