Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Attitudes and Leggos

First let me tell you what has happened today; yes, all of this just TODAY, then I will get on to what I had planned to write. Plans usually don't come to fruition with me very often.

I will start with the most serious and go from there.

1. The wife of a long distance family member was found dead this morning. It may not be very close in relationship, but anytime someone dies it is important and heartbreaking. To make it worse, it appears to have been suicide, although not all details are known.
2. My mother met with a surgeon today and is going to need surgery on her arm. She has been having problems for a YEAR and they just now figured out that her tendon is torn off of her rotator cuff. As bad as that sounds she is happy just to finally know what is wrong and that it can be fixed!
3. My lovable little urchins were all smiles today, until the older one had an attitude meltdown and the small one flushed her first Lego down the toilet. Yippee for me! Does she know it's a Holiday?

Like I said earlier, the first two notes are much more important, one sad, and one happy. So goes our lives. Always something to rejoice in, but at the same time something to cry over also. The last one is basically just a tribute to my state of mind as I write tonight.

I have found two bible verses: neither of them may be where I got my paraphrase "God won't give us what we can't handle", but in a way, both of them can be seen in that light.

II Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (NIV)


In this verse I see several points, mostly about how we react when STUFF HAPPENS TO US.

  • God's grace is sufficient. Doesn't this just sound like a nice neat little package to tell someone and hope they quit whining? But read the verse again, it is the truth. God is telling us that his power is made perfect in our weaknesses; and boy, do we ever have some weaknesses. I don't know about you, but God has a lot of room to be made perfect in me!
  • We will have sufferings I know some people say if you love God enough or do all the right things you will not suffer. But it is just not so! God never tells us that we will not face tough times, what he tells us is that he will be with us and get us through them. We need not think God has abandoned us when things go wrong, instead, he will use that situation to glorify himself in ways we could never have imagined.

This is getting rather lengthy, so let me get to my next point. This verse is about OUR REACTION TO TEMPTATION. Let's face it, sometimes stuff happens to us because we first did something we knew we were not supposed to do. Blame it on the devil, the mailman, the mean person in traffic that cut you off, the kids for being horrible all day, the people at work for being total life draining maniacs, but when it comes down to it, we all have a choice.

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (NIV)

  • Temptation is normal See, I told you so. Everyone has temptations. And unfortunately for us our tempter has been around long enough that he knows just how and when is the perfect time to tempt us. But do not feel alone or discouraged, for you are surely not alone.
  • We will not be tempted beyond our control Ok, everyone who has ever failed at a temptation may argue this one, but there it is, in black and white (ok, blue and white). All of us have failed, we are all human, but if you look back at it, especially the BIG ones, there was a way out of it if we had just taken the harder road. Which comes to the next point...
  • God will provide a way out God always provides a way out. The key is to stay in his word, to stay in him, so that we can recognize it. I have done some things before that I honestly felt I had no choice, only to look back now and clearly see that God had left an escape route open for me if I had chosen to make a run for it. If you are honest, you probably have too.

So what more for tonight, on this New Year's Eve (it is already the new year now where I am). Well, I'll do a backwards countdown of my top three at the beginning of the page, and lets try to find any bright spots that we can along the way. Although #1 will be very difficult.

#3 Well, I didn't hurt any of the girls for either the attitudes or the Lego in the potty. I thought that was doing rather good for me. Actually most of this happened when my hubby was watching them so I could cook supper. As a stay at home mom that is one of the few times I get without kids around my feet, although hearing what is going on without being able to intercept or handle things MY way is sometimes difficult. If you have a hubby that parents his way, and it doesn't exactly jive with your way, let me offer some advice. Let him do it his way. It's good for him and the kids and if you just interrupt him all the time he will stop "parenting" because of nagging and be one of those guys that only gets up from his spot in his chair to feed, sleep, or potty himself.

#2 I really must praise God that my mom may have finally found the answer she is looking for and hopefully some relief from the pain she has been in for over a year. But I must admit, I am skeptical. This is not the first time someone thought they found the reason and had the "cure". So until it is over and done with I just pray that this time it is right and almost over. I guess that is why doctors "practice" medicine.... I'm just tired of my mom feeling as if she is the guinea pig.

#1 How do you find something hopeful in the possible suicide of any other person? Well, it is not easy, that is for sure. I did not know her myself, so I don't know if she had her eternal affairs in order. I pray she did. The best I can come up with right now is to pray that during whatever service is held for her and her grieving family, that someone preaches the gospel and hopefully reaches some people that might not have been reached before. And maybe someone looking from the outside in, that thought suicide might be the answer to all of their problems, maybe that person will realize that it doesn't solve anything at all, it only hurts the ones that love you.

Rejoice in life, we will get to eternity soon enough.

Happy new year to you all, and I hope you all have many, many more.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Blessings vs. Patience

Blessings abound, Patience does not.

Do you wonder what that means?

Here's how I see it- It says in the Bible (not sure where, but I will find it before Friday!) that God will only give us what we can handle. Ok, so maybe that is a large jump at me paraphrasing it. But that is the way I've always heard it used in context.

This blog will be about me, my life, my crazy family (God love them all) and all of the "blessings" we have received. Many of them did not look like blessings in the beginning, and we have honestly wondered if God really thought that we were capable of handling such traumatic events, but always later, we can look back and see God's hand at work.

So blessings do abound.

But patience does not.

Did I mention that while we are in the throes of one of these "blessings" we tend to look everywhere and to everyone OTHER than God for suggestions, reasons, or even ways to make it all just stop? Patience is much easier in hindsight, or for that matter when you are talking to someone else about THEIR problem. It is not nearly as easily found when it is you or I going through the actual pain or problem, or anyone we care deeply for. (Many of these will be about my parents and in laws, to name a few)

I try to be my own voice of reason through these time. I try to say to myself, "come on, TinaLou, you know that last time God worked everything out, and 6 months later it all made sense!"

That is true. And on more than one occasion.

Ah, but getting through the six months? That felt like eternity itself, and it does every time.

Let it begin!