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Satan Hates Sprinkles

Sprinkles photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

My dad is famous for his optimism; as far as most people are concerned he is completely candy-coated. He lives out James 1:2 unlike anyone I have ever met. “Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds.” That’s my dad, joy in the face of trial. 

When I was growing up my siblings and I never had problems--we had opportunities. We didn’t have hardships--we learned lessons. We were always “better than we deserved”, “at an all time high” and super “f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c”!

Even when joy didn’t make sense.

As a young girl I remember a time when my dad ran for School Board re-election. I felt nervous about the outcome of the race and I recall asking my dad what he would do if he lost. He smiled his usual smile and laughed his usual laugh then said, “If I lose, you and I will go out for hot-fudge sundaes.”

Before I was old enough to appreciate the spiritual application, I remembered how odd it was to celebrate losing.

After all, nothing screams defeat like confetti and balloons.

Or does it? Celebration in the midst of struggle is odd for our human nature because it can’t be attained without God. It can often be the only weapon we have that keeps us from falling.

Our common enemy has come to “kill, steal and destroy but Christ has come to give us abundant life” John 10:10. Praise and thankfulness throw a big chink in the chain Satan specially designed to keep us down and out.

My dad ended up losing the re-election that year, and he could have gotten angry. He could have demanded a recount. He could have scorned his opponent and vented his frustration. He could have wallowed, but he would have promptly chained himself in bitterness.

Instead he kept his word and we went out for ice cream. In this particular situation I watched my dad rejoice rather than rant, and thanks to my dad, the joy of the Lord tastes a lot like sundaes with sprinkles on top.

by Ginny Martyn

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About the Author
Ginny considers singing in the shower and eating TexMex equally noble pursuits and would like to give every woman the freedom to be a mess and permission to take...

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Ginny,

What a sweet tribute to your Dad! It seems that he was a man after God's own heart!

May we remember to throw up some praise and thanksgiving at all times, especially when Satan attempts to mess with us.

Great post!

What a lovely post!

Cxx

This brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for sharing. An important lesson indeed.

This was a nice tribute to your dad and a great reminder/living example of what can be accomplished with God! :) thank you for sharing this today!

oh wow - fantastic writing!! loved this on so many levels. love the example that your dad was for you, that is truly a gift. love the spiritual application of celebrating in the midst of our trials. it really does make satan mad. thank you so much for sharing this today. LOVED IT!!

This was a great thing to have in my inbox today! I have been trying to have joy regardless. I have been suffering for almost three years with a debilitating illness. I keep trying to explain to people that I have the Joy regardless of my circumstances. Thanks for putting it into words I could share with my folks!

What a wonderful way to start my day...with a heart full of Thanksgiving! Thank you for the joyful reminder to thank God in the midst of life no matter the outcome!

I love this. I've always wanted to have that kind of joy and I've never been too good at it in the midst of trial. But I know you're right...the praise and thanksgiving while we're going through those difficult moments makes a huge difference. Quite convicting!

Love this Ginny! Sounds like our dads would be fast friends! What blessed girls we are!

Shaunie

Love this!!

"Celebration in the midst of struggle is odd for our human nature because it can’t be attained without God. "

Wow, love that so much!

I like this story a lot. It's true that the best thing we can do in a tough situation is to rejoice in the Lord.

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