Simply Thriving

Yesterday, our pastor preached an excellent sermon on 2 Chronicles 14-16. It was about having an undivided heart and finishing as well as you start out. One verse in particular has been running through my mind ever since - 2 Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Pastor Kim asked, “What is dividing your heart? Your attention?” Wow! About a million things. But seriously, there truly are a myriad of things running through my mind at any given moment. Even as he preached I had to use a great amount of self-control not to dwell on how smoothly the song service had gone, the fact that Aiden was likely driving his teacher crazy somewhere in the church, the possibility of Josh shooting another deer while I was sitting here, the events that I had planned for the week and how great so-and-so’s scarf was. Sad, right? And that’s just the little stuff. How many hours do I spend worrying? How o...

Gifts from this weekend: ~ the first real snow; absolutely beautiful! ~ holding baby Jude, the newest addition to the cousin clan ~ baby shower for baby Elizabeth; baby girl showers are so much fun!  ~ our first Sunday at our new church; so excited to get to know everyone there.  ~ mass meal making with Renee; 13 suppers for $100? Um, yes!  ~ clomping through the snow in new winter boots ~ the "I'm sorry" card from Gage; so cute!  ~ quick Sunday afternoon trip out to the country to see Josh's family ~ backyard cleaned before the snow ~ the first gingerbread latte of the season ~ did I mention the snowfall??? 

Today hasn't been a good day. It’s been one of “those” days. There have been many things on my mind. Things that have been pushed back for a while, but need to be faced at some point. On top of that, we are all especially impatient and grumpy. The kids have been fighting non-stop about the tiniest things and I've been counting down the hours until bedtime for hours already. In fact, at this point, EVERYTHING that the kids say and do is rubbing me the wrong way and I would give anything for a quiet, uninterrupted 20 minutes to myself. And in my frustration, as I focus on all that has to be done, all that is happening in my home and around me that seems unfair and maddening, I’m reminded of something that I read yesterday: “You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies...