God is good, and life is worthwhile in spite of its pain. I am regaining the joy of giving by accepting the pain and struggle. I do all I can to alleviate my sufferings and those of others. But even when pain and death do hold sway, I am not utterly quenched or without hope. At the depths of suffering, I keep finding Christ, who is there before me.
BARBARA MOUSER, FIVE ASPECTS OF WOMAN
BABIES, HOMESCHOOLING, SICK KIDDOS, depression, emergencies, exhaustion—all these things and more limit our ability to run our days according to our ideals.
For example, last night I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m. and went to bed with a smile on my face, fully planning to rise early and read my Bible. Guess what happened a little after 11:00 p.m.? My dear little boy got sick (the gross kind of sick). A bath, fresh blankets, and lots of love later . . . he did it again . . . and again (they never seem to hit the trash can!). Then my two-year-old woke up and would not go back to sleep. I finally faced reality and turned my alarm clock off. Life happens. We need to recognize our limitations and just accept them; the more we fight them, the more we bang our heads against a wall that isn’t moving.
If you are struggling with pregnancy or depression, chasing after little ones, balancing job and home, etc., just do something. Make your bed, vacuum, put some flowers on your dining room table. Do one small thing to bring life to your home, even if you don’t feel like you have much life in you at the moment.
I’m going to share with you something I wrote a while ago on one of my good days. It reminds me of what to look forward to—a future hope.
Some days when I wake up, I am so tired and I feel so gloomy . . . my spirit inside yearns for more, but my body halts me. Then there are days like today when I wake up and feel so fantastic physically and mentally! My giddiness totally pushes out the darkness of the day, and I hear the birds singing instead of the rain falling (although I do love the rain!). Why is this? Why can’t I wake up ready to take on the day every day? Why is it that on days like today my coffee is only a supplement instead of a defibrillator, bringing me back to life? I want my life to be a light shining for my children . . . I want them to see a bouncy, jolly homemaker whizzing through her tasks with all the joy of the Lord! Boy, do I fall short! It’s days like today that I glimpse what heaven will be like, when my body and its physical limitations and weariness will be but a shadow.
Just think, one day we will be free and unencumbered, and our joy will shine like the sun.
READ 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9
What happens to us when we are weak but rely on God? What does He give us?
Think of a limitation you have. It could be lack of sleep, a disability, a circumstance—anything that makes you feel limited in your ability to do all the things you’d like to accomplish in a day. Now write it down on a piece of paper, fold it up, offer it to God, and then throw it away. No more guilt.
Let grace cover the areas you cannot change. Don’t beat yourself up or think you aren’t doing enough. God knows where you’re at; His grace is sufficient.
MARTHA CHALLENGETODAY WE CLEAN THE KIDS’ SCHOOL STUFF.
Let’s clean and organize your homeschool space or the place where all of your children’s school stuff is kept.
If you have a homeschool room, you will want to follow the steps for cleaning the living room (see Day 7). If you have a space such as a desk or a closet or a buffet cabinet or other area where you store your homeschool or school stuff, here is how we’ll tackle that:
ORGANIZE
1. Pull everything out.
2. Sort into piles: papers to keep, trash, items to organize, school books, school supplies, etc.
3. Clean the area—desk, closet, cabinet, or whatever you are using to store the school stuff.
4. Organize everything. If you need more bins or other types of containers, be sure to get them as soon as you can before things get jumbled again.
Ahhh . . . doesn’t that feel better? Here’s to learning!