Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Fourteenth

I read this on a bookmark I got from the bookstore,(it was a freebie)"Jesus Christ isn't our last chance, He is our only chance." This was a very profound thought. I like to share these little things because I feel words are very powerful. It is our first form of communication and can be a wonderful expression of love and kindness or cause hurt and heartache that lasts for years!

I have enjoyed the last week with my kids. We are out of school for the summer and have pretty much used the time to relax and sleep! We have also stayed up late talking and watching movies. It's nice to have the time to just enjoy being with each other without the rush of a busy school year.

My job list has suffered a little, but I have gone through a few boxes of "important
papers". Most just medical statements and large bills (mortgage, student, and car loans) that have made me wish we were millionaires! I think allot about how nice it would be to have so much money that I could pay for anything at the time I bought it, and not go home and wonder where I'll come up with the co-pay for the dentist visit or some such thing that always worms its way into a budget stretched way to thin.

While whining about not being rich, a friend commented that I "was rich...with people who love me!" This is what I mean about the power of words. Who can say after being reminded of all we have, We don't pause for a moment and appreciate it? I have been very lucky to scrape by this last year, and to have had the funds to pay tuition for my kids to go to a good school, get a reliable car, and pay for the insurance we need to allow my husband to get the medical care he needs to live.
I am very grateful to God for blessing me with the life I have.

I still have those moments when I feel the more I work at being grateful, the more the devil brings suttle feelings of discontent. Take for instance this past Memorial Day weekend. I was involved in a car accident. No one was hurt, except the two vehicles. Everyone I spoke to asked first, "Is everyone alright?", and because they were, I got more and more irritated that my car was damaged, I have a ticket, and there is a bad mark on my driving record! Do you think that I would feel this way if one of us were injured or killed? Absolutely not! So why am I having those feelings now? Because we are susceptible to all forms of emotion, And we need to be ever watchful of how we direct our feelings.

The other day my two kids were having a disagreement on some yard work. My son told his sister that he would pay her to pull some weeds in his garden. She spent an hour out in the garden working. When payment time came, he only gave her a portion of the amount they had agreed on. the two got into an argument, and my daughter shouted that she wasn't going to do any more work for my son! Now I was angry too! I knew my son wasn't being fair, but I decided a long time ago that life is not always fair, so I didn't make him give his sister the money he still owed her. (I think he will deserve it when she refuses to help him next time) I did, however, let my anger get control of me and ended up telling my son that he was "a cheat and a lier".(I know, Wonderful parenting skills, huh.) Afterwards I had to go and apologize to him for my behavior, but I have this suspicion that although the apology was offered, he will probably remember my words for the rest of his life! This is what I mean when I say be ever watchful.

So I need to consciously work on watching my mouth and what I allow to come out of it! I have decided everyday this month to say something positive and nice about someone and hopefully this will keep my thoughts anchored in "Celestial waters" protected from "waves of anger".

"You may not be a genius. You may not be exceptionally smart. But you can be good, and you can try..."

2 comments:

  1. You are so right how the adversary plants seeds of discontent in all of us. Thanks for the reminder that happiness doesn't come from what we have, but having what or who we love.

    ReplyDelete

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I am a wife by choice, mother by chance, massage therapist by trade, and saved by grace.