It has been a crazy summer! I had some weird idea that things would slow down once the lazy days of summer came, but I haven't seen many lazy days! (except the few we were down with the stomach bug - not my idea of lazy!) This week, in particular, has felt very overwhelming! As I sat down today to look through my writing journal and update my blog, I came across this entry from May 3. I wrote it shortly before the summer began, and it fits today perfectly! I needed to read this today - maybe you need some perspective too?
May 3, 2012
It has been one of those days...OK, maybe one of those weeks! The housework is piling high, the kids are at each other's throats, and no matter how many deep breaths I take or timeouts I give myself it just doesn't seem like enough!
It's times like this when I start to hear all those familiar self-accusations well up inside. "You aren't patient enough with your kids!" "You are a bad example to them - you're yelling at them for the same things you do!" And the whopper - "You are failing as a wife or Mother." Now, I know these things aren't true (at least not entirely) but as an imperfect person walking through a day when the demands are extremely high, the progress is hardly noticeable and the atmosphere is slightly less chaotic than a zoo, it's hard not to give in and believe the lies.
It takes effort not to begin to crumble under the demands and pressure of motherhood. That's exactly how I feel today. My prayers are more like moans for help and heavy sighs. I've admitted to God that I don't even know what I need right now because the exhaustion is so deep. But as I sat down at the computer to catch up on emails and tasks for the day there was a post from a friend about a young mom with 2 very sick children.
Perspective.
That's what I needed! The prayers that I couldn't find words for earlier welled up in my heart as prayers of comfort and healing for that sweet family. It also filled me with thanksgiving that my weariness is from breaking up fights and cleaning up messes and not from standing over a hospital bed watching my babies suffer.
I am so glad that God knew I needed a good dose of perspective today! I am also thankful that he gives us the gift of talking with him. Even though I am hundreds of miles away and have never met this mother, I can lift her up to the God that loves her and will carry her through.
Lord, when I'm tempted to forget what's truly important, please give me a good dose of perspective so I can see what really matters is not always what is visible.
2 Corinthians 4:18
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
