Life is...

I love those Life is Good t-shirts that you see around with cute little pictures of happy things on them. (In fact, my parents try to get the grandkids Life is Good shirts every summer as condo-wear. Aren't they cute??)

Anyway, I recently came across another line of apparel that strikes me funny in a weird way - Life is Crap. A few examples...

It seems like everywhere I look lately I see someone going something really hard, and after a while the pain and sadness can be overwhelming. My mom and I first saw the Life is Crap shirts in a catalog and we both burst out laughing because sometimes there is no other explanation for what we go through in this world. My sister-in-law recently had an appendectomy because her appendix suddenly burst...can you think of anything else so pointlessly crappy? (BTW, we're thinking of getting a shirt special ordered with an appendix on it...is it getting any funnier yet, Michelle, or still too soon?? Love you...)

Now, to be serious for a moment...

Life sometimes is crap. There's evil in the world. There's sin and darkness and pain. Of course, I also know the flip side that life really is good because we have Jesus and hope and grace. When times get dark though, I think it helps to acknowledge that sometimes things are just hard and ugly and unfair. When I'm working through a hard situation, it helps me to grieve everything that's wrong with this world first - to acknowledge that it isn't fair, it's isn't right, and it isn't what God intended. From there, I can move on to praying for the peace and the hope and the justice that life with Jesus brings.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)