Joy

Between my two sons, I had to get up six times last night. Shattered was the best way to describe my state at six this morning when child numero uno decided to grace us with his presence.

I dragged myself out of bed half an hour later, blurry eyed and wondering how I was going to get through the day. The first thought that came to me was, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." It was a song I used to sing when I was a kid. I still haven't quite figured out exactly what it means, but I looked it up and it's from Nehemiah 8:10.

As I plodded through the early morning, preparing breakfast, feeding baby, making school lunches, I mulled over the idea. I finally decided that for today, it meant knowing God was beside me and more than happy to help. It was deciding to be grateful and rejoice in spite of my weariness and something good would come out of the day.

God came through with an energy boost way earlier than I expected. Just before we left for kindy, I checked my e-mail and was greeted with the sight of my first book cover. Talk about a buzz.

God you are good. Even if you hadn't supplied that timely cover for me this morning, you would walk this day with me, holding me up and giving me strength. I love you.

A Little Q.T.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to help me focus. It's so easy in this day and age for God to feel a million miles away. There are so many things out there distracting us from the important things and sometimes we need to take action and refocus.

Like building a good friendship, a relationship with your maker takes time and effort. If you think about all the people you are closest to, they are more often than not the ones you spend most of your time with. The ones you have regular contact with. If I want God to feel close then I need to be in regular contact with him.

I find this really hard to do sometimes... and God understands that. But I can't keep using all these distractions as an excuse. He's not asking for hours of my time, he's asking to be a part of my life. He wants regular contact with me. When I think about it, that's really not hard to do :)

This is only the beginning

I was reading Hebrews Ch 10 last night and it was talking about the fact that our life on earth is just the beginning. If we choose to believe in, and accept, God, this life on earth is only the tip of the iceberg. He has so much more planned. It made me realize how trivial some of my stresses are. I worry about the day to day things that in the bigger picture, don't really matter.

Being reminded of this amazing concept of eternity helps me put things in perspective. I need to live this life to the fullest, love every moment that I can, learn from every mistake I make... but at the end of the day this is such a small part of my existence. How cool is that?

God you are amazing.