"Every thought we think, in every hour we live, must be not necessarily about Christ, but it must be the thought Christ would think were He placed in our circumstances and subject to our conditions."
I know I used that quote in another entry, but I can't get it out of my head here lately...my church has been working on our new website, and a phrase we're using that sums up what our church is about is "Giving the life of Jesus to the world." To me Christianity is not about a religion, but a relationship. Really relationships. The most important is the relationship I have with God, but then that relationship should spill over into all the others in my life. Everything I do should be a reflection of my relationship with Him. And I know for a fact I am guilty of not doing that. I have not done a very good job of giving the life of Jesus to the world. I realized that the other day that maybe one of my biggest problems at work is my mindset. Yes, a lot has been thrown at me, and yes there are people I have to deal with that aren't the easiest to get along with, but if I changed my mindset about everything that would make a big difference. I don't think it will eliminate all unpleasantness, but it would definitely make things more bearable. A verse that has been mentioned a lot lately is Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." The part sticking out to me the most at this time being "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." I don't think that's a one time thing either. Maybe I am successful in one situation, but I have to be on guard for the next time and the next time, and really focus on having the right mindset until it becomes the mindset I always have...sort of forming a habit. I had a little bit of a meltdown today. The school year is winding down. We have 22 more school days, but in that time I still have 6 IEP meetings to hold. I've gotten them all scheduled, but I need to actually do the paperwork. VBS is coming up very quickly and I'm not prepared for that at all. I have a sister with a big birthday coming up and another sister graduating high school. I'm working on writing the children's church curriculum that we're going to use when we finish up the unit we're on right now. I'm constantly planning for something. On top of all that I have a house to keep clean that I'm also trying to get painted..and then I'm supposed to take care of myself somewhere in there. I feel like I barely stay on top of the stuff I know about, and then it seems lately that there are constantly things popping up that I had no way to see coming. For example, Calliope, my puppy has been sick since yesterday. I thought that she'd started getting better, but I was wrong. I don't know what is wrong with her, and I don't like not being able to fix things. I've spent a large portion of the time I was home yesterday and today cleaning up what's left behind from her sickness. At one point I was laying on the floor next to her crying because I was sure I'd reached the end of what I could handle. I decided to call my sister, Jessica, and she was kind enough to come over. I really just didn't want to be alone, but she went above and beyond. She helped me get some pedialyte in Calli so she doesn't get dehydrated before I can get her to the vet in the morning, and then she cleaned my kitchen while I continued cleaning up after Calli in my living room and bedroom. And most importantly she prayed with me before she left. I needed that because it helped me get ahold of myself, instead of running around kinda like a crazy person not actually getting anything done. As I was getting my room in order I was thinking about how stressed I get at the little unexpected things that pop up, and that quote at the top came to mind. Jesus came and did His thing on this earth knowing that what He was ultimately headed towards was a brutal, painful death on a cross. He never had a freak out moment though. He didn't ever say, "I'm sorry blind man, I can't heal you, that wasn't in my plan for the day." He rolled with whatever came at Him. And if I'm trying to have His mindset that's what I need to be doing. Even at my crazy job, or when my puppy is sick. I've been counting down to the end of the school year, ready for next year and a clean slate. I think I need to focus on finishing this school year out strong, and starting everyday with a clean slate instead of waiting til next year. I don't think Jesus ever laid on the floor crying over his helplessness, so I'm going to work on not doing that anymore either :)
Your thoughts are good reminders to all. It is always best to choose the positive. You know with the life you grew up in that we could have often sat down and cried and had a pity party about having to move again, or daddy being gone, or whatever, but nothing would have ever been accomplished, and we would have been miserable all the time. I am reminded of when we were at Baumholder and everyone was deployed and someone asked Rhonda how she was doing and she said she was surviving. She realized then she didn't just want to 'survive', but instead she wanted to 'thrive' during that time of her husband and children's father being away. I think that is your realization for this school year. Don't just count the days away, but count the blessings you have from each day. A much better mindset. You may also need to look again at saying no to some things and not taking on so much since those are things that add to your stress level. Daddy and I also think it is important for you to have your 'me' time and are very proud of the effort to go to the WC all the time. (I'm sure there is another proper abbreviation, but I went with wellness center). Have a great day!
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