Monday, January 31, 2011

Our Mind's Frame

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get caught up in negative, complaining, and irritable attitudes (which normally plague us all from time to time)? I think that's somewhat normal. But have you noticed that there are some people, no matter what happens, who seem to NEVER get out of them? Granted, these usually stem from circumstance and I also think to a degree, it is somewhat of a learned behaviour, but isn't it really a choice? I've noticed that this happens to me when I'm tired or stressed out. Yes, those seem like obvious triggers but last Friday was probably the most stressed out I've been in a long time. Every problem and complaint I was handling at work took three times longer than it should've. I was interrupted constantly and losing my train of thought. I felt like I accomplished nothing all day and I was there for 10 hours. After work, I came home to a sick and cranky two year old, who was getting over a virus and was rightfully annoyed by fever blisters inside his mouth. I had nothing left. I was spent. I was so stressed out I actually felt like my body was spaghetti. I started freaking out over dishes on the counter, the pile of laundry that seems to taunt me every single weekend, and the thought of not sleeping through the night for the second week in a row. My husband was on his laptop carrying on with life and this also annoyed me because nothing ever seems to bother him. He is honestly the most laid back person I have ever met in my life, which I normally think is a good quality but Friday, it was not good at all! Then I realized that I was acting like this more and more and more often. I was using stress and exhaustion as a constant excuse and I acutally started to feel more drained and annoyed at myself for being like this and I felt like I was getting sucked in to the dolldrums permanently.  Anyway, getting back on track, God told me point blank that being quick to anger is foolish. Being constantly annoyed and irrirated is not from God. My frame of mind was not centered on Him at all anymore. I decided to choose Him over attitude and even though it's a daily battle within my mind, I'm slowly coming out of it. Why? Because I'm so thankful for EVERYTHING. I am physically and mentally able to work and I actually like it. I have an amazing family who I get to come home to. I have a home. I have my health... this is the most amazing gift ever and it is taken for granted every single day by people who don't know what it's like to suffer. Myself included. We can do ANYTHING and find excuses not to. We can breathe and run and laugh and travel and relax comfortably. This is a gift and it is amazing. I have decided that my attitude needs to reflect this view. I will live life to the fullest and be so thankful for it. Because I can.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

God is such a planner!

So lately I've been relishing in the fact that God, in His infinite glory, has a definite plan for all of us. Sometimes it seems like we get carried away by the mudane everyday life and get lost and forget how important we are to Him. I'm excited to see His plan develop in my life. When I was 21, He told me I was to feed his sheep. I wasn't sure if that was figuratively speaking or not. Along the way through my two years with Child Protective Services after I graduated from university, I figured that it was more of symbolic. Now, I know He meant physically feed His people. Since I now work in government programs, one of the programs I manage for my caseload is food stamps. I've felt just recently that God has bigger plans and this is giving me a stepping stone of knowledge and more is to come. I have trouble sitting in my comfy house knowing that half of the world is starving. It breaks my heart and not just when I see World Vision commercials on tv. Let's face it... most people change the channel when stuff like that comes on because it's uncomfortable to watch. Tuning out is much easier. But is that what Jesus would do? Pretend it doesn't exist? It's just easy to tune out. I'm waiting on God to reveal what it is He want's me to do. I'm ready to get out of my comfot zone and leave Borderland. I always return there somehow. I need to get back into the Holy Wild.