what in the cathair?: SHENANIGANS

What qualifies as a “shenanigan”? It is an awesome word and can be used to describe so many things. Some of the stuff that goes on in Hollywood are kind of creepy yucky celebrity “shenanigans” (can you say Kardashian?) Sometimes sports heroes disappoint us with their “shenanigans” But sometimes shenanigans can be good clean fun. Menopause? A definite shenanigan in itself. My husband and I have been married over 30 years now, but many times we marvel, smile, and shake our heads at each other’s shenanigans:) His latest was deciding he needed another dog. He left home one Saturday morn, purposing in his heart not to come home until he was successful. Later I was telling a friend about this particular shenanigan, I said: “sometimes ya just gotta let it happen” That seems to be the way of it with shenanigans. He and his golf buddies have MANY shenanigans to report each time they go to the course. Tim is the original redneck golfer- he likes to play in his cowboy hat and flipflops: Shenanigans?

You better believe it.

When I was a kid growing up on an Iowa farm in a family of nine- the shenanigans ran rampet. Each summer we raised a huge garden, canned 100 quarts of everything imaginable, and filled our barn with hay from the field. We never knew the day we were going to move hogs or cattle home from the far field. That in itself screamed “shenanigan” as we maneuvered our herd over gravel roads. On any given Saturday my dad would yell up the stairs at 6am “time to move the cattle from the Debri place” YIKES- we would all think: the dreaded Debri place!

It was the farthest spot from our barn. There were many treacherous places that the herd could make a wrong turn and end up in Cincinnati! Dad and my brothers usually led the charge, but we girls were left wherever there was a crossroad to make sure they went the right way. Waving our hands wildly as they passed, we were never sure how exactly to get them to go the right way, - but usually when night fell, the cattle were safely in the barn. Looking back, those were some CRAZY family shenanigans!

Yes this group was shenanigan prone- moving cattle happened a few years after this was taken:)

My little buddies and I also had a plethora of shenanigans. In the below photo of the 2^nd grade First Communion class of St Mary’s School, we all look like darling little angels, right? WRONG!

my buddies and I: including Jennie, Karen, Yvonne, Anne, Janice, etc etc- I am on the back row- always the tallest:)

In the ensuing years, especially junior high, shenanigans were us:) One evening when I was 14, some friends and I were innocently riding around in cars with boys. We stopped at a park, where one of the very mature fellas stuck a frog in my face. I screamed and ran- straight into a barbed wire fence. Today I still have the scars on my leg to prove it. At the time we all decided the Hai Karate aftershave in his glove compartment would be GREAT to disinfect the wound.

What in the Cat Hair were we thinking? Unreal shenanigans- for sure! Another time at a slumber party with 15 friends- we took off down the road in our jammies thinking we would go visit the cute boys that lived a couple miles away from our farm. We forgot it was about 19 degrees out. By the time we figured out it was too cold and turned around – we were close to suffering from frostbite. SHENANIGANS SHENANIGANS SHENANIGANS galore.

We all have some awesome shenanigans to share. The fact is shenanigans are really just stories. The stories of our lives, the amazing fabric of what God has given us here on this earth. Adventures to be told and re-told, sometimes with laughter, sometimes with tears. The best shenanigan of all time though, is the story written between the books of Genesis and Revelation.

The narrative of Scripture weaves a rich and unbelievable account of a people in desperate need of a Savior, and how their God covenants and provides for them in a super-human way that only He can accomplish. Shenanigans abound. But He isn’t finished yet. The greatest shenanigan is yet to come, when our Jesus comes again, and is crowned King forever.

Sometimes I wonder what God thinks when he looks down on this earth at all the shenanigans going on. Doe He shake His head in wonder? Does He say: “What in the cat hair is happening?” Does He grieve? I want to purpose in my heart, that any shenanigans I am up to, glorify Him. What about you?... Are your shenanigans making Him smile?

SOME SIEGES SHENANIGAN SNAPS