"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
This is one of my favorite versus. So many times I find myself in a "blah" mood. I become a debby-downer and can only see the negative, fogging over the many positives that are surrounding me. I have a husband that loves me and our children. He is making efforts to help out with household chores, keeping my sanity in check! He is not perfect, but I appreciate his effort more than he will ever know. And yet, there are days when I sit and spew over the things he didn't do, completely ignoring his efforts. This is exhausting for both of us. He begins to feel like he can never do enough and I begin to feel like I will never get a break. Instead of stopping and talking to each other or praying together, I get snippy and angry. I need to take time to breathe. Time to pray. Time to see his efforts and know that he helps because he knows I need it. Because he knows how hard we both work to keep this house functioning.
In my debby-downer time, I see my kids as an annoyance. I said it. I love them to death but the constant fighting, yelling, tearing the house apart, whining can be a lot to deal with. All I want is for them to get along and pick up their toys. Is that too much to ask? Well, apparently it is when it comes to a 5 and 3 1/2 year old. It's easy for me to forget that they are kids. They are young kids that are still trying to learn about boundaries. But how many times can I repeat the boundaries before it finally sticks? BJ and I have been talking to Oliver about personal space and keeping hands to yourself for YEARS now and it's like talking to a wall. There is no carry over and it can be so FRUSTRATING!!! Too often I turn to yelling and even spanking if the situation is bad enough and I forget to breathe. I need to learn to talk to them and thank God for them everyday.
I look at our house and immediately feel defeated. I know it could be a good house. We have plans to make it a good house. It's the time factor. I feel like there is never enough time. We really do want to try and make this a DIY project but there is never the time. Honestly, there is a small part of me that wonders if we would survive a DIY project. We are very different when it comes to tackling tasks. My hope would be that it would bring us closer. That we would have to rely on each other to finish and can take pride that we did it together. We are too much the same and that can be scary to think of doing something that together. I need to remember that we have a home while there are others our there that don't. Does it need to be exquisite? No.
I get annoyed with my job sometimes. So often I think of the past and how I wish I had tried something different. Then I come to the realization that in every profession, there will always be the "what if's". There's always going to be a time when you aren't 100% confident in yourself. I am where I am and I need to make the best of it because again, I forget that there are people out there that either have no job or that have it worse than me at mine.
We all could probably use a reality check from time to time. So to come across this verse today that tells us to have joy and give thanks to God and to pray in all circumstances, this is my reminder that the things I get so hung up about, are so minor in how God wants us to live our lives. He wants us to wake up ready to give love to others, to allow him into our lives, to praise Him in all things. I need to remember that he wants to be there for me in my worst debby-downer days and in my happiest moments. I need to bring Him in and hold onto Him in my heart. I need to find the joy in all circumstances!
Dear God, thank you for giving me these blessings: for my husband, for my children, for our home, for Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to let go of the things that bring negativity and focus on the things that give me such joy! Amen
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