Thursday Th(ink)s - April 23, 2026

It’s Thursday. The best day for a conversation.

Thursday sits there in the week like a woman who has stopped checking the mirror before she

answers the door. Not because she’s given up, but because she’s learned what matters… and

what does not.

Which brings me to this rather “Thursday Woman” observation:

“Being stupid is such a waste of time.”

Now, before we all rise to defend our (former) selves, let me clarify. I don’t mean a lack of

intelligence. I mean the peculiar habit of spending perfectly good years worrying about things

that were never invited to the party in the first place.

Like my body in a bathing suit.

Truth be told, this one hasn’t plagued me as much as it may have others—though I’m quite sure

there have been observers, so sunning-ly ensconced in their beach chairs, secretly whispering,

“That body might be better suited to a snowsuit.”

But comments like this are why God gifted us a middle finger. (Did I just say that?! Because I

don’t actually DO it; but I may harbor sin in my heart now and then.)

I credit my love of bathing suits to a solidly normal farm family who lived at the lake all

summer. No one ever talked about body image. Ever. We just put on our suits and jumped in the

water.

To not enjoy the water because you don’t like your body… well, that’s just a waste of the three-

score-and-ten we were loosely promised.

As I age and my body becomes less, ummm, young, I refuse to forfeit any moments of joy.

Standing at the edge of life, mentally editing myself, while time carries on without me, is… let’s

say it together…

Stupid!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve had my moments. I’ve been a mean girl to myself. Way too often.

I’ve argued with mirrors, with lighting, and entertained the occasional ridiculous thought:

Perhaps two girdles at once?

How many pairs of Spanx is too much?

Do they sell chin-Spanx?

Come on, girl—suck it in!

You can breathe tomorrow.

But swimming? No. I will not give this one away.

I will swim. I will let this body out of its imaginary snowsuit and into the water and sun for as

long as the ol’ gal is willing to cooperate.

Because if I wait for a better body… when exactly is that arriving? Next Tuesday? The second

coming of Christ? How long must I stand there waiting? A lifetime? Does it only come to those

who don’t harbor sin in their heart?

Life will be over, and I’ll still be waiting at the mailbox for a body that never got delivered.

That’s not just foolish. That’s tragic. A waste of time. It is, in fact…

Stupid!

Recently, I did something entirely IN character. I joined an Early Spring Polar Plunge. Yes.

Voluntarily. Into water cold enough to make your body send out an emergency voice-o-gram to

the entire neighborhood:

OHHHH BABY! IT’S COLD IN HERE!

There was no time to curate. No time to pose. No time to consider how I looked in a bathing suit.

I just stood on the edge… and got in.

I joined the men—who, I might add, were not conducting body evaluations. They were too busy

being cold and alive… and issuing voice-o-grams of their own.

And here’s the thing: I never once thought about my body. Not once.

I saw the beauty of the cold clear water.

I heard the laughter.

I reveled in the ridiculousness of it all.

And I had my eye on the bonfire waiting on shore.

But the shape of my aging body did not captivate my thoughts. Good grief, why should it? My

body is not an ornament; it is an instrument.

And that, my friends, is…

Not Stupid!

The party was never about how I looked in the water. It was about whether I got in. And I was

there. Fully there.

This was a fully submerged, head under, breath-holding polar dunk.

No sweet little Presbyterian sprinkle. Oh no.

This was a Sunday morning Baptist baptism!

And baby, I came up Pentecostal! WOOT!

My body was never meant to be admired from a distance. It was meant to be used—joyfully,

fully, gratefully. Exactly as God designed it—to participate in life.

(And yes, I did waste approximately 56 seconds listening to my cold feet argue with my sluggish

brain—but that wasn’t stupidity. That was anticipation.)

'Letting Go' by Josef Kote

Show gratitude to your Maker by fully participating in the life he has gifted you.

Thank you, Jesus, for LIFE!

Now, don’t be a stupid-head. It’s such a waste of time.

Put on your bathing suit.

The body you have is the only one showing up for this life.

Put on life; Thursday is already in the water.

Big Brains: "Don't let your mind bully your body." -June Tomaso Wood

Old Souls: "Your body is your home, your vessel in life. It needs to be respected and loved." — Iskra Lawrence

The Ancient of Days: "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

My soul knows it very well." -Psalm 139:4

Norma Jean:
My body is not an ornament; it is an instrument.

Thursday Chat: What have you been sitting out, waiting for a better version of yourself to show up? Can you imagine changing how you think about this? Do it.