He's in the Details.
This last week was rough; honestly, I just wanted to flat out run away from it all. Good things happened, but also discouraging things: too many details to list the drama. Also, my heart was heavy for friends who lost their mother and other friends who lost their brother/uncle.
Things can be so stressful sometimes. At times I feel like I will never get to do one thing without being continually interrupted; I'm thrown into a life of changing gears. A mother continually adapts to everyone else's needs. Sometimes I get on a discouragement trip and start thinking that no one even sees me. I'm invisible to the people I live around; they only need me because they need what I have to offer- my services. The food, companionship, clean laundry, a clean house, teaching/instruction, and juggling/management abilities- like driving the "taxi" & the "ambulance".
This mother/wife role can be so exhausting. Sometimes you feel very unappreciated, taken for granted, or to put it bluntly- your needs are just completely ignored. News flash, ALL of the mothers before us had moments like this too. I try to comfort myself with this knowledge when I'm feeling particularly taken advantage of. Of course, it's also neat when things happen that open my eyes to the greater purpose of this whole journey. Like what happened yesterday.
What happened yesterday caught my attention. A long while back one of my women's groups that I'm part of gave each of us ladies an assignment. We were asked to write ourselves a letter of encouragement, address the envelope to ourselves, sign it and seal it up. At some random time, the leader would mail out these letters to us. I completely forgot that we did this assignment. I actually never thought about it again.
Lately I have been so forgetful that when I checked the mail and found an envelope addressed in my hand writing, to myself, I thought “Oh goodness! I'm so nuts! I must have gotten distracted by something and accidentally addressed one of the thank you notes that I sent out to friends last week, to myself.” Upon opening the letter, I remembered the original assignment and a flood of emotions hit me, because as I read it the words were just exactly what I needed to hear; the timing impeccable, and I was reminded that God cares. He cares about the little things that the world may find insignificant, like me, and like you.
My letter read:
Dear Beth,
The season of life that you are in is just temporary. Hang in there! You will make it. Soon you will be living in your house and enjoying a new season. [for those who have no clue what this means- we went from living in a 1900 sq ft comfortable home, to living in a small cabin with very minimal amenities for 3 years while renovating the house we JUST moved into but are not quite finished with; all the while navigating home schooling, juggling a small home business & Waylon's full-time FD dispatch work schedule, among other things].
Cherish your moments with Jonathan, Julia, and Waylon; you won't have them forever. Remember to seek wisdom in your daily studies and prayer. God loves you. He placed you here to succeed. You will be His servant and child no matter what happens. Remember,
“You are loved with an everlasting love, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” - Elizabeth Elliott
Stop the negative self-talk. It's not helping you. God made you who He wants you to be; accept it and honor Him with your thoughts. Be faithful, be strong; have courage.
~Beth
An interesting detail is that I had forgotten to get the mail for two days, and so the day that I opened this letter and read it was on Sunday, January 8th- the anniversary of the death of five missionary men, one of those men being the husband of Elizabeth Elliott. I shared all of this to remind you that, guess what? God cares. He gets your attention and it's in the details.
So, PAY ATTENTION. Be blessed. ~Beth
Things can be so stressful sometimes. At times I feel like I will never get to do one thing without being continually interrupted; I'm thrown into a life of changing gears. A mother continually adapts to everyone else's needs. Sometimes I get on a discouragement trip and start thinking that no one even sees me. I'm invisible to the people I live around; they only need me because they need what I have to offer- my services. The food, companionship, clean laundry, a clean house, teaching/instruction, and juggling/management abilities- like driving the "taxi" & the "ambulance".
This mother/wife role can be so exhausting. Sometimes you feel very unappreciated, taken for granted, or to put it bluntly- your needs are just completely ignored. News flash, ALL of the mothers before us had moments like this too. I try to comfort myself with this knowledge when I'm feeling particularly taken advantage of. Of course, it's also neat when things happen that open my eyes to the greater purpose of this whole journey. Like what happened yesterday.
What happened yesterday caught my attention. A long while back one of my women's groups that I'm part of gave each of us ladies an assignment. We were asked to write ourselves a letter of encouragement, address the envelope to ourselves, sign it and seal it up. At some random time, the leader would mail out these letters to us. I completely forgot that we did this assignment. I actually never thought about it again.
Lately I have been so forgetful that when I checked the mail and found an envelope addressed in my hand writing, to myself, I thought “Oh goodness! I'm so nuts! I must have gotten distracted by something and accidentally addressed one of the thank you notes that I sent out to friends last week, to myself.” Upon opening the letter, I remembered the original assignment and a flood of emotions hit me, because as I read it the words were just exactly what I needed to hear; the timing impeccable, and I was reminded that God cares. He cares about the little things that the world may find insignificant, like me, and like you.
My letter read:
Dear Beth,
The season of life that you are in is just temporary. Hang in there! You will make it. Soon you will be living in your house and enjoying a new season. [for those who have no clue what this means- we went from living in a 1900 sq ft comfortable home, to living in a small cabin with very minimal amenities for 3 years while renovating the house we JUST moved into but are not quite finished with; all the while navigating home schooling, juggling a small home business & Waylon's full-time FD dispatch work schedule, among other things].
Cherish your moments with Jonathan, Julia, and Waylon; you won't have them forever. Remember to seek wisdom in your daily studies and prayer. God loves you. He placed you here to succeed. You will be His servant and child no matter what happens. Remember,
“You are loved with an everlasting love, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” - Elizabeth Elliott
Stop the negative self-talk. It's not helping you. God made you who He wants you to be; accept it and honor Him with your thoughts. Be faithful, be strong; have courage.
~Beth
An interesting detail is that I had forgotten to get the mail for two days, and so the day that I opened this letter and read it was on Sunday, January 8th- the anniversary of the death of five missionary men, one of those men being the husband of Elizabeth Elliott. I shared all of this to remind you that, guess what? God cares. He gets your attention and it's in the details.
So, PAY ATTENTION. Be blessed. ~Beth
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