Saturday we spent the majority of our day in Pittsburgh at Allegheny Center Alliance Church for our oldest's final Bible Quiz of the year, which was followed by an awards banquet. We all had a great time. While Elizabeth was quizzing the rest of us sneaked a few blocks away and strolled the Andy Warhol museum, since young siblings don't do well being quiet during quiz rounds. The girls did very well and their team even got a trophy for coming in third in the group of junior quiz teams. It was a delightful morning and early afternoon.
We got home late afternoon and Colin needed to get back to work. The kids and I hung out and recovered from the day away. The weather was beautiful, so we even got to get outside for a walk, that turned into more of a race because Elizabeth and Brian asked to take their scooters. Why did I say yes to that?! Hahaha.
Everyone got to bed a little later than usual and by that time I was beat. I was content with how the day was spent and went to bed early.
Sunday Stress
Then I woke up on yesterday morning and sat for some quiet time before the rest of the family woke. Right away I started talking to God about how hard it is to figure out how to use my time. Saturday (the day I had been perfectly content with the night before) had not been productive. I couldn't really call it a day of rest, because it was active and with people. But I also couldn't call it a work day because, well, I hadn't accomplished anything that needed to be done like school lessons for this week or cleaning up the kitchen counters. I wanted Sunday to be a day of rest, but could I afford to do that? I want to invest in relationships and keep what really matters at the forefront of my life, but then at some point I have a freak-out about all the other things I "should" be doing. AH!
I find myself in this struggle a lot. There aren't enough hours in the day.
As I prayed, I laid out the situation before the Lord, admitting that my concerns are trivial in the grand scheme of personal problems, but wanting to share my concerns with Him just the same. Then opened to Luke 6, toward the end it says this:
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Those words really spoke to my heart. If I want to be filled up with good things, so that I have the energy to keep on serving and loving and working as needed, I've gotta make sure I'm storing up good things! God's Word reminded me I am not alone, the Lord is with me and the power to keep on in this relentless life will come from Him, storing up His good things in my heart.
Immediately after this I decided to read the next chapter of Own Your Life, by Sally Clarkson, which "just happened" to be about tending your soul and investing in yourself so you can invest in others. Mid-chapter, Sally writes: Life is draining, every moment, all the time. We have bills to pay, work to do, meals to make, people to care for, tasks to complete -- and then we must repeat these tasks again and again. p.133
Hahaha! Preach it, Sally! God knew I needed to read that chapter at that time. Those words were like a hug from Him. He knows what life is like and He will also strengthen me to keep at it. (He'll strengthen you to keep at it too!)
God's Sense of Humor
Around this time, the kids started coming downstairs, first Katherine, then Elizabeth. I decided to whip up some scrambled eggs for us. I would make more for the guys later. Just as I was about to serve our plates, Brian came down. He could have my eggs. They started to eat while I made another small batch for myself. I was looking forward to that breakfast. Then, seconds away from serving my plate, in strolled the husband. He could have those eggs. I handed him the plate and whisked up a final batch for myself.
Inside, I was laughing. Good one, God, I thought, preparing me for this very moment this morning!
I guess I would summarize all of this by saying I was interrupted by grace that God took my concerns seriously, despite how trivial they are in the grand scheme of world troubles. He met me with His Word, encouragement from Sally, and an immediate opportunity to serve with joy. Pretty sweet!
I wonder what kind of grace interruption today will hold.
Keep your eyes open to see where the Lord interrupts you by grace, too!
*Photo Credit to Vickie Deyarmin
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