Today was one of those odd, gloomy sort of days where my spirits were a bit downcast. I woke up early, messaged with a friend in Montana, read my Bible and saw that Tim and Daniel were both already up and out of the house. I got some breakfast and coffee and sat down with a book to read.
A stack of school books, essential oils, a Kindle and some journals.
That messy stack pretty much offers a nice little snap shot of our school days – a box of my essential oils, a plastic massage roller, a Kindle Fire, some journals, poetry and history books, chargers for phones and tablets, pens for drawing, a napkin for snack time. Ha.
I’ve been thinking about backyards and landscape design and how to make things pretty here at home. We’re putting in new carpets and having the walls painted at our house on the Olympic Peninsula. It’s distracting and entertaining to look at Pinterest boards on covered porches. It’s fun to match and coordinate colors on the Benjamin Moore paint site. But in it all, I have to carefully guard my spirit. I am SO EASILY discontented and frustrated with my own yard, house, belongings, gifts, talents, and on and on and on.
Beautiful Mother’s Day flowers from Daniel.
For the past two weeks, in our devotional study book, the kids and I have been studying the commandment NOT to covet. Such good teaching, and so many excellent reminders:
1) Everything we have is from the Lord
2) Both the good and the bad – God wants to use it in our lives
3) True satisfaction comes in loving and glorifying the Lord
4) We should rejoice in the gifts, talents, blessings of others (rather than covet them)
5) We need to guard our thoughts and our attitudes
6) The Commandments reveal our desperate need for a Savior
So, I can enjoy dreaming about adding flower boxes or a covered porch or painting the house, but if any of it causes me to stumble into discontent, anger or resentment, than I need to STOP. Instead I need to spend some time THANKING Jesus for all He has given me. I need to spend some time SERVING others. I need to REMEMBER those who are lost and hungry and homeless.
And I can take some pictures of my blessings and the little silly moments that make up TODAY.
Sarah gets in some reading before dinner.
Marco likes to snuggle up on the couch.
David rode his bike to a friend’s house and then spent some time swimming (or was it hanging out in the hot tub?).
Even on gray days, there is so much beauty all around.
Waiting for Tim to come home.
Where is my sweetie? Late coming home today. There he is!
My beloved!
As the Psalmist writes:
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26
May this be true of me – desire Jesus more than anything else and remember that He is my strength and my portion forever!
Project 365 – Day 132
Kathy
Love your heart and your honesty, Friend. AND your sweet family. <3
Love you, Mom!
Thanks for your honesty! It continues to remind me that I’m not the only one who has those days and feels that way. I think that Psalm 73 passage at the end would be a good one for me to memorize.
Yep and Amen. Ps 73 is one of my all-time favorites, for this very reason. We need to guard our hearts in this as in so many areas, don’t we? And simple truths like these aren’t necessarily easy truths to live.
One of the things that excites me about moving into the trailer is being away from our stuff and the thoughts of “more” and what I could do to have a house like “that” – it will all be stripped away and simplified…and I know it’s a heart issue…but I’m looking forward to the break from things. LOL