Day 14 Remember to Rely

It is Friday.  I am thankful.  I am tired.  God is stronger.  I was reminded this morning to rely on God always.  As mothers, we get so busy and overwhelmed with life.  We often forget our God is a prayer away.  Actually, He's there without us asking for Him.  He offers His help without us having to ask.  But how often we fail to recognize His provisions!  And I'm bad about remembering how important it is to rely on Him especially when the goin' gets tough.  I hope this weekend you will find rest, relaxation, laughter, and love.  Remember all things good come from above.  And our God is Ever Present.

Day 13 Reality Bites

Remember that movie from the 90s called Reality Bites?  I never really watched the entire movie but I sure loved the soundtrack.  There is so much truth to that short statement.  Reality DOES bite...sometimes like a mean ol' pit bull.  I've been reminded lately that life isn't always perfect.  In fact, it rarely is.  My life is really good.  I have absolutely no reason to complain but every now and then, reality bites and the storm clouds come rollin' in.  The truth is not everyone is going to like me.  I'm going to disappoint and hurt the people I love.  I'm going to be gossiped about and I'm going to gossip about someone else (although I really HATE when I do that).  My kids are going to get in trouble at school.  I'm going to say a curse word once-in-a-while.  Money will be tight.  The weight will have a hard time coming off.  And I'll burn dinner badly enough we'll all have to eat pb&j sandwiches.  But God never promised that life would be easy.  He warns us in Scripture that "in this life you will have trouble."  I believe the lessons in life come down to one thing.  The issue is when reality DOES bite, what do I do with the dog?  It's tempting to kick the dog and lock it away in the dog house.  But that never eliminates the problem.  Life will bring problems.  Life will have its share of storms.  But what do YOU do when it starts to rain?  Do you complain about getting wet OR do you praise Him in the storm? 

Lord, I want to learn to praise You in the storm.  I want to learn to be grateful for when times are good and grateful for when times are bad.  And when this life brings me trouble, help me to keep my eyes on what is eternal.  Remind me what your Scripture says.  "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is unseen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV)

Day 12 Choosing Thankfulness

Recently, I saw a movie where a father lost his daughter in a car crash.  It was tough watching this man agonize over the death of his daughter.  Especially since I've recently had a daughter of my own.  The father of this little girl reached a breaking point and needed the counseling of his pastor.  The father asked his pastor how he could get past all of the hurt and anger over losing his only 9-year-old daughter.  The pastor said, "Well, you have a choice.  You can either be grateful for the time you had with your daughter.  Or you can be angry about the time you don't."  That statement, I'm sure, is quite easier to say than do.  But there is so much truth in it.  It was just a handful of years ago that I lost my own father.  He didn't die.  But he chose to walk away from our family.  He and my mother divorced after 33 years of marriage and since then, he's had next to nothing to do with me, my husband or my children - his very own grandchildren.  Although he hasn't died, in a lot of ways, it has felt like a death.  Having him in our lives one minute only for him to be gone forever in the next.  I've spent a lot of time during these past few years being quite angry over time lost.  It's been very sad for me to realize all of those dreams I had of my dad being around during holidays and family birthdays...the dreams I had as a little girl of my children crawling all over his lap the way I did in my own grandfather's lap...may never come to be true.  It's easy to be selfish and to wallow around in the anger that comes from not having things go the way I planned them.  But today I choose to be thankful.  Today, I choose to praise God for all of the wonderful memories I have of my father.  He was a good dad to me when he was around, and I sure miss him. 

Thank you, Father, for giving me all of those years as a daddy's girl.  And although I've always been Your little girl, too, I couldn't be more grateful, Jesus, that today I can sit in Your lap and experience a love I never knew until recently from my Heavenly Daddy.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  AND BE THANKFUL." -Colossians 3:15 (NIV)

Day 11 - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - It's 5:00 Somewhere

It is 4:55 p.m. at my house which only means one thing.  I. Am. Exhausted.  We just finished two rounds of homework (1 round/kid).  We still have a football game to attend.  And I have no idea what I'm going to do about supper.  So, whatta ya do?!  Does anybody else have a hard time with this time of the day?  I pray I'm not the only one who seriously considers eating my young as 5:00 approaches.  It's something about this time of day that seems to bring out the worst in me and my kids.  Patience is gone.  Kids are hungry.  Baby is crying.  Cooking dinner seems like an inconceivable task.  Blah blah blah, right?  And then I remember what HE says.  "My grace is sufficient for you.  For my power is made perfect in weakness."  It is upon that realization that I can let go of the rope, loosen my jaw, put a smile on my face, and take things one moment at a time.  God's grace truly does amaze me.

Day 9&10 - Sunday, October 9 & Monday, October 10, 2011 - A False Sense of Security

Yesterday was Sunday.  It was wonderful to be back with my church family.  Since having our 3rd baby, it's been hit and miss on Sunday mornings.  I finally feel like our family is in more of a routine and it makes me feel happy.  Another thing that makes me feel happy is my brand new planner.  Recently I ordered a month-at-a-glance calendar that can also be used as a notebook and doodle pad.  The best part about it is that it came with...y'all aren't going to believe this....seriously, so cool....ya ready to know?  Wait for it...STICKERS!  There are stickers for hair appointments, dentist and doctor appointments, manis and pedis, birthday parties, and so many more.  I special ordered this planner so that the cover would include our family name.  You have no idea how my heart filled with joy when I saw our family's last name printed on the cover with the cutest design you've ever seen.  Having this planner made me feel happy, organized, secure.

Stay with me, here, and walk with me through this crazy train of thought.  Having a brand new planner (and an organized pantry) make me feel secure.  If my life feels in order then I feel secure.  I know in my head that it is a false sense of security, but that doesn't really matter to me.  My heart almost skips a beat each time I lay my eyes on that new (and most adorable) planner.  Can you imagine what I would do if I had a label gun?!  Oh Lord Almighty!  Don't give me a label gun!!!  I thought recently that if a brand new planner gives me a silly false sense of security, then what else do I let give me false senses of security or false anything... just fill in the blank.  We do this so often as humans.  We place our security, our sense of worthiness, our dependency on an object, person, and/or relationship.  I've done this so many times in my life.  And I want so desperately to put all of my trust, all of my dependency in the One who is the only Source of Strength and Dignity.  Jesus.  Jesus is IT.  He is where to go for validation, self-worth, security, and most importantly... love.

What about you?  Anybody else out there love the feeling that comes with being organized?  Don't even get me started on brand new school supplies.  Oh my!  The smell of new pencils, the smell of the markers, the sound of flipping through a brand new notebook.  Hallelujah, y'all.  This is living!  ;)  Lord, help me!!

Day 8 - Saturday, October 8, 2011 - S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y.

It's Saturday and my brain is officially on vaca.  As I struggled this morning with what to write about, the Lord reminded me that it is totally okay to take a day to simply...chill. the. heck. out.  And that's what I'm choosing to do today.  Hallelujah and bless God for setting me free to enjoy spending a little extra time in my pj's, to letting me be okay with the kids fixing their own pop tart breakfast, to enjoy an extra cup of coffee, and to soak up the sweetness that comes with spending a Saturday morning surrounded by my family.  As women, we feel guilty sometimes when we don't feel up every second with something that involves, cleaning, wiping, or cooking.  I believe the enemy loves to see us fill up our time with "stuff" just so that we don't spend time with our family, don't invest into the life of a dear friend, and his personal favorite, we don't pray or read God's Word.  Today, I'm going to enjoy my family.  And if the kitchen gets messy or the laundry piles up, it won't matter.  Thank you, Father, for my family.

Day 6&7 - Thursday, October 6 & Friday, October 7 - RESET

I am a child of the 80s.  And while I have fond memories of playing with my Cabbage Patch dolls and finding new charms to add to my totally rad plastic charm necklace collection, nothing makes me feel more connected to my childhood than thinking back on all the times I played Atari.  Nothing beats it, right?  Not even a pair of brand new hightops with velcro straps.  I loved playing Atari.  Pac Man, Miss Pac Man, Pole Position, Centipede, you name it, we probably had it.  And I would play until my eyes bulged out of my head with my mother screaming, "If you don't turn that thing off, I'm gonna ..."  Ahhh, sweet memories.

Yesterday, when I couldn't get online because the Internet was down...all day.  And the night before, I was so tired after making dinner that all I wanted to do was sit down in the kitchen floor and just cry or scream or both.  And after putting my children to bed on that same night, I felt like such an epic failure as a mother since I didn't spend enough time with my kids that day, didn't read to them enough, didn't smile enough, wasn't patient enough, didn't express my love enough, and the list could just keep going...I was reminded of the Atari.

Not that I'm psychotically competitive or anything, but when I would play Atari and the game was not heading in the direction I would like, what did this honest, hard working girl do?  Did I keep playing and accept defeat?  No no no no!  I would simply reach out my sweet little index finger, gently place it on the Atari console, and slap the heck out of that reset button.  YES!  THE RESET BUTTON!  What a brilliant idea!!  Anytime things weren't going my way, I could just hit the reset button and all my insecurities of failure would be wiped away.  Such sweet relief. 

Sometimes I wish life would be that simple, ya know?  When things aren't going the way you want them to, wouldn't it be nice to just hit the reset button?  Act like nothing happened and start all over from scratch? 

At the end of the day, a day where maybe we've just completely blown it, Jesus is our reset button.  When I put my head down on the pillow at night, and all I feel like doing is melting into a puddle of defeat and guilt, He's there.  He looks at me and simply points to the reset button.  On the days you've set your expectations a little too high for yourself, remember there is only One who mastered the stress of life.  Is He your Master?  Don't let defeat keep you from Him.  Re-set.  And reset.