How to Delight…Practically

It’s the weekend! We made it another week and whether good or bad you’re here! That alone is something to be thankful for. I want to share some encouragement from this week. Can I get real with you for a moment?

The battle in the mind is real y’all. No one is exempt from it and I believe it is important to show up and engage in the battle before letting your mind run away with you, literally. I felt that struggle strongly this week. Being the deep and over-thinker that I am, I kept trying to process how I could move forward. Before long, mental exhaustion kicked in and my emotions ran wild. This isn’t the first time.

This is a familiar battle and over time I have learned that it is necessary to use both spiritual and practical means to overcome. We do need God’s Word as foundational truth to help us dismiss the lies, assumptions, and negativity that try to infiltrate our minds. Praise and worship is a powerful act of surrender to God as we acknowledge that all we need is found in Him and not ourselves. Prayer is a direct line of communication to God. But after these things, then what do we do? On my toughest day this week I only had enough strength to pray this simple prayer, “Lord, I need you. Please show me how to do this.” That doesn’t seem very powerful, but I prayed it sincerely by faith knowing that God’s wisdom is infinitely greater than mine. Here are a few of the ways He answered me.

Let your children be children.

Savannah’s all smiles!

Titus love spaghetti!

With my husband now working from home daily, I have to make sure the noise level is to a minimum so that he is not disturbed when on a call. That means there’s a lot of shushing, redirecting, and saying no to the kids while in the house. At almost 3 months into quarantine life, the backyard has become old news. I was getting really frustrated with them and decided I would change scenery and go to one of my favorite local parks. The time at the park was the refreshing we all needed. As I sat on a blanket, the kids ran free. They climbed trees, rolled in the grass down hills, and chased birds and squirrels. They were simply being kids. I will never forget the joy in their little faces. In that moment, I felt such compassion for them. Here I am upset because they won’t just sit down somewhere, not considering how they must feel week to week with restrictions on how they play and explore. Through that moment, God showed me how important it is to make room for my children to be themselves.

Stay out of the pity puddle

Yeah, I meant to say puddle. I don’t know about you, but pity doesn’t sound like a party. It’s more like wallowing in a soggy puddle of negative emotions. The victim mentality will have me thinking that nobody cares about me or I am the ONLY one going through what I’m going through. I’m just sooo tired. It’s just sooo hard. The longer I stay there, the more the negative thoughts compound until I am stuck like a pathetic stick in the mud. This is where God’s word comes in. This week, when I felt myself wading toward that puddle, I literally stopped whatever I was doing, grabbed my Bible app and began to listen to an encouraging passage of scripture. Before I knew it, I was up again finishing whatever task I was working on before that negative thought came in.

Do it even when you don’t feel it.

My new hobby!

Living life in the pity puddle can lead to a life led by feelings. Nowhere in the Bible will you find “if you feel like it” attached to God’s commands and instructions. Yet I am often tempted to allow feelings to dictate my actions. This week, there were several things I didn’t feel like doing. I didn’t feel like doing my schoolwork after a long day of tending to my home and children, I didn’t feel like watering my plants, I didn’t feel like washing dishes. But I did it anyway. The result was the peace of knowing I was glorifying God by being a good steward of what He has given me to do. It encouraged me to push past feelings even more to see the blessing of obedience to God.

This week may have started rough, but God heard that short simple prayer prayed in faith. I want to encourage you as you enjoy your weekend and prepare for next week to consider what your familiar struggles are. Take those to the Lord in prayer and ask Him how you can practically take action to change the narrative. It is in Him that you will find the strength and ability to take the next step.

God delights in helping you to delight daily in Him.