The Belly Button Monster

I know, it's a funny title for a blog post.  This title comes from a discussion I had with my son this morning about a dream he had.  I must say, I learn my biggest lessons in life from my children.  So anyway, this morning... my son is telling me about a dream he had last night about how he had made the decision that

he just didn't needed his Belly Button anymore. 

 

He went on to explain his reasoning in the dream which was,

"Really, what do I need it for anymore?  I mean, I used to need it, but I don't need it anymore and I decided it was time to let it go." 

 

He went on to tell me (between enormous giggles) that he searched and searched for someone to help him get rid of his Belly Button.  Finally, he found this magical wizard who told him about "THE BELLY BUTTON MONSTER".  This wizard guided him over to a box and he told my son (in his dream) that there was a monster in the box and if my son decided to open it, the monster would come out and take his Belly Button from him....since he didn't need it anymore.  My son said he was a little frightened to see this Belly Button Monster, but he was determined to let go of his Belly Button. (My son gestured largely with his hands and big eyes as he went on.) So he ever so slowly opened the box and out popped the Belly Button Monster!!!!  He quickly snatched up my son's belly button and went back inside the box!!! ( Again with large eyes and big arm gestures ) my son said he was so scared to look down at this stomach, in his dream.  He was afraid that in the "snatching" away by the monster that he was now hurt somehow. When he finally looked down at his belly button, it was gone and he had an unblemished, unhurt stomach.  He was so happy and so relieved that he had found help and that the monster and not harmed him but had helped him. He woke up, and that was the end of his dream.

As my son relayed his dream, he was so very animated and expressive, which added to the story.  The dream itself is so his style of humor.  It was such a JOY and very funny to hear him tell it.

Though, for some reason I haven't been able to get his funny dream out of my mind.  Now, this is where God uses the everyday moments to speak to me. This is an ARTFUL LIVING moment. I am so thankful that I can find HIS beauty and teachings in moments like these.  God comes to me in the smallest and yes the funniest of moments, like my son telling me about his dream.  There is a deep lesson here in this seemingly everyday exchange with my child.  (My son has told me his dreams every morning for the past 7 of his 10 years of his life.)  So in this small moment, I was thankfully very present with my son. The dream of an unwanted belly button and a Belly Button Monster made a big impression on me.

I started thinking, "Well, I too have ALOT of unwanted "belly buttons".  Those, would be the things in my life that don't serve me or that I don't need anymore. 

Like FEAR, MY PAST, MISTAKES, NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, UNFORGIVENESS, JEALOUSY, SHAME, UNWORTHINESS, WORRY, etc., etc., etc.,  This list is long.  And we too can go in search of the Belly Button Monster,...OUR GOD...and dare to open ourselves up to Him and how he can take the things in our lives that don't serve us anymore.  We can turn over to Him that which is a burden, or the things that way us down.

What are your "unwanted belly buttons"?

 

You may be thinking I'm weird and that this is a ridiculous way to refer to our burdens or "unwanted's" in our life.  But I found this story to be a silly, funny and lighthearted way/lesson of VISUALIZING with the serious stuff in life that we can

 

LET. IT. GO.

And in letting go and turning over of the things that weigh us down and don't serve us anymore, we too can feel happy and unharmed as my son did in his dream.  For some of us we may only need to do this one time, and for others we may need to do this each day.  Both are a way to let go.

In the listening and learning from my son's funny dream and being "present" in the moment with him, I found God's beauty in the everyday....THAT IS ARTFUL LIVING!



Challenge:   What ARTFUL LIVING moment can you find in your everyday? What unwanted burdens do you need to let go of?  Can you visualize yourself turning them over to God or THE BELLY BUTTON MONSTER?  Visualize yourself and what you would look like without the burden or issue?  Can visualize yourself and what your life would look like without it?  Can you see yourself and/or your life with something positive in it's place?

Related Scripture
"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." - Psalms 68:19

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:for thou, Lord only makest me dwell in safety." - Psalms 4:8

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." - Psalms 55:22