Nov 24 2021 Day 236 Zephaniah 1-3



For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD.

Zephaniah, Zephaniah, Zephaniah. Just when I’d thought I’d warmed up to the prophets, or at least to Habakkuk, along comes Zephaniah with another dire, Eeyore-like prophecy.

In my mornings, I wake up around 5:30, read the appointed section of scripture and plan to write. I have a beautiful candle that I light, to signal to my husband to let me sit in peace. More importantly, I use the candle to signal to me to be quiet and stay focused. I sit with a cup of coffee, read, think and write. It takes about 40 minutes, and it’s a beautiful way for me to start my day.

Alas, this morning, it didn’t happen. My loved one came down at 6:15, with a cup of coffee in hand. Apparently, they’d already been down and visited my husband for a cup of coffee at 5:00. And boy, were they chatty. It turns out they’ve been up since 1:00, watching movies and interacting with the voices in their head. Perfectly happy, mind you, but very much awake and chatty.

Today, the plan was supposed to be that after the morning gym and shower, we’d wake up our loved one, have breakfast, then all head to the airport to pick up our son who’ll be here until Sunday. Our loved one has had a flaky sleep schedule, so we were trying to have them sleep until it was time to go to the airport. This will be their first time to the airport since the crisis episode in Atlanta, when we were all pulled off the plane.

Since 1:00, they’ve visited her husband at his house in her head and watched movies with her husband. They talked with someone on the phone from 2:00AM – 4:00AM (for real), ate food, talked to her husband.

Since they’ve come down to see us, we’ve talked about past crises. At one point, they ran away while we were living in Portland. They were very hungry, so they stole chocolate and a soda, because otherwise, they’d starve. We explained we would always feed them, and were reminded that at the time, they believed we were raping them, so of course they wouldn’t come home.

We’ve heard about the myriad of voices they have in their head. The main voice is the voice of her husband, a famous rapper. There are other voices that are sometimes talking as well. Mostly the voices are friendly, but sometimes the voices are loud when our loved one is trying to sleep or rest. Incessant, sometimes.

We’ve heard about their music. They make music using Garage Band, and while the beat is good, and their ability to keep up with the beat with lyrics, in my assessment, the music wouldn’t warrant a recording contract. But last night, they sent their music to a couple dozen legitimate artists and recording companies.

Now we’re hearing about the order of the music that they’re going to play when they have their stage show. They’ve found a venue in Pittsburgh to rent, and now they’re figuring out how to sell tickets online. Originally, the tickets were going to be $96 because that’s what famous people charge. Now, the tickets are down to $36, at our urging. Start smaller.

Now, we’re trying to figure out our day’s timing, with the no-sleep loved one. In addition to wanting to have toasted bagels made by my husband, they want to make baked potatoes for lunch. And we have to pick up our son at 10:45, and then get them to a shot appointment for a long-acting injectable anti-psychotic at 2:00.

All the while, Zephaniah is beckoning me. But today, I was graced with 50 minutes of stream-of-consciousness from my loved one with the significant brain disorder. Instead of insisting on quiet so I could spend time with Zephaniah, I enjoyed the time with the family. Today, you got to spend time with the stream-of-consciousness with my loved one too. See you tomorrow, Zephaniah.