Retail Therapy & Regain Therapy

What do you do when you wake up really grumpy with a nauseatingly perky and precious 5 year old telling you to "rise and shine"? You get your butt in gear, toss some Advil back for that headache that's been hanging around for a few days, and put on some good music to coax you out of that bad mood....and go have some "Retail Therapy", as my Dad calls it.
Granted today's session of retail therapy didn't start out as that, but began as a simple trek to the store to get some necessities. A quick call to get the low down on what Mom and Aunt Dianne needed, since I was going to be at the store anyway, and I had a plan of action in mind and a shopping list in hand. Right on cue, which means as he was getting dressed, the Bubs started to whine and complain that he didn't want to go to the store with me.....can't say as I blame him, but sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do. He must have gotten the hint that I wasn't paying him any mind because he suddenly got a little quieter. Ahh, yes folks, the retreat and regroup tactic.

"Mom, I would like to go play with my trains with Aunt Dianne and Ammah while you go to the store, please."

I had to do a double take to make sure that those words did indeed come out of my son's mouth! The Bubs can sometimes talk like an adult, but still I couldn't keep a giggle from escaping as I just stood there for a second....He just gave me one of his little grins that, somehow, manages to be innocent and mischievious at the same time. Anyway, I decided that letting him have some play time with two of his favorite play mates might be a good idea. A quick call to run the request by Mom and Dianne and we were out the door.
By the time I finally made it to Target, the dratted headache was trying to come back and, as a result, my mood was beginning to take a downward dive. Then, I realized that I could stop and look at absolutely any blessed thing that I wanted to and no one was there to whine and complain about it! Needless to say, that fact alone was an immediate boon for my mood.
After perusing the aisles at will and enjoying a small, but much-appreciated bit of freedom, I wandered through the music section. For those who know me, this is not a big surprise as I am a music freak. Wonder of wonders, three cd's just happened to hop into my cart...all by themselves...no really!
On the way back to Mom's house, I popped in one of my newly purchased discs which happened to be a Newsboys Greatest Hits. Wow, did that bring back memories. I was suddenly overwhelmed with memories of me as a young girl dancing around my bedroom to "Shine", "Take Me to Your Leader" and "Entertaining Angels". The song "Shine" is one of the first songs I ever heard by Newsboys and I remember the pure joy I felt singing along with the lyrics, complete with my fake Aussie accent.

"Shine! Make 'em wonder what you've got.

Make 'em wish that they were not on the outside lookin'
bored.

Shine! Let it shine before all men, let 'em see good
works and then

Let 'em glorify the Lord."

Oh! The pure joy I felt singing that song and praising the Lord for my salvation. No worries, no embarrassment and no hesitation. I was perfectly focused on my Creator, secure in the knowledge that my praise was reaching His ever attentive ears.

I cannot properly express how much I needed to remember, reconnect and regain the joy of my salvation...the love of my Savior. You see, neither one of those things ever became less real or went away. I stepped away from them for a while and allowed circumstances in my life to become my focus and block my view. What a waste! Especially since the joy of the Lord is my strength!

So I guess my Retail Therapy turned into.....Regain Therapy.