Monday, November 19, 2012

A Thankful Heart

Thanksgiving is this week! We have so much to be thankful for, but often we don't realize it or we forget our many blessings. We take them for granted. Today I want to begin to count my blessings...

1. My husband- the love of my life. We have had our difficulties (neither of us is perfect, but we are forgiven and forgiving!)

2. My children- God gives us children to teach us about life, love, and perseverance!

3. My grandchildren- They are a do-over and sweet revenge on my children. They make me smile!

4. Family and friends- You know who you are...

5. A home in the country

6. Food! And almost always I enjoy cooking.

7. Books- I love to read, maybe more than eating :-)

8. Homeschooling- I enjoy teaching my children and I enjoy continually learning!

9. Writing- I need to write and I have the tools to do it.

10. My computer and my i-phone

11. A van to take me places

12. Motorcycles

13. Vacations

14. My husband's job

15. Hope- because of faith in Jesus

16. And so much more... I could never say all the things I am thankful for. It is so healing to count blessings and to see how much we have. A grateful heart is rarely a discontent heart.  I will choose gratitude because it brings joy and I love to have joy in my heart!


Monday, November 12, 2012

A Weary Win

The election is over. The candidate I worked for won! Other things didn't go as I had hoped. So disappointment was mixed with the joy of victory.  It was an exhausting, fullfilling,  overwhelming task and now it is done...

Now what? I don't know. My summer and fall are gone. Winter is upon us here in Minnesota. And I feel lost. I so poured my heart, soul, and life into the campaign that I feel like I lost a part of myself now that it is finished. I can only hope my friends and family will forgive me for my neglect as I focused so intently on what was before me. It is not that I have regrets about doing it. I felt called to do it and felt sure God was pleased for me to work on this campaign. But I may have become over zealous in my pursuit of excellence and my hope of victory.

I know I neglected my faith journey. I got lost on it. We were not attending church and I did not worship. I prayed, but I did not take time to listen to God. I just moved on. I am sure some of my friends that are not into politics moved away from me or think I moved away from them. Now I need to work at repairing those relationships. More than one family crisis happened this summer and I gave them only what was necessary; no more. I had no more to give. I had no extra time to do anything, by my choice. I liked what I was doing. I blame no one, but me.

Only now I feel depleted, empty. I don't know where to get to the place of being where God wants me. I am sorely lacking in energy. As other situations have come up, I feel like withdrawing instead of working them through. I need some space to regroup, refocus, and relax. I need to move to a different place and find the next step. I always tell my daughter to "Do the next thing." She doesn't like hearing it and I understand, especially when you don't know what the next thing is.

So life goes on, and though the characters in it may change as as the circumstances change, God is faithful and I can trust Him. He never changes and He is there for me, even when I neglected Him. Oh, the grace He offers me and each of us. I will rest in that today.