Little problems can follow little problems and end up making a big mess!
The cat went blind and at seventeen years old we knew that it was time to let her go. The good news was that the other cat would now be able to go live outside. We would be pet free inside for the first time in sixteen years of living in the house.
It was a relief to get rid of a blind cat that had given up trying to find the litter box. Nothing feels quite as nauseating as stepping in cat pee first thing in the morning.
It was about two weeks later when the fleas showed up in earnest. Every time you walked through the house they seemed to flock to your socks. Cook’s Pest Control responded quickly to my cry for help. The fleas were back in a week and so was pest control.
This week I noticed the first mouse droppings. We have always had mice in the walls and probably in the attic, but they rarely showed their faces inside. The morning I spent cleaning all of the plastic containers and the cabinet the now-outdoor cat sat at the window watching me. I swear she was laughing.
Today the mice droppings started showing up in every room I walked through. Just one or two droppings would be laying where ever I happened to look. I am beginning to feel like a Dr. Suess book or at least a Cat in the Hat book (The King, the Mice and the Cheese).
I am tempted to bring the cat back in the house, but I have not caved yet. Consistent cleaning, clearing and spraying should eliminate the problem. There may be an easier solution, but there are negative issues with those easy paths.
Maybe my pest problem is more about my life that I care to think. Just when I get rid of one issue, another pops up to take its place and often brings along friends. It is like the demons driven out of the man, coming back to find it clean and in order, but empty. I am driving things out of my life, but I am not filling them up with the right stuff.
My problems will not be imagined away any more than I can pretend the mouse will just pack up and leave on his own. I have to invest the time and energy into cleaning up and getting things in order and then filling my life with the things that God had called me to do.
Are little problems causing big issues and keeping your from your purpose?
Get the trumpets ready and prepare the confetti. I have discovered the magic formula for balance between kids and spouse.
This last week I had the blessing of attending an online conference through A Woman Inspired. The One Marriage Conference was filled with amazing speakers and LOTS of fun chatting. I walked away with a new attitude towards my husband – and he is supremely grateful to the speakers and hostesses for putting on the conference.
My morning always starts with prayer over my family. In light of all that I have experienced through the week, a revelation struck me during that time. I have accepted that God put my children in my life for me to be a steward over. My job is to help them to grow to where God has designed them to be. Each morning I pray that God will help me be a good and faithful steward.
I am a partner with my husband, not his steward. My relationship with him has to be fundamentally different that it is with my children. Teaching my husband or leading him down the right path has to be left to the Father. It was never intended for me to do that job.
All of this occurred to me as I was looking at the bed that needed to be made in our bedroom.
Shoulder One: “If you keep making that bed for him then he will never be responsible for making it.”
Shoulder Two: “You are here to help and serve him, not to make him responsible.”
And the balance was revealed. I am to serve my husband (but not be a slave to my husband) and be his helpmate, cheerleader and all around support. I should be treating him just like I would any guest that ever walks in my home – better even!
The children ARE my responsibility, in that God has placed them here in my life to be a steward over. I have to help them discover their path to God’s purpose for their life. That IS my job.
I was already moving in this direction, but today it was made clear. I have to make time (over and above my children) for my husband. Without that time together, our partnership stagnates and we miss the connection and unity required for that equal yoke walk.
Where does your spouse fall in the schedule of your life?
Lately, I felt like I was walking up the dark path with the aid of lightning bugs. The flashes were just enough light to keep me on the path but not enough to keep me from stumbling. The fear of falling makes it easier to stand still than to try and push on.
Last Saturday our community was hit by a tornado. The storm blew over our house and knocked out all the lights. The lightning flashes seemed constant and provided enough light for me to get around the house and do anything that had to be done. The darkness did limit my actions and I only did the least that I could get away with doing.
Darkness challenges everything that we know to be true. In the darkness, with the flashing of the lightning or the lightning bugs, that rock that has been sitting in the yard for years can become something more menacing. The wrong light turns a harmless log into an alligator even though the logical side of the brain says it is NOT an alligator. Darkness provides an avenue for the darkest part of the imagination and in that darkness we often have a hard time holding on to the Light. The Light seems to be flashing on and off and that does not allow us to walk boldly on.
Jesus made the blind man see. When questioned about the miracle the man simply said, “I was blind but now I see.” That was all that mattered. The details of the miracle were not fundamentally important to the one that received the miracle. All that mattered was he could see.
Today I see.
The last several months I have been on a journey to uncover the vision God has for my writing and speaking. Although I am far from the end of the journey I am beginning to get a feel for the path.
Two and a half years ago, my husband left his teaching job. I took all of the financial responsibilities on my shoulders. My faith was strong enough to carry us. The writing jobs came in for the first year, but I felt a distinct tug on my heart to do something different. I have the gift of “creative writing” which simply means that if you give me a little information I can write about anything. And I was writing about anything and everything as long as it meant I could get paid in the end.
That tug grew stronger, and the more I ignored the tug then the darker things got. The writing jobs began to dry up and our finances soon followed. We had worked hard to eliminate debt in our lives and in just a few short months that debt was threatening to rise beyond its highest point ever.
My husband took a second shift job at a local chicken plant to bring in some money but to also allow him the opportunity to continue to work around the house and look for work in other avenues. At the same time, I came upon two new writing opportunities that would double my writing income and get our finances back on track.
I was still ignoring that tug.
These last two weeks have been a massive struggle. Every time I sit down to write, something comes up. The beautiful schedule that I prepared has yet to be followed. I feel like nothing is getting done, although I look around the home and see healthy, happy children, an organized house and feel the love and peace.
Last night I felt the tug and gave in to that tug.
God has a purpose for each of our lives. Discovering that purpose, through each season, allows us to enjoy that personal relationship with Him, live in His blessing, and walk confidently in the dark with only the flashes of Light guiding the way. Even in the darkest storm, the Light is enough if the light is what we choose to see.
The world would have you believe that you do what you do to make a living. I challenge you to see that you do what you do because you have Life. What are you willing to do to make that Life visible to the world?
Tags: breaking free, darkness, Light, storms
My Friday post over at Author Haven, The Best Reason to Write, focused on the path I had been taking and was now taking in my journey to become a successful writer and speaker. The new journey has been on my heart for several weeks.
Sunday I stood up in front of the Sunday School class where I was guest teaching and spoke about the importance of choosing the path God has instead of the path I want. One of the examples I used was how when I wake up late the first thing to go is my quiet time with God, even though I KNOW that having my quiet time makes the day better.
Be careful what you say.
This morning I woke up late. It was not one of those “lates” where you can just have cereal for breakfast instead of cooking and be caught up. Before I got out of bed this morning I had fallen two hours behind schedule.
The temptation was great, but I remembered my words from yesterday and I made God my priority. So my day went smooth and easy.
RIGHT!
Everything in the natural world seemed predetermined to knock me off balance. The weather, the public school schedule (even though we home school), and my husband were all conspiring to make my life difficult. My choice to put God first backfired.
Just when I had all I could take, an email popped into my box. Susan, who visits Successful Freelance Writer regularly and is always a blessing, had visited Author Haven and commented on that post. She also took the time to send me a personal email. The words encouraged my heart and reminded me that when I put God first then HE will manage the rest.
The world makes things look chaotic. Society sets up the rules of the game. People determine who wins and who loses. But I am not locked into the things of this world. I am a daughter of God and as long as I am walking His path then He has already prepared the victory.
Never give in. The Right path always has the results that you seek. It may not seem that way at any given moment, but hold to the promise and the Truth will be revealed.
Tags: making the right choice
