Living in a Higgledy-Piggledy World

Did the blog title get your attention?

Do you know what higgledy-piggledy means?

We'll get to that in a minute.

I've been trying for weeks now to think of something to share besides books. Not that I don't love sharing about books because y'all know I adore books!

But life has not been all about books for me lately. If I'm honest (and I always try to be), it hasn't been for a long time. I guess you could say I've lost my book mo-jo. Not 100% but enough that I only aspired to read 20 books for the 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge. 

You see, when I get overwhelmed with life, my default mechanism isn't to escape into a book anymore but to throw myself into creating...anything. Whether it be bookmarks, teacup birdfeeders, mini albums, cards, stitch work, or grab some paint and smear it, my hands want to DO something.

A fabric heart I made for a friend
and I enhanced the image in BeFunky*

2020 was a higgledy-piggledy year if there ever was one, especially in my lifetime. A pandemic and way too many angry political posts and people gave me anxiety way too often. I tried to withdraw as much as possible. Is it even possible to withdraw in a lockdown???

Yep. It is. I think I've done more sitting and staring into space and praying over the last year than ever before. Not that praying isn't a good thing. It is. It's actually the one thing that can calm my anxiety over issues I have no control over. And let's face it. That's most of life. 

But I trust the One whom I'm praying to, and know that because he spoke into existence the world and all its glory, and breathed life into man (wow, that gets me even typing that out!), then he is for sure the One who is in control. Not a single higgledy-piggledy thing that has happened in 2020 surprised Him.

And nothing happening in 2021 is surprising Him either. 

The latest higgledy-piggledy thing to happen in our life occurred three weeks ago. We got a phone call from our daughter that every grandparent dreads. Our youngest grandson (10 yrs old) was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia. That means he's had a complete bone marrow failure. His body isn’t making any new red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets.

Y'all, this is bad. 

I mean life and death b.a.d. BAD.

The whole family is wrecked by this diagnosis. But my daughter is doing a stellar job of gathering intel information on this disease, handling the frequent trips to the hospital and clinic, all while being a wife, and mom to three other children. She has great support from her husband who, by God’s providence, is working remotely from home (and has been for much of the pandemic), so for them, some things have not had to change on the day-to-day running of the home front, which is a 3-acre farm!

Our only response allowable from this far away and during a pandemic is long distance support via texts, phone calls, and prayer. Of course we know prayer is the best thing we can do! Our faith and trust is in the One who is not surprised by any of these things happening.

Right now, our darling boy goes to St Jude’s twice a week for life-saving blood and platelets. We are praying tests results come in soon, giving a definitive reason for the cause of this life-altering diagnosis. Our hearts hurt for our sweet grandson and all this could possibly mean for his future.

Would you join us in praying for him and the medical staff who are caring for him? And for his parents and siblings and all the higgledy-piggledy thoughts and feelings they are experiencing?

Oh, I almost forgot!

Higgledy-Piggledy comes from an unknown origin according to *Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and was first heard around 1598 as an adverb meaning “in a confused, disordered, or random manner.”

I think we can all agree that 2020 was a confusing year with lots of disorder happening in random places! ☺

The MWD (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) also lists topsy-turvy as a synonym so I thought this quote appropriate –

“… our lives have been very topsy-turvy for quite some time.”— Lemony Snicket, The Austere Academy

Thank you for persevering through this super long (dare I say higgledy-piggledy once again?) post!!

By grace our spirits are lifted and our eyes are fixed on Jesus–our Redeemer, our Rock, our Sustainer.

Images enhanced with the Mosaic brush in BeFunky photo editing program.

* “Higgledy-piggledy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higgledy-piggledy. Accessed 23 Feb. 2021.