Return to Sender

It was a purchase made on a whim. A little after Christmas indulgence at one of my fav stores, whose initials are BBB. We were running in for one little thing, but left with a cart full of a whole lot of things. You know how it goes—the “after holiday blues” take over and a little shopping therapy is right there waiting in the shadows to catch you off guard.

I was so excited about one of the little things in the cart. It was a set of beautiful soft pink sheets. They were a cotton blend ,promising a night of blissful sleep. And Hubby agreed to pink. I got home and followed the laundering instructions carefully. The little care card inside the package said to follow up with a warm iron once they were dry. Um….no. They are sheets for crying out loud, but nice that there’s actually people who iron their bedding.

I carefully made the bed, slipped into my most comfy jammies, and couldn’t wait to crawl in for my night of blissful sleep.

Well here’s the thing. It was like crawling between two large sheets of sandpaper. I started itching all over. At first I thought it was my pj’s. I mean there’s no way it could be my expensive new sheets. But the itchiness was coming through my pajamas, and it felt like I was laying on a thousand slivers of wood. Still not convinced, and determined to make this night of blissful sleep happen one way or the other, I continued to lay there. And then my neck and scalp started itching. Yep, the pillowcases.

About 10 minutes later, and wondering if my husband had full on hives by now, I stealthily made my way between the plush blanket and comforter layer of our bedding, grabbed a throw pillow and fell into my not-so-blissful night of sleep. The last thing I wanted to hear was, “I told you so” from my Love sleeping next to me, so I kept the sheet trauma to myself.

I know what you are thinking; what life lesson is she going to pull from this sheet craziness?

For many months now I’ve been wrapped in a cloak of negative thoughts. I put on this figurative cloak throughout each and every day. At first it was uncomfortable. I didn’t like having such negative thoughts swirling in my head, but then as time went on, I got rather used to them. It was kind of entertaining writing all these stories and scenarios in my head with all the festering negativity. What was uncomfortable soon became comfortable. Like an old sheet set that has enough wear and tear to welcome you into bed each night. Yep, me and my snarky, fearful, sorrowful thoughts were settling in quite nicely.

…Until one day recently when insecurity crept in and took over. I started believing those thoughts as truth. They were no longer entertaining. They were no longer easy to dismiss. I started to believe these thoughts, that at some point, had turned into outright lies. Dear Lord, what happened to me? Help me!

And in that instant, as God so graciously does, a scripture came to mind.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

Well there you have it, the scripture that brought me to my knees in five seconds flat.

RETURN TO SENDER. Because let’s face it, we all know those kind of thoughts are coming straight from the pit of hell.

In Christ, I have the power to demolish this evilness. Take it captive, and claim victory over that pesky mind of mine. I can honestly say the transformation happened pretty instantly. I’ve noticed I entertain such thoughts as forgiveness, peace, and joy now. Don’t get me wrong, the negative thoughts are lurking. They want a seat at the table, but by quoting the above scripture throughout the day, I’m conquering this negative thought life of mine. Half the battle is awareness.

Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

And…

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

You are probably wondering about the sandpaper sheets, well they’ve been returned to the “sender” as well.

Welcome 2020, and here’s to a healthy thought life!