When all else fails....

Sometimes you inherit strange things...
Like ceramic kittens or gaudy costume jewelry or needlepoint artwork.
And the items sit there and you wonder 'why'...

Recently I inherited a peculiar item.
No.  Nobody died in my family.
But, in my professional life I changed positions.  I'm still a pastor; I'm just a pastor at a different congregation, which meant I moved offices.

My new office same with all the things you'd expect - a desk, a computer, bookshelves and a couple of chairs.  All those are expected....

But I also inherited hula hoops.  And not one, but two hula hoops.  I ushered the hula hoops to the side of the desk not quite sure what to do with them and certainly not willing to get rid of anything.   I figured that they were left over from Vacation Bible school.

And yesterday, quite by happenstance I found out about the hula hoops.
The conversation went a little like this:
Co-worker: "Oh I've been meaning to tell you about the hula hoops..."
Me: raising eyebrows
Co-worker: "See when the other Pastor was here she kept the hula hoops and said that whenever we were having a particularly rough day to just hula hoop."
Me: raising eyebrows more
Co-worker: "You know - when all else fails you can always hula hoop."

The past few days there's been a little too much sad in some parts of life - my friends lives, my own life, my professional life.  I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a little too much.  While I can cry easily, I also laugh abundantly.

Today a hard conversation with someone I respect immensely shook my core  and something reminded me of those hula hoops.  So I got up from my desk and put that hula hoop around my waist and tried to hula hoop.

I had grand notions of actually making the things go 'round my waist, but apparently I have forgotten the technique to hula hooping...

But MAN did I have fun trying.
Me in my black heels, goldenrod colored wool skirt, and dangly gold earrings in the middle of my office spinning that thing around my waist trying to make it go...

I hadn't remembered that hula hoops make a lovely whirring noise once you get it going.  I wondered what other simple joys I forget.
Yeah.  When all else fails you can always hula hoop.

It's funny because there are two hula hoops.
One for me and one for whomever else.

Wanna hula hoop?

Hat Tip to my dear friend Sarah Scherschigt who left the hula hoops behind for me.