yesterday i fell to pieces.
i was doing battle with my children all. day. long.
when my husband came home i cracked and tears started up.
only little tiny people that you really really love can do this to you!
and so i ask myself...can i be thankful for this? for this mess? for broken dishes, defiant toddlers, and a person who is doing their best NOT to do their school work?
i have a very big craft show that i am doing in 3 weeks and i have not a single thing made for it! can i be thankful that i tried to work on making things all throughout the day and got nothing done?
and here is the crux of the issue...can i be thankful for the things i don't want?
i don't mean seeing things half full, or looking for the silver lining.
this is more than positive thinking.
there are going to be times when we are frustrated to tears. okay. but what will we do when other times come, and they will come, that are absolutely devastating? heart wrenching?
being able to give thanks in all things is what we as christians should be
heart check: what is your response in difficulty? is it questioning? tears? unbelief that God is good? is it thanks?
reading the bible illuminates so much...
David gave thanks when he lost a baby.
Mary gave thanks when faced with an unplanned pregnancy as an unwed mother.
Job points out--"shall we recieve good from the Lord and not evil?" {this man truly had nothing!}
i think the really-hard-to-give thanks is like a sweet offering to the Lord!
He knows how hard it is for us to say thank you for bitter things, unlovely things, annoying, irritating & frustrating things. and i think that it blesses Him when we do:) and amazingly, after we give thanks for the hard-to-give-thanks-for things, we are blessed too. {and may even begin to feel a little thankful}
so today i am giving thanks for all of my hard-to-give-thanks-for moments
and
for my husband who took my burden upon his shoulders and.......got that child to do his school!!
6 comments:
hi marie! what an honest post! and yes, you can be thankful for things you don't want!
God has been revealing a lot of that to me - showing me how he has worked things that i initially don't like or love - for His good and His purpose.
keep trudging through - in every little thing He is doing much more than you even know!
Oh my, what a challenge to give thanks for things we don't want.
such a reminder when I need it most!
you're precious.
thankful for ann voskamp's teaching to give thanks for the 'ugly-beautiful' things...
thanks for this sweet reminder.
still learning right there along with you! <3 <3
marie. amen. oh, how i wish i was there with you! miss you so!
he is good, and his mercies are ever new.
I'm with everyone on this one, Thanx for the reminder to be thankful for all good and bad! Tough as it may be but I find when i am thankful for the not so good in my everyday I feel better about the whole thing..
XX Dawn
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