This little card has been stuck to my bulletin board at my desk for a few years now. I spend alot of time at my desk, so I look at it often. I looked at it while we were going through the adoption, and it did help me a little to think that I was strong, and that I could handle what I was being given. I think still that I am a strong woman, and I am proud of that. I will fight for what I believe is right, and for what I believe I should be doing.
For years I thought that strength came from being brought up to be a strong woman. And, in some ways it comes from that, but I think that in so many other ways it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I was brought up BY a strong woman to BE a strong woman, and I am thankful and proud of that. I was taught at a pretty early age that just because I was a girl didn't me I shouldn't know how to change a tire or handle a drill, and I can't tell you how very thankful I am for those kinds of skills. It comes in handy ALOT!! I actually had one of our neighbor girls say to me yesterday (as I was breaking glass out of an old window to get it out of the frame), "shouldn't this be a man's job?" I laughed a little and had to ask her why?? She said because of the tools and stuff and because I was wearing some work gloves...seriously never dawned on me that it should be a man's job!!
All that being said....let me get back to the point of this blog post. I had a revelation while in church this past week. The sermon was about discerning God's voice in all of the distractions of life. This is something that I have been working on for the past couple of months. Mainly I've been working on trying to not be so "busy" all of the time when I'm with the kids. When they want to play, I say yes. When they want me to snuggle with them on the couch, I say yes. When they want to eat lunch from QT in the driveway and then jump on the trampoline, I say yes. I'm so much more relaxed, and they are happier, and it just makes life better all around. So, I was thinking about being less "busy" when it comes to God and listening to Him. Do I say "yes" when He asks me to do something? As I was pondering this, I really started to think about this quote that is not only on my bulletin board, but also on the top of this blog, and pretty ingrained in me. Am I really strong enough for this life? Let me tell, that answer is for sure NO!!!! There is no way that the strength I have has anything to do with me!!
Life happens, that is for sure. Are we strong enough for it? No way. But, we are lucky enough to have a God that WANTS us to get our strength from HIM. We are given this life so that we might get outside of ourselves and realize that we have this wonderful God and that we don't have to do all of this alone. WOW....I mean, seriously...WOW....I don't have to do this on my own....I'm truly still trying to let that sink in. I have said before that everything happens for a reason, and most of the time you can't see that reason until you are on the other side. But, sometimes, you get a glimpse when you are in the middle of the storm....you can see what He's trying to show you and teach you. And, if you're really lucky, you actually learn it!!!
So, I'll be taking down my little card from my bulletin board. Maybe this should go up instead:
