Tired and Sick and Sick and Tired

It started two Saturdays ago. Chills, fever, cough, sore throat, aches and sleepiness. The flu is awful and is worsened when a parent and a child have it at the same time. Joel came down with the flu about the same time I did. It hit him differently than it did me, and he ended up missing an entire week of school because of it. Now I am on day 11 and still feeling symptoms. After having no voice for 4 days, now I feel like body aches are back. I am definitely in need of a rest. Spring was supposed to mean getting rid of the sicknesses from winter. Instead, we get another round of illness. Chills make the 50 degree days still feel like 30 something.

I know we've all been there, and my circumstance is no different than millions of other moms. But it is hard to be a good listener and comforter when you feel too sick and tired to do anything. With Scott gone this week, I find it easy to slip into a sulking attitude of complaints. So I have to force myself to seek God's response in these times.

This is what I came across! I needed this dose of spiritual medicine.
I sound like Job's negative wife . . whine, whine, whine!
Job's reply during his tragic circumstances (which should certainly put my menial circumstances into perspective), "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" Job's faith, not his understanding, carried him through all his troubles.**

Hope your faith in a God who sustains is carrying you today!

Lord, how happy it is when strong afflictions from Thee raise in us strong affections for Thee!
~~Francis Burkitt

**From the Power of a Positive Mom Devotional.

Reality Hits Hard

Last weekend I was able to attend the Hearts-at-Home National Conference in Bloomington, IL. It's a great event for moms of all ages and in all stages. You get refreshed and encouraged in your efforts to be a great mom and wife. I love the event and suggest it for all women as there is something for everyone. They have two more conferences scheduled for this year. If you need a refresher, check out their website at http://hearts-at-home.org for more info.

Before I got home, I started feeling like I could be coming down with something. Headaches, chills, body aches...the works all hit me Sunday. I have been sick all week and today have only a whisper left of my voice. On top of not feeling well, my 7-year old, Joel, has been sick all week and has not attended school yet. He seems to be even worse off than I do, and he will have to take the fun, 10-day, antibiotic treatment. We've spent time relaxing, but you can only relax so much while feeling badly. We've had lots of homework, laundry, nose-blowing, spitting, sleeping, TV watching, . . you get the idea!

I can't help fearing that my 10 year old is next. He's been able to go to school and he has been very helpful bringing home Joel's work, refilling drinks, emptying trash - all the fun stuff. We are praying for thorough recovery for the entire family.

The reality of life usually hits pretty hard after a personal retreat like I had at the conference, but reality is a good reminder of a REAL God that gets us through. Hope you see the joy in your reality this week. P.S. Spring is Coming!

Commit your actions to the Lord

Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.
~ Proverbs 16:3, NLT


After reading this verse, I couldn't help but think about all that's going on in our lives.

If we commit our actions to God, our plans will succeed.


I found it interesting that the verse is talking about action. Just Do It and Commit what we are doing to the Lord and God will bless our plans with success. Maybe it is not our idea of success, but God will reveal Himself to us and verify that He is working in and through the events in our lives when we seek His work in our lives and commit our plans to Him. Otherwise, we are just being "wise in our own eyes"

Just a few thoughts for today!

Remembering Kelly

Today is the anniversary of the day my friend died and went to heaven. Kelly Sue Johnson was only a Junior in High School when she passed on. I still remember the emotional events that took place after her death. While she has been missed for these last 14 years and thought of often, we who knew and loved her understand that whatever her life would have been on Earth cannot compare to what she has been doing in Heaven. We are thankful for the promise of Heaven and the Hope we have as heirs with Christ of the Heaven we will gain one day.

Respect for Authority

Well, it finally happened. I always wondered when I would get pulled over by a police officer. I assumed it would happen to me (as it has to so many) at some point in my lifetime. I've been driving for 15 years now and today I was pulled over for speeding for the first time. I was driving the boys to school (what a lesson for them), and we were a mile from home and a mile from school. I saw several cars that I recognized from the boys school driving slowly passed mine while glancing my direction. SHAME! I knew I was guilty. I needed to be stopped because I was not paying much attention to my speed. I had turned up the radio, and me and the boys were having a fun time listening to K-LOVE for some before-school inspiration. During one of my periodic glances in the rear-view mirror, I spotted a police car pulling out of a side street rather quickly. I instantly knew he was after me. I did not know how fast I was going, just that I was not paying attention and was most likely lead-footing it.
The boys had LOTS of questions and concerns. What happened? What is going to happen? What does that police man want? Why is he walking up to the car? What happened? Oh NO. Are we in trouble? Do you have to pay the police man money? Are you going to jail? They were a little scared actually. It was a good lesson for them. After the officer asked for my licence and proof of insurance, he of course went back to his vehicle to fill out the paper work. I assured the boys that the officer was doing his job in pulling Mommy over because Mommy was breaking the speed limit. Mommy will probably get a ticket because I disobeyed the law. No, I won't have to go to jail, but I will probably have to pay money as my punishment. The consequences of sin are what I deserve.
Oh No, Mom. OH NO! They kept repeating. My youngest understood this concept and said, "You shouldn't have been speeding, Mom." My oldest son was mostly upset that the officer was going to give me a ticket. He has a hard time accepting responsibility in his own life and I am glad he was able to see this happen actually.
When the officer returned, he explained that I was indeed speeding. He was extremely gracious and decided to give me a WARNING. I apologized and thanked the officer for doing his job. I drove the rest of the way onto school staying far from the speed limit. I told my kids what had happened and that I was shown mercy by this man because he did not give me what I really deserved, a ticket. It was a good opportunity for some important life lessons for ALL of us! Phew! I am most thankful today!

We want what we can't have.

This week "someone" at our house learned a hard lesson. Sometimes we can't have what we want, even if we have the means to get it ourselves. "Someone" decided to purchase a mini lego character from a friend (without permission). The money was given and the lego was received. However, this was not approved. "Someone" had taken matters into his own hands while keeping this information from his authority (Mom and Dad).

It reminded me of how we all can be at times. Sometimes we want something that seems like a good idea. We go after it and may even obtain it. But were we supposed to have it in the first place? Sometimes what we want is a good thing. Sometimes we think it is a good thing, even a great thing. We "feel" that it is supposed to happen because we want it to. When God answers No or Wait, we often get discouraged because we have focused on us or what we wanted instead of on the fact that God is still active in our lives. He is still answering us and still in control.

We hold onto this little idea like my son was holding onto his little lego-with a closed fist. He was keeping that part of his life to himself, much like we may keep or hold onto something in our life. We allow God to have reign over all the areas outside this one thing we are keeping tight in our fist. God wants us to release it to Him. To give all completely over to Him. To allow Him to be the giver in His time.

We want something we know we aren't to have right now (even if it is known in the recesses of our mind, we know). We keep it to ourselves and this means we are not lined with God's will, but our own. The great thing is that God waits. He waits for us to give this over to Him. He gives grace. He waits for us to release this thing we wanted until He decides to give it to us. He waits, so we have to wait. His grace makes a way for us to receive from Him in the first place.

So for us now....the lego was returned. My son's desire has not left for this unique lego he wants, but he learned that he cannot keep what he obtained without permission. And we all are reminded that acquiring what we want outside of the will of God usually isn't as enjoyable as we had presumed!