Living the Journey

"...but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5

I watched my daughter live out the words of this scripture. She recently gave herself a challenging goal to achieve.  We supported her and prayed for her.  We took the role of on-looker and cheerleaders as we let her journey this adventure.

Her anxiety reached new heights and she struggled to meet the requirements that came up along the way.  Still, she pushed herself to continue.  She struggled through each step until she had persevered to the finish line.

Unfortunately, reaching the finish line didn't end with the kind of success she had hoped for.  We are so proud of her.  She let herself be vulnerable.  She didn't let challenges stop her and she never quit, no matter how hard it got.  She didn't achieve the results she hoped for, but the lessons and the maturity she developed along the way are priceless!

We had discussions about trusting God with the outcome, and just living the journey He gave her to live.  We talked of open doors and closed doors, and accepting them.  And when the worst thing that could have happened did, she wasn't devastated or crushed.  She was thankful for the journey and the many things she learned along the way.

She learned more of who she is, what she likes, what things fit her personality and abilities best.  She learned more about trusting her Lord and Savior.  She learned some new skills that can be used in other situations.  She watched and felt God show up for her, even if the outcome wasn't the one she wanted.

She practiced perseverance.  She developed character, and that character showed her hope in her heavenly Father.

Lessons in Faith

 Through my husband's battle with cancer, I learned to finally choose to trust in the Lord for my future.

Through my unexpected pregnancy, I learned that God doesn't have to ask my permission.  He is in control.

Through homeschooling I learned that pride is also self-sufficiency.  True humility is surrender and submission to God.

In parenting I learned to give my best each day and trust that God gave my kids the mother they needed most in me.

Decompressing

 This last week was crazy busy with lots of driving around.  I did it to myself of course, but I stretch myself thin for my kids quite often.  I signed up my first grader to attend a free sports camp at a local church.  He was so excited and loved it.  I didn't think it would be a big deal, but then we added on an interview for my daughter one morning, and we had friends come over another afternoon, and I had to split my grocery shopping into two days in order to be where I needed to be on time.

I did have the sense enough to let my fellow park-day mommas know that I wasn't going to make it.  I could have tried, but it would have overloaded my stress handling capabilities.

This weekend was a lot of traveling as well.  First for a fun event of celebrating my sister's graduation, and the second day was full of being a mom's taxi.  Tonight is a "work night" for me, but I needed to decompress badly.  When I get overwhelmed mentally, I withdraw inwardly looking for escape and a quiet place to clear my head.  Hard to do with a busy family life.

Tonight, I turned on some instrumental music and just typed up the events in my brain and sorted out what it was about them that caused the fog in my head.  Turns out, confusion over emotions and boundary issues are the majority of my mental overwhelm.  It was nice to have the time to write it out, go back and look at what I wrote and problem solve why I felt what I felt and how I wanted to deal with those emotions.  Very helpful.