MUD, GLORIOUS MUD - PART TWO - MUD THAT I MAY SEE

(See Mud, Glorious Mud - Part One - The Dream.) 

https://mollygracedaniels.blogspot.com/2021/03/mud-glorious-mud-part-one-dream.html

Sometime after having "the dream", mud became my study.

It was fascinating really.

 It was God who brought me to this study and he would use

mud as my tutor.

Mud, Glorious Mud! 

Like the man we read about in John 9:1-41 who was blind from birth

and was made to see when Jesus moistened the dirt with his spittle

and anointed his eyes with clay, 

God would use mud - that I too - could see.

At the time of the dream I considered mud a bother; something that was yucky,
messy, dirty and destructive. 

I thought of the recent mudslides that had taken place, destroying countless

homes and filling others with an overwhelming, incomprehensible mess.

 

I thought about how as a teen I once got my car stuck in mud, resulting in lost

time, major embarrassment and eventually a torn up lawn when

I went to wash off the mess with the garden hose.

Yes, mud was just yucky to me. I had no use for it.

God could see that I needed greater vision when it comes to mud. 

The dream helped me to understand that sometimes it is the inconvenient and yucky things in life, even weakness, trials and opposition, that save us if we choose.

But there is more!

It did not take much study to realize that mud is fascinating and important and truly glorious and praiseworthy! I will not make an exhaustive list here or go into any depth but I did learn that while mud can be destructive and messy, it can also be constructive and useful and therapeutic and fun!

Mud baths, mud pies, mud masks, mud runs and pottery.

Mud is even used to rub on new shiny baseballs to make them safer to use.

Mud is in fact a home to countless critters and provides comfort and cooling and sunscreen to other animals, many who even love to wallow in it! 

We even find common mud in common language depicting both the

good and the bad such as: 

"happy as a pig in mud,"  "mud in your eye,"  "stick-in-the-mud,"

"mudslinging," "clear as mud,"  "muddy the waters," 

"your name will be mud," and 

"dragging his name through the mud."

Then there is the saying by E.E. Cummings, 

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle wonderful!”

HAPPY AS A PIG IN MUD!

😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 

Here's Mud in Your Eye

Definition: Cheers; Bottoms up!

 People use this expression when giving a toast. 

It is a signal to drink your alcohol as the toast concludes.

MUDSLINGING

"My name is mud" meaning:

One is in trouble, disgraced, or discredited, as in If they find out I broke it, my name will be mud, or If his estimate is completely wrong, his name will be mud.

Definition of drag someone's name through the mud:

to publicly say false or bad things that harm someone's reputation

CONSTRUCTIVE AND USEFUL MUD

Throughout history, mud has been used in construction and to build homes.

Plaster, stucco, concrete, brick.

That is right, mud can be used to destroy or to build

 Just like the trials of life. Imagine that!

Add a lot of heat to clay that has been formed

and you have bricks to build with or beautiful, useful pottery.

What a combination mere mud and heat makes in the hands of a creator!

In Isaiah 64:8 we read, “But now, O Lord, though art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we are all the work of thy hand.”

MR. LUCKY STRAW

I am reminded of a story I found during my study. 

It was rewritten by Elizabeth Lane and is called “Mr. Lucky Straw.”

This is a story about a poor farmer who was walking down the road one day and tripped over a stone sending him head over heels into a mud puddle.

Rather than cursing the mud, he was grateful for it

as he recognized that it provided a soft landing.

It was his lucky day!

As he was brushing himself off, he noticed a piece of straw stuck to his sleeve and took it with him reasoning that it must be a lucky straw.

He found a use for the piece of straw and eventually gave it away to a young boy because the boy needed it more than he did.

In gratitude the boy’s mother gave him a gift in return.

What a lucky day!

The subsequent chain of events included giving away what he had with a great increase given in return until ultimately he was able to save his entire village by giving them the means to own land and raise their own food.

All of this because he was grateful, had eyes to see the blessings of landing in the mud, got up back on his two feet, brushed himself off, continued walking and then generously and unselfishly gave away what he had to someone who needed it more.

The “mud event” in his life became a catalyst to a great fortune.

The world is made of dirt and mud is all around us.

The important thing I would learn is that mud, like opposition, is not inherently bad.

It is rather useful and it can be glorious and praiseworthy! 

It is what we do with the mud and how we respond to it that matters!

Let it be your Lucky Day!

I was not done learning from the dream yet.

Stay tuned for Part 3: Deeper Application; Letting Go, Building My House

HOPE ON! JOURNEY ON!

MOLLY GRACE DANIELS

MUD, GLORIOUS MUD - PART ONE - THE DREAM

MUD, GLORIOUS MUD

PART 1 – The Dream

I am not a dreamer. But I did have one dream that I remember. It was a simple dream. But do not let the simplicity fool you. It was also profound. At least it holds some profound lessons for me, not just once, but every time God brings it to my memory.

The dream took me back to one of the best times of my life. It was a time when life was particularly exciting. I had developed an insatiable love of learning. I was engaged in pursuing a classical education and enjoying every minute of it. I felt so alive! My primary joy was being a wife and homeschooling mother to my two children with special needs and my quest for learning and self-improvement was a perfect compliment to what I loved doing the most.

In the dream I was with a group of friends that had been on the same quest for learning that I had been. We were traveling in Sharon’s big, white, eleven-passenger van just as we had done so many times as we went to seminars, retreats and book discussions together. Sharon was driving. I do not recall any one else specifically or where we were going in the dream but it reminded me of the times that we all went to the educational and inspiring overnight Mom's Retreats.

We were driving along just as happy as could be when suddenly, for a reason that I do not recall, we went off the side of the road and headed down a steep and rocky hill out of control. We were headed toward a cliff. I had perhaps a moment of fear but I recall mostly having a sense of peace even though our lives were in danger. 

The rapid descent down the steep hill toward the cliff was abruptly ended when all of a sudden we hit a huge patch of thick, deep mud that slowed us down and then stopped us. As the van started to sink and settle into the mud, I grabbed for our overnight bags and pillows, passing them forward in an attempt to save our things. I was quite worried about our “things”.

We all made it out of the van, each of us now shin deep and covered with mud - oooey, gooey, yucky mud! Our first reaction was to curse the mud that we were stuck in and that was now covering us. But that did not last long as we soon realized that this inconvenient, dirty, yucky mud had saved our lives! At once we started to shout “hooray” and praise the mud for being there to save us from sure destruction. Then we turned our heads towards the heavens with shouts of thanks and praise to God for giving us mud. How grateful we were for the mud. It saved our lives!

(I had this dream on February 18, 2009. It was significant enough to me at that time that I wrote it down in my journal. I did not know what it meant, if anything at all. It would come to mind now and then and I would read it and I still was not sure if it meant anything. It was strange though how it kept coming to mind for years.

I started my talk-therapy in May 2015 (six years after the dream). During my time in talk-therapy with Ben, I would learn from this single dream on multiple occasions as further answers and insight from the dream came to me. This resulted in three separate writings as I processed and a list of words I studied at the end. Too much for a single blog post, I share only the first part that carried me for a long time. ... Oh, and can you guess what my favorite flower is?)

The dream seems to have been prompted by a reunion with these dear friends from long ago. How good it had been to see them just two days before and to catch up on years gone by as we all had gone our separate ways. 

I was particularly looking forward to seeing Sharon. The last time I had seen her I was really quite cranky - in a winter season of life with a cold and bitter heart. I had grown a bit paranoid and a lot cynical from life's experiences with people in particular and my life was not what I planned it to be. I was deeply depressed.

I was now at a good place. I had healed and I wanted so much to let her know that I was no longer bitter, cranky or hard-hearted. I was happy.

It was sooo good to see her! My heart felt after her as she described how her once idyllic life had changed so quickly. It had been hard for her because so much that was happening was contrary to principles that she held dear - such as having to be a working mom instead of at home with her children homeschooling them. She took some comfort in knowing that she was doing God's will and was grateful that he gave her frequent confirmation of it. Still it was hard. It was not what she had planned even though it was the right thing.

She shared her experiences of adopting two children from South America. They had come from an orphanage that Sharon and her husband and seven children had volunteered to serve in for a month about one year prior to the adoption. It was an exciting and noble endeavor that they hoped would complete their family and honor God. 

The process did not work out as planned and she explained everything that took place while she was away - even stuck - in South America working through the process to bring her children home. She was there alone while the rest of her family was still at home in the states. She listed problem after problem and trial after trial and shared how this had tested her and how she too dealt with some bitter, angry and lonely times. It was still affecting her. She was still hurting and consequently struggling to now bond with these new children of hers even after nearly a year’s time home. I felt so much empathy for what she had gone through and was going through. I was so sorry for her hardships and disappointments.

1) My cold, bitter heart.

2) Sharon’s pain and hardship.

3) The van stuck in the mud. 

They seemed to have something in common. 

• They were all the result of unplanned detours that left us stuck.
• I had been stuck in my bitterness.
• Sharon’s hardships left her stuck in her anger and pain.
• The van was stuck in the mud.
• They were inconvenient, miserable and potentially destructive.
• **They all three had turned us to God.**  ... First in anger ... Then in praise ...

Could it be that the events that initially resulted in a bitter heart and pain and anger also saved us from sure destruction and death? 

Without such trials, would we have just continued on our merry way, never learning, never growing, perhaps forgetting God, perhaps even finding ourselves at a destination that we really did not desire?

Sometimes we encounter mud in life in the form of weakness, opposition and trial; and as inconvenient and yucky as it is, it is the very thing that may save our life – spiritually speaking – so rather than curse the mud, be grateful and praise God for mud, glorious mud!

Hope on! Journey on!

Molly Grace Daniels