I’m sure many of you are like me – your life is filled well past capacity. Work, children, spouse, all vying for your time and attention. Most days I wake up with a “to do” list, work diligently all day, and by bed time the list is longer than it was when I started. It is so easy to allow repetitive days of busyness to overwhelm us. We find ourselves caught on a hamster wheel – running as hard as we can, but gaining no ground.
Our family has been living in that state of overwhelming busyness for months now. I wish I could say I always handle it with poise, grace, and dignity – but that would be a big, fat, Pinocchio nose growing lie. There are days when the pressure makes my temper short, my responses clipped, and my attitude poor. I allow myself to get drawn into the busy and fail to draw my strength from the Lord. What a rookie mistake! You’d think after 34 years walking with Him I’d know better by now.
Thankfully, I am learning. I’m learning to allow the Lord to guide my steps in all things – big and small. While I am surrounded by many good options to fill my time, I am learning to let God help me choose what is best. I’m working to be a better partner to Tim and a more patient mother to my children. Of course, I’m quite certain my children would test the patience of Job himself. I have a 12 year old daughter that acts just like me (heaven help us all), and a nine year old son that could talk the hind legs of an entire pack of mules.
I loves these precious children more than my own life, but as God is my witness, they know exactly how to push everyone of my buttons. And not just a little annoying tap or two, but full blown, lean in, bear down, and MASH the hound out of my buttons! There is some old, scary movie where the characters head starts spinning around while spewing icky stuff… yeah, that’s the vision in my head at the end of some days. My kids usually know it too, because my eyes get really big and quite scary, and by that point they are ready to head for the hills.
Those days – those “I’m a gnats eyelash away from a category 5 meltdown,” days – are the days I’m beginning to see the Lord make a difference. I love these verses
James 1:2-4
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
So often we apply those verses to the big things in our lives that go wrong. An illness, death, losing a job – and those verses certainly apply beautifully. But guess what? They apply to the everyday trials we face every day as well. I am learning there is always something to be thankful for. There is always joy of you are willing to look for it, and accept that God’s plan is very often not the path you would have chosen for yourself.
Tonight, my sweet Grace came to me with her 800 miles of soaking wet hair, asking for help drying it. I had a million and one things that needed to be done – but the Holy Spirit gave me that “say yes” nudge. All those things I need to do – they can wait. We never know how much time we have with the ones we love, so I’m learning to listen to the nudge, and say yes. Sometimes the nudge tells me to send a card, write a text, or make a phone call – and do you know, I have never been sorry for saying yes to the nudge.
Tonight I also had the nudge to write, so… until the next nudge,
‘Carrow 💜
My girls have never favored one another in any way. And then tonight, as I was drying Grace’s hair, I saw Kayleigh’s hair. I could remember the feel, how it smelled and just how tender headed she was. A special little reminder, crafted specifically for my heart.
