No More Dry Bones

No more dry bones~ No more. Give life to your bones by giving yourself permission to be happy.

Make a list today of the things that bring you joy.

See SueDuffield.com

A Communicable Dizzy-ease!

   I told a little friend of mine, who will soon turn eleven - "Sweetie, you will draw more people TO you when you smile!"
   She looked at me dumbfounded and said, "I can't draw people too good. I can draw trees and horses better."
   I got it. I laughed.
   My favorite story recently was posted on Facebook by a gal attending church here in the Nashville area. When she "checked in" and wrote a status update, she inadvertently checked in to Hooter's Restaurant, which was right across from the church. That's funny in itself. She wrote, "In His Presence" - at Hooters. (I'm dying over here!) But the best response was her friend's comment under the status update. "Girl, you better cross that street!"
   Now THAT"s funny right there!
   I love the comedy network on Sirius radio. Without it, I'd be in a ditch somewhere off a major highway. It keeps me in stitches, laughing, even when I'm bone tired from late-night driving. Keeping me awake is the goal. That's a good thing. A comedian said yesterday; (Husband in his eighties yells to his wife) "What's it like outside?" She says, "It's windy." He responds, "No it's not, it's Thursday." She says back, "Yeah, so am I - what do you want, water or tea?" (I'm dizzy with laughter! Love it!)
   I have since decided, since most of you who follow me know - I have a communicable funny dizzy-ease. It's infectious, transmissible and comes by being in direct contact with someone who is dizzily in love with laughter, goofy stories, and spontaneous kid-like frolic. People will be drawn to you, like a horse drawn to water. (Literally though, my glass is half empty right now, 'cause it fell off the table! But that doesn't mean that my attitude is half empty. it just means I got to get up again from the table and fill my glass back up with cucumber water... and clean the mess on the floor. I need Mr. Ed..)
   For all my social media friends and experts out there who post on a regular basis, let me help you with something: Don't be God. Don't be judgmental. Don't express hatred through sarcasm. Invite others in the conversation. Applaud, praise and comment on posts that are worthy of your stamp of approval. Be communicable in the best of ways. Share in the "dizziness" and ease of your shortcomings. You never look better to the world than when you are real and vulnerable. I ain't horsin' around with this.
   Jesus reminds us all, "Everything I have is yours." (Luke 15:31) It's a contagious and communicable "ease" (without the dis), knowing that you can have this gift called everything.
Share it. Sing it. Speak it. Write it. Live it. Draw it.
   BTW, my little friend drew a picture of me. When she handed it to me, I looked like a horse. I laughed. She laughed. Then she said, "I 'drew' you, right?"
   Yes, baby girl, you drew me alright. :)

Slide to Unlock

Every iPhone has the key phrase of access on the main screen -
"Slide to Unlock". 

In other words:

Swipe to enter. 

Run your finger across, left to right - to get in. 

It's a right of passage to access the smart phone world.

I drove past a playground in town, watching kids running, skipping and sliding down slides. The best view was a grandmother getting ready to let gravity take her slightly plump body down the kids' slide. I stopped to watch this. Jumping all around on the ground were three happy ecstatic children, convulsing IN the moment, shouting up to their grandma,
"Go, grandma! GO! You can do it! You can do it!"

Without too much coercion, grandma pushed her large-framed body away from the hand railings and plummeted down the slide to the end. Awaiting her were three beaming children, unconscious with laughter and hugs, screaming,
"Do it again, grandma! Do it again!"
She picked herself up off the ground, laughing and said,
"Oh my, I'm not as young as I used to be! I don't know if I can do it again.... but I'll try."

While I was watching this scene, I was also replaying a similar scene in my head of years ago. It's such irony to be totally present in the present, but sometimes reflecting and looking back - all at the same time.

Slide to unlock the joy. 
Slide to unlock the laughter. 
Slide to unlock the memories..
Slide to unlock the mystery of the gospel.

You'll have full access to the kingdom, when you slide to unlock the child within you.

Matthew 18:3
The Message
 2-5 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.

Mud-sized

I love to laugh now more than anything. I'm hoping that all this body jiggling will evenly distribute the fat.

My friend Dawn and I were on Skype together last night, making a scene at Detroit Metro Airport; she in Holland, MI and me in Terminal A of DTW. We were howling out loud online about the time she fell in the mud on a rainy Sunday morning in her brand new black Kasper suit. It was (both the mud escapade AND the recall last night) a bonding moment! To this day, I laugh crazily when I think of her laying and wallowing in that mud. And I, overcome with surprise, was completely helpless!

I was immobilized with laughter. It was as if I was shot with a stun gun. I could not help her get up. Every time I'd grab her hand, I collapsed in a crazed state. Overwhelmed with how shocking it is to be so out of control with hysteria, I pray for more of these immovable, gripping and healing joy spurts.

Think back. Do you have a dose of your own laughing story to tell? If you don't, join me sometime on a trip somewhere. I'm sure something hilarious will happen. It's contagious...therapeutic...and a great anti-depressant. And if you cry and laugh and need to go to the bathroom all at the same time, plus can't get your breath during it all - you're on the right road. You've been mud-sized.

The Lasting Laugh

It's not surprising to me anymore that the women I meet and with whom I interact, especially over the recent series of LOL, Girls Night Out, and Chuckles & Chocolate events this spring, have incredibly gripping faith stories. Stories that aren't very neat and clean. From atheists, to crack addicts, to former prostitutes on parole, I feel like Dorothy when she said to Toto, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

The "Kansas" for me, used to be: Well groomed, shiny-haired, picture perfect "June Cleaver" women who do church, have church, live church. The churchy women. You know, the squeaky clean, non-messy, religious women's events that rank right up there with Martha Stewart prep and decor. That's what it used to be. Until...

...Until I started praying for revival and outreach like never before. Until I started to realize that even in comedy and humor (especially), women are coming out in droves, bringing their friends and co-workers, because they just can't do "church" anymore. They don't fit the status quo of expectation and pew-sitting. Many don't even have a history of church in their background. But what they CAN do is bring their heavy hearts and despair for a one night experience of "hoping to be inspired, healed and encouraged." This is what I saw. This is what I see.

I gripped the left hand of a 13 year old girl who wanted the words to the crazy acronym-texting song, "LOL", smiling and laughing, while at the same time I grasped the right hand of an 89 year old gal who was crying saying, "My heart has been heavy for so long. I needed to laugh SO badly tonight. Thank you."

To the nay-say-ers out there who think or suppose that the ministry of comedy and music isn't reputable or needed in our religious circles, let me say to you (because I can - it's MY blog!): Never before in over 40 years of ministry have I ever seen such despair, difficulty, hardship, pain, anxiety and lack of trust - among women. The sad news is that many of these women will never attend a seminar or women's conference on "How to Have More Faith" or "Intercessory Prayer" or "Inner Healing" or "Grace". Why? Because they say it hurts way too much to go. It hurts to feel guilty because of the mistakes they've made.

They are, however, coming to comedy events. Events that have the word "fun" attached somewhere. They're bringing their teenagers, their co-workers, their cousins, sisters, and neighbors too. Why? Because they need to laugh. They need to know that Jesus laughs. They need to experience a true belly laugh, by looking deep into their own hearts. Ironically, it's the most covert evangelistic tool out there. And once a woman's heart is wide open, it is then and there that the Gospel can be received like never before. I know this, for I have seen it to be true.

Seventeen events in twenty-one days. That's what I did on the road from April 26th through May 17th. Thousands of women, all of their faces in front of me now as I write this.. Many who did not know God, but came because they "heard" it was going to be fun.

Fun. God. Laughter. Healing. Hope. Future.

This is why I do what I do. We're not in "Kansas" anymore. All the more the reason to stay prayed up, using your gifts to be relevant to a new generation of women. And yes, I sang the Oldies too. One woman even raised her hand after I sang, "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing", and shouted, "PRAISE GOD!" We laughed. We cried too. She had no history of hymns, gospel music or praise & worship songs in her background, but she "understood" the language of the Mo-Town Ashford/Simpson song by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye. It blessed her. It spoke to her heart, somehow. We prayed later and listed other Mo-Town songs that had some secret sacred language! A fun moment for this Oldies DJ, I tell ya!

Then my new atheist friend approached me at the end of a concert. Here's the dialogue:
(Mary) Hi Sue. I didn't agree with most of what you sang or spoke about tonight.
(me) I wouldn't think you would, as I probably wouldn't agree with you either at your meetings.
(Mary) My sister made me come.
(me) Cool.
(Mary) I did like the Oldies you sang...
(me) Thanks Mary. The same God that sings through me during the hymns and sacred songs, is also the same God who sings through me when I sing the Oldies and Standards.
(Mary) hmmm.....
(me) I love you, Mary. Seems you'll have a lot to think about tonite...

She. Laughed.

(Sidenote:)..And because she's learned the value of living her faith on-line via social media, women are coming out to events promoted. They know that the "Sue" on-line is the same "Sue" in person. - Renee Sullivan, from MD
Get the book @stickyJesus. You'll see why.