If you\u2019ve been tested by betrayal, by death, by meeting your flaws, and still you are, and still you be…<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever folded down, crumbled, all alone and nobody to impress, and in that moment you prayed a bumbling, fumbling prayer of bleeding honesty…<\/p>\n
If living has purpose\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
If you know who you are\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and know who you aren\u2019t\u2026<\/p>\n
If you recall your youth with some embarrassment\u2026but think your grandparents would respect your adulthood\u2026<\/p>\n
If you know what Home means\u2026<\/p>\n
If the I Do is still doing\u2026<\/p>\n
If you are flawed, and realize we all are\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026if your family is flawed, and you realize they all are\u2026<\/p>\n
If you had a weakness, and one-day-at-a-timed it\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
If you\u2019re past the dumb stuff\u2026and ready to face life like an actual grownup\u2026<\/p>\n
If healthy means more than pretty\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026if settled means more than chasing\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve pulled yourself away from the crowd that still needs the crowd\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever given someone a piece of your mind and still had enough pieces left to know you need to apologize\u2026<\/p>\n
If life would still be interesting without electricity\u2026<\/p>\n
If the fish that got away is still gaining weight\u2026<\/p>\n
If you can joke about old shames\u2026<\/p>\n
If at least once a decade you tremble with gratitude\u2026<\/p>\n
If once a year you cry and feel real\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
If you\u2019re in awe that God would entrust you with raising His\/your children\u2026<\/p>\n
If you got to say goodbye and have no regrets\u2026<\/p>\n
If in a quiet moment, you pause and measure where you are from where you were, and have the good sense to be humble\u2026<\/p>\n
If you feel love\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve known bottom and bounced\u2026<\/p>\n
If it ain\u2019t easy, but you don\u2019t know how to spell quit\u2026<\/p>\n
If the second thing you want to do in heaven is thank your parents\u2026<\/p>\n
If you know how to work\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve figured out that money is only money\u2026<\/p>\n
If what people think isn\u2019t something you do much thinking on\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
If practical rules over presentation\u2026<\/p>\n
If you turned out to not be dumber than you thought\u2026<\/p>\n
If the grass was greener over your own septic tank\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever had an animal adore you\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve been there at the last heartbeat\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve had enough trouble to not be afraid of trouble\u2026<\/p>\n
If hard times proved you come from good stock\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever done good in secret\u2026<\/p>\n
If you swish the coffee cup out and call that clean enough\u2026<\/p>\n
If you served an elder in their decline\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
If you\u2019re sentimental and don\u2019t care if anyone understands\u2026<\/p>\n
If air is something you take in and not put on\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever played air guitar to Clapton, or reached for a hankie when they played Taps at a funeral\u2026<\/p>\n
If baby giggles are better than chocolate\u2026<\/p>\n
If just once, your favorite team won it all\u2026<\/p>\n
If a butterfly ever flirted with you\u2026<\/p>\n
If you and God are cool when your head hits the cool side of the pillow\u2026<\/p>\n
If you have one friend from way back\u2026<\/p>\n
If you have something to live for\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and something that will outlive you\u2026<\/p>\n
If hope ever pulled you out of a dark spot\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever shook an angry fist at God\u2026and found Him gentle\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever had your pride melt like a candle\u2026and spoke with broken words to Someone you weren\u2019t sure was really Up There\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re still wondering what you want to do when you grow up\u2026<\/p>\n
If gardens feel like chapels\u2026<\/p>\n
If the best of your sacrifice will never be appreciated in your lifetime\u2026<\/p>\n
_ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n
This edition of Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories is brought to you by Eighty-one, where we think if you\u2019ve ever known any one of these\u2026you\u2019ve touched the Good Stuff.\u00a0 Uncle P wishes to acknowledge that this Bedtime Story was easy to write, because something Bigger was in his ear.<\/i><\/p>\n
Uncle P can be reached at 81creativity@gmail.com.\u00a0 Other Bedtime Stories can be found on the Eighty-one Facebook page.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve been tested by betrayal, by death, by meeting your flaws, and still you are, and still you be… If you\u2019ve ever folded down, crumbled, all alone and nobody to impress, and in that moment you prayed a bumbling, fumbling prayer of bleeding honesty… If living has purpose\u2026 If you know who you are\u2026 [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[59,894],"yoast_head":"\n