Bathroom Conversations

For the last year, I have shared a bathroom with my roommate, Jourdan.  Many times we have found ourselves in that little space simultaneously, most often in the morning when we are getting ready for the day.  Since neither one of us could be categorized as "morning people" our meetings in front of the mirror are sometimes quiet except for the clatter and clank of our makeup/hair drying/teeth brushing rituals.  Luckily, we know each other well enough to not be offended by the other's silence and can just be our "trying to wake-up selves" while sipping some coffee on the really special days that one of us actually made it up in time to make it.  Because we do know each other well, we can perceive when the other's silence is not due to morning grogginess but maybe because of a restless heart or anxious mind.  There have been many occasions where one of us would look at the other one (or more often the reflection of the other one in the mirror while in mid-mascara application or bang drying stance) and ask "are you ok?", and typically the anxiousness or restlessness or fear or weird circumstance was revealed.

I remember last year right around this time, I could sense a heaviness covering Jourdan, a fun-loving, typically vibrant girl with a laugh that is contagious.  Yet because of circumstances, her mind was anxious and her heart wounded.  I looked at her that morning and said, "Jourdan, what happened?" and as she leaned on the wall next to the door on "her side" of the bathroom, she proceeded to tell me the story of a relationship with her boyfriend that came to an end when only a couple months earlier she had sensed so much promise and affirmation for their future together.  While the tears came down, the story relayed, and her questions of confusion laced with deep pain asked, I could only stand there and listen and offer her glimpses of truth that God would periodically give me.  Nothing was magically fixed that morning and there were several more mornings where the same questions were asked and the same frustrations expressed.  But somehow, when all seemed dark and hope was fleeting, God pushed Jourdan forward -- and the new place where she resides today is immeasurably more than all she could ever ask or imagine, especially considering her situation exactly a year ago.

Tonight, Jourdan's friends and family will gather with her to celebrate her first CD at her release event for her EP "Mend."  Songs on this record were given to her through the heartache and frustration she experienced over this last year.  Out of the ashes, God faithfully created beauty and gave Jourdan stories to tell to push others forward.  This I know very personally, for not long ago, I leaned on the wall of "my side" of the bathroom and cried my own tears of an ended relationship, asking my own very confused questions, and experiencing a pain that does not make any sense -- and God has been faithful to lift my own head through Jourdan's similar experience last year.

This morning as Jourdan was getting ready in the bathroom, I was sitting on my bed and came across a scripture that I had written on a card and left for her to find tucked into her makeup brushes a year ago during the height of her heartache:

"...we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed we felt we had received the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again.  On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.  Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

I said, "Jourdan, I need to read you something."  I proceeded to read the scripture and we both had a "that Jesus" moment and she said, "I remember that card with that verse well from last year."  I responded with " how cool is it that tonight many will give thanks on your behalf for the gracious favor granted you in answer to the prayers of many?"  

This evening as Jourdan shares her songs and her heart, those there will undoubtedly experience Christ in her, the hope of glory.  From the sentence of death to a mended heart filled with hope, I am so excited to celebrate with her tonight something only God could have done -- as I push forward expectantly into my own deliverance.

Now back to the bathroom part of the story -- while transparency does seem to happen during our preparation rituals, silliness probably happens more.  It is not out of the question for a new pimple to talk, or a huge, silver, fake nail to be strategically placed in the other person's deodorant stick or hairbrush only to be found surprisingly upon use, or a little happy meal toy to find different resting places throughout the room, or often just ridiculous "what if" scenarios that make us laugh so hard we have to pee...making the bathroom even more functional.

For Jourdan and I, we would both agree that it is so cool to see God's purpose and molding even in the every day getting ready in front of the mirror routines.  Bathroom conversations have made us both better and perhaps, even a little more like Jesus.  You should probably try it sometime :) And maybe, world leaders should come together in a bathroom to get ready one morning and just see what happens...I mean, what if?

Check out Jourdan's music at www.jourdanburks.com and be reminded of the hope to which God has called you specifically.

Gotta go to the bathroom now :)