Tooth care and self care

One of my favorite post cards came in the mail the other day.  "You're overdue for your dental checkup/cleaning."  Those post cards look so nice and innocuous, but I think I'd rather get audited by the IRS then go to a dental checkup.  The scraping, x-rays, awful tasting polish, and the wonderful news you need something done...there isn't much I would put below these visits.  I'm not degrading dentists at all.  I love to eat, and I'm sure food tastes much better if I'm able to chew it with healthy teeth instead of sucking it through a straw or gumming it to death.  Dentists provide a much needed service, but man I hate getting that service.  Anyone else feel the same way?
I've been lucky.  I haven't had many cavities or any trouble with my teeth throughout my life.  I'm not sure I should divulge this tidbit or not, but I've had such good teeth that I've never flossed much in my life.  At all of my dental checkups, and I promise you this, they've always told me to keep doing what I've been doing.  Well, what I had been doing was brushing my teeth once or twice a day and not flossing.  So, for years, and I mean probably 30 some years of my life, that's what I kept hearing, "You have great teeth, keep doing what you're doing."  So I did, until about a year ago.  I had my first cavities, and they were two flossing cavities.  Flossing cavities are the ones that form between your teeth because you don't floss and get the food out.  So, you figure I'd learned my lesson and after those cavities were filled I started flossing to keep that from happening again.  Nope...I'm going to the dentist today for my checkup and I know I have a couple more flossing cavities.  Some habits are hard to break and some habits are even harder to start!
I was reflecting on my lack of dental hygiene and it occurred to me how this might relate to our spiritual lives.  When things are going good do we tend to forget a little bit about God, and building our relationship, and continuing our daily devotions?  Sometimes when things are swimming along nicely we tend to neglect somethings...as I did with my flossing all those years.  But, when things get tough we immediately turn back to God and want/desire that close relationship and to feel the Spirit's presence in our lives.  The kicker is...if we'd continued to build that relationship before the tough times hit then we'd have that connection built in more quickly.  Just like if I'd learn to keep flossing now I could avoid these wonderful checkups where I know something is amiss with my teeth.
It is not that God won't be with us and comfort us when times get tough if we've kind of fallen away from God for awhile while times were good.  It is just that like any relationship the more time we spend at the relationship the better the connection will be.  The reception doesn't improve from God's end...the reception improves on our end because we've been in the habit of connecting with God already so it is easier for us to feel God's presence.  When we only seek God's presence when we feel we need help then we won't be as practiced in recognizing the Spirit in our lives and it may take some time before we recognize/feel God at work.  So, the moral of the story...floss and make sure you continually build your relationship with God.  That way, when the checkups, and life's difficulties come you'll be more prepared to handle them.

PS-anyone's teeth hurt while reading this?  Mine did while I was writing it!