When your kids can’t seem to get out of bed and your running late.
When the milk has gone bad and you forgot to run the dishwasher,
And the sink is already full of dirty dishes from the night before.
When you can’t find a place to sit down because the folded clothes from the laundry sit in piles all around,
And all you want to do is just sit down and think.
When a stray dog is clomping and digging through your flower beds,
And the flowers you planted a few weeks ago are dying because you don’t have the time to water them.
When you haven’t had time to look at the photos you had taken on the beach for a Christmas card two weeks ago and you know it’s not going to happen . . . doing a Christmas card that is.
When Christmas shopping with your husband means stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, or in the aisle of a store every few minutes because the phone calls and emails don’t stop from the craziness.
And he says to you, “we have to go now, I have hit a wall and I can’t do this anymore” because all that just sucks the life out of you.
When going to church feels like too much work,
And God speaks to you from a Christmas movie made fifty years ago instead.
When feeding your dog isn’t just pouring dry dog food in a bowl anymore, because he walks with a lemon sized lump in his throat that is killing him slowly,
And you just can’t get on your knees to clean all the stuff a sick dog leaves on the carpet one. more. time.
When being hungry sounds better than trying to decide what to fix for dinner.
And the presents you bought lay in bags strewn all over your bedroom floor and the thought of wrapping them, putting them in boxes and standing in line for an hour at the post office brings a lump to your throat.
When your teenager finally decides to talk and her genuine lovely heart makes the tears spill because being a teenager is really hard.
When your friend can’t tell you the truth and your heart hurts because you already know the truth – and well, it isn’t good.
When the cashier at Trader Joes tells you about all the people living in hotels because they are homeless.
And hearing that makes you want to go put everything back on the shelf that you just bought and help them all instead.
When all these things happen at once,
And you feel like you want to go scream in the middle of a field of flowers but then you realize what you really want to do is just sit and think,
and read and think,
and pray and think,
and write and think,
and have a long conversation with God, not just random thoughts.
You just thank God that he sent His son Jesus to take care of all the mess.
You thank Him while you spin dog food in a blender, look at the twinkle lights on the mantle, breathe deep and find peace. Because of this . . .
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners . . .
so now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because
our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. ~Romans 5:6,11
That baby that came wrapped in a rag, lying in a manger. He is my friend and knowing Him is all that matters. He is our only hope. He is peace.
Linking with Ann, Graceful, Playdates with God. Their words encourage me every day. Hope you’ll check them out and be blessed!