Thursday, May 30, 2013

Back home from convention.

Nothing says you are home from homeschool convention like a pile of laundry! Now i have been home since Sunday, but now on Thursday I am finally taking notice to tackle the inevitable. Even after such an awesome weekend being refreshed and energized, I can easily come home and look at a pile like this and get into a pretty bad attitude.

I got the blessing of sitting in Diana Waring's first Session on Things I Wish I'd Known.  What a powerful way to start of the weekend at the convention off!
The greatest influence she spoke about was to fixate on what I am thankful for and how my complaining could very well become a very well controlling thing, just because I give it power from my lips and then my mind and ultimately my heart.

It hit home with me.  I have a huge stumbling block, I complain voice my concerns about it all the time.  My house.  My husband says I am not being content.  I respond that I am stating facts.  Well a thirty minute session with Diana and I for once, seen what my husband had been hearing from my mouth.  I am not content and I shamelessly and entitled-ly voice my resentment. Uh-oh.

Well the truth is, unknowingly I allowed my resentment to become the very thing I fixated on.  I allowed it to control my attitude and even control what I would do each day.  My house became my excuse for  everything.  

Diana explained instead to fix on the things to be thankful for and know when we do the Lord will open us to even more.

So today when I began to compile the dirty laundry (BY THE WAY THIS IS NOT ALL OF IT), I counted my blessings that I am thankful for.   Here they are:

  1. I have laundry!
  2. I have a wonderful washing machine that works as it should!
  3. I have laundry detergent!
  4. I have water and electricity to run it!
  5. The machines are in my home, so I do not have to go anywhere!
  6. I have a lot of little hands to help me make dirty laundry and collect it!
  7. My laundry is on the back porch, I get to hear God's wonderful birds sing a song of joy!
  8. My laundry is on the porch, I get a muffled sound of the chaos!
Lord, thank you for all these blessing and your unchanging promise to show them to me with a pile of laundry.  A pile of laundry that is not a one time gig, but a daily reminder of how you provide for me.

Tell me.  What is your hang up and how can you be thankful? after this weekend, I realized I am not alone in this struggle.  Sometimes during the worst of it, it is hard to know how to find thankfulness in the chaos.

~trish



2 comments:

  1. I am so happy for you!!! I was thrilled to see these posts on the homeschooling convention. Keep in mind that we are all works in progress. My hang up is my hubby. I am ashamed to say that but it is the truth. I feel I am over my head with tasks to complete around my home. My husband goes to and from work and finds time for himself. I seem to go from one task to another and will not allow time for myself till all tasks are complete. ALL TASKS ARE NEVER COMPLETED!! My problem now is not resenting hubby and realizing that I need to take care of myself. I am thankful for.....1. My husband has a job to go to and he does a really good job at work. 2. That I have a home to take care of and all the tasks that go along with having a home. 3. My children!!!! And that I get to stay home with them and no one else has "raised" them!!!
    I have so many others but I fear I should stop and allow others to respond. Love you Trish and miss you so much!!!

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  2. I love your comment. I spent last night in tears trying to discern between what my husband expects from me and what I am capable. This is a hang up that him and I have a lot. he pushes me to be content, then I take the challenge and find joy in them. as soon as i do, he becomes a bear. I want to blame him. BLAME. Point my finger and Yell, YOU!!!!! This is YOU!!! My inner flesh wants to tear the one person God has given to me apart. What I realize is neither of us are content, he was the only one identifying it. While I just ignored it. Just because he was capable of identifying it, doesn't mean he had the tools to fix it.
    When I got home from convention at 2 am in the morning because the hotel was not restful. What I soon realized was God had a divine meeting intended for Him and I, so I could quietly listen to him. And I did. I got home and by 8:30 that morning I was ready to praise Him in church. Now in all flesh terms, I believe I had it the hardest. Not him. But he woke up with a horrible attitude as he stomped around.

    I stopped and asked him, 'at this moment, what are you thankful for?" He sarcastically said, " I am thankful to be up and walking" My response was, "Good, now let's focus on that" From that point on, when ever he got grumpy, I would repeat "Just say it, I am thankful to be up and walking. Think on this. Meditate. Chew it up. I am thankful to be up and walking" Now i did this with compassion, something i am not always known for when I am irritated. Each time, he would just smile.

    Now I question him, "what are you thankful for at this moment?"

    I know I am guilty to be so caught up on the moments of life to not even find things to be thankful for, I have to search them out, because I have neglected to carry them in my heart. I am a work in progress and I am thankful the Lord is patient with this dirty rotten sinner.

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