DJ Jazzy Lu

“Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with timbrel and harp.” Psalms 149:3 NIV

My job is selling life insurance. Specifically, we market plans to pay for funeral expenses. It is a beautifully unique job that allows me to meet a lot of very interesting people. It also offers trips to places I would never visit otherwise as a reward for producing enough new business. This past week, my wife and I were blessed with a trip to an Educational Seminar, in Pebble Beach, California.

It had been a few years since we had been on such a trip. The pandemic cancelled the trip for a couple of years. We also missed the qualifying mark last year. We have been to places all over the world, to be honest. It is a blessing that is almost embarrassing to say out loud.

If you love to golf, this was the place. Three courses: Spanish Bay, Spyglass and Pebble Beach were on the agenda. I do not golf. I have played before and usually have fun for about five holes. After that I descend slowly into frustration. By the last few holes, I am reminded that I hate the game.

But I realize that the chance to play one of these courses can be a dream fulfilled. However, I have learned in some cases that reality can be beyond even a dream. One of my dear friends had such an experience on the course. She told me that walking the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach was too much. She loves to play golf. She has seen famous players taking that walk on television. She never even imagined it was even possible for her, yet there she was. Her only response was tears.

I have also seen the beauty of these trips for my wife. Like most wives and mothers, she stays more behind the scene. She has held our house together for 33 years and every time I hit the road to work, she has gone solo while I am doing so. Work, bills and chasing kids can cloud your picture. Like most people, we have seen hard things. But honestly, I think when big things hit people respond more predictably. If I have faith and something hard happens, I turn to faith purposefully. But if little by little the day to day tasks add up we can let our purposeful turning to faith slip by. If we carry enough routine for long enough, we can fall to the weight without even noticing. I think this is the most common ploy of evil. If it comes disguised as “normal”, we don’t resist.

These trips have also exposed us to people we would not have met on this side of eternity without the divine intervention sometimes disguised as work. One of those people for my wife we will simply call DJ Jazzy Lu.

Picture a beautiful young mom with eyes almost too big to be real. Then play some music and get out of the way. I have told my kids to dance like no one is watching. Jazzy Lu never heard that message from her parents. They must have told her to dance like everyone is watching because she is just different. I think they must have known that Jazzy Lu had too much joy inside of her to ration it out. Our world needs a full dose of Lu.

She may not understand that her presence on earth helps my wife’s heart. She may not realize that the joy she has given Mary has been passed along to our kids, to me, and to our friends. She may not realize that there have been times when my wife did not have any to pass along to anyone on her own. Jazzy Lu has been helping refill my wife’s heart for 15 years. In the same way that no room is as good without Lu in it. My wife’s heart would not be as good without Lu in it. So why the “DJ Jazzy Lu?” We found out during this trip that she started a DJ service. She actually figured out a way to get people to pay her to dance like everyone is watching. I cannot imagine a better party host.

DJ Jazzy Lu makes me wonder what kind of energy I bring into a room. What if I am someone’s Lu?

I think I miss a lot of opportunities that I think are just routine interactions. What if there are no routine interactions? What if someone needs what is inside of me and I hide quietly in the corner waiting for something big?

Challenge: Ever feel a little embarrassed to tell someone about heaven? If they cannot conceive the level of beauty, they cannot predict the dream. You may be the only person who can tell someone how good heaven will be? Even if the only response you can muster is tears.

Rick L. Claiborn