Monster is a Relative Term

Oh how I have debated on doing this post. I have gone back and forth. It's not my story, but it has truly changed my life and I can't stop talking about it. So I will share it because the whole world should have it. I want to give credit where credit is due, so the people who this is about, if they ever read it, should know they are the game changers-the life~savers-the inspiration that keeps me moving forward even on those days when it seems all is lost. So I thank them. Because there are days when this story literally saves my life.

There is a dinosaur collection in my house We have them in windows, on dressers and the entertainment center, in the kitchen, and all over Meghan's room. Each one of us has one on the dash in our car. But for months Meghan and I have bought dozens of them...to give away. We ran out. We bought out entire inventories of stores that are close to us. And when we found a special on Amazon, we bought 150 of them. That's right. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DINOSAURS. We give them away like people give away candy on Halloween. We can't help it.

For a long time I didn't know why we collect them. When we go to the store, and my 19 year old daughter asks for dinosaurs, and I say "sure". What's a dollar or two? One day we were in the midst of a very deep, spiritual, emotional conversation, and Meghan said, "Mom, have I ever told you why I collect dinosaurs?" My stellar mom response was:"Ummmmm...because they are cool?" Meghan proceeded to take my heart to a whole new level. She made me sob because of the urgency in which I needed to hear this very, exact message at that exact moment.

The short version is that she has a friend who is shy and a somewhat anxious. This friend is a dinosaur NUT. She loves them, knows EVERYTHING about them, and is obsessed with them. This friend was having a bad day. She felt hopeless and lost and more than downtrodden. She was in a bad place both literally and figuratively. She was literally working in the mud, and her future seemed muddy as well. She was ready to give up. All of a sudden she saw something in the mud. She reached down and picked it up-and it was a toy dinosaur.  Just a little plastic dinosaur, but a dinosaur. In the mud. Her favorite thing.  Something she loved.  And then she felt loved. She felt watched over. She felt like the little details about her and her life were being noticed and cared about-and to her it was by a loving God who hadn't forgotten her. It changed her whole day. It changed something in her.

(So at this point in the story I am crying. I can't begin to describe how much  I needed that message!  Everyone needs to know they are cared about-especially by their God that they trust in-and yes I leave room for the people who believe in a "higher power" or the universe. The fact remains we need to feel loved by something bigger than ourselves and my soul was crying out for this love at this exact moment in my life.)

But there's more. After Meghan heard this experience about the dinosaur, she was having a conversation with the same group of peers in which the dinosaur story had been told. They were considering, with worry and trepidation,  the state of the world. How this world is scary. It's sad and lonely and full of people who are careless and selfish and bad. There are tragedies and disasters and time only seems to bring the state of the world into a much sorrier place than it used to be. We hear so much negativity everywhere we go. So, they discussed, how do we make it? How do we stay positive and strong and have faith and give light? How do we soldier on and not become part of the sadness and sorriness? The group was pensive and silent as this they deliberated these thoughts in their heads. Tough question. A little hard on the spirit. As Meghan took this in, and remembered the lesson that had formed in her heart upon hearing her friend's story, she said, "We look for the dinosaurs in the mud."  OH MY HEAVENS!!!! The little things. HOLY COW! The tender mercies. OH MY GOSH! The good. The joy. Good deeds. The hand of God. The knowledge that we are being watched over. That we are noticed. That we count, even in our little tiny corners of our world. We conquer because WE FIND THE DINOSAURS IN THE MUD. They are everywhere, big and small, every day, every situation. So many dinosaurs.

My little inspirer

This changed my life. I am a self-professed seeker of joy and goodness. I am a finder of the silver lining. But this touched my soul and became seared across my heart, embedding itself in my very being. This story is MY dinosaur in the mud. It's not just a little dinosaur, either.  It's a flippin T-REX!! A monster-but monster is a relative term-especially here. I can hardly keep from blurting it out to everyone I see. I have handed dinosaurs to strangers, co-workers, neighbors, Walmart cashiers, you name it. This story saved my soul. It made me weep with gratitude-for the message, for the love in which it was given, for my sweet daughter knowing I needed it, and for the friend who stepped out of her comfort zone to share it. I can't get over it. And that's a good thing. I am on a daily search for dinosaurs in the mud. We share our dinosaurs of the day when we are together. My friends text me their dinosaurs that they find. Let's find all of them. I guess they aren't extinct after all. And I am grateful.

#DinosaursInTheMud