I am going through the book "The Resolution for Women" right now! My husband got it for me as a Christmas gift and he is also going through "The Resolution for Men". God has used this book so greatly to speak directly to me in this stage of my life. I am only on Chapter 4 and I am excited to keep reading knowing that God is going to continue speaking to me through it.
I kind of laughed when I read the title of the first portion of the book which was titled, "Surprisingly Content". Just in reading that, I knew God was ready to speak to me!
Being Truly Content is something I have struggled with all my life! Not that I don't necessarily enjoy my everyday life but I have always been one to look forward to what's coming, which has caused me to be discontent with my current season. I look forward to the summer time because to be perfectly honest with you, I despise cold weather so much that I wish I could just hibernate and sleep right through it all! Cold weather just brings about a ton of sickness and bad memories for me! I also find myself looking forward to the weekends, the date nights, when Jeff will be home from work, to vacations, to TV shows...etc. Basically, I so yearn for THOSE times to get here already, that I truly miss out on little moments that God blesses me with every single day. I miss out on those tiny blessings that are really... not so tiny!
Beckett has been sick the past few days with the stomach virus which you all know is the last sickness you ever want to get! I mean, don't get me wrong, I truly enjoy cleaning up my son's throw up but .... yea, obviously that was a joke just in case you didn't catch on! No, I've been super bummed, depressed and sad for my little guy all the while cleaning every crevice and corner of my home praying over and over again that I or my husband don't catch it too! It's pretty miserable seeing my little man not feel good. We have had a lot going on over the past month or 2 and this was the last thing we needed. My mom is moving 10+ hours away, my Grandpa has been in the hospital from a 10 centimeter aneurism that was found on one of his arteries, Beckett got sick with a fever before Christmas while we were AT a Christmas Celebration, I got sick with a cold and sinus infection for about a week and now my son's throwing up! Do you ever feel like sometimes you just can't catch a break????
Well, that's the way I've been feeling! Until God just slapped me in the face this morning with James 1:2-4 which says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
He also spoke to me through the book I'm reading. There is a specific chapter in the book that I feel God just said, "hey, this is for you Mandy". A couple of points in the chapter that really spoke to my heart are below:
"And if I chose to hurry through them in an attempt to avoid the parts I didn't like, I'd simultaneously miss all the parts I DID like about this season. I recognized that by rushing through life, I'd been subtly devaluing those around me and the experiences I was involved in, not appreciating the importance and significance they bring to my life at this very moment, not grasping my responsibility for holding dear and treating well these gifts God has entrusted to me. Instead of embracing the privilege of being a blessing to my husband, my children, my friends, and others, I'd been quietly communicating that I wanted them to change and speed up, to get busy being somebody else, someone who's more in line with what I want and need, to hurry along to a place where they could make me happier than they currently do. THATS BEEN ME. Always looking toward the next moment, the next month, the next event, rarely allowing myself the privilege of fully participating and embracing the happenings that were right before me for that day. This is called: DISCONTENTMENT. Then, before you know it, you've missed out on the joys in the journey, the growth that comes through battling through the difficulties, the sweet and savory experience of creating the memories."
Man, that was so strong and difficult for me to read through, because I literally felt like God was speaking directly to me. That really HAS been me!
So, if I said that I have truly enjoyed cleaning up Beckett's throw up and changing his nasty diapers, I would obviously be lying! Who in their right mind would enjoy that???? And I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't worried to death about everyone else catching it! BUT.... in God speaking to me, I have been able to see the good in this "not so good" situation. Beckett has allowed me to hold him in a different way and cuddle with him, which is something he doesn't really like for me to do when he is well. He has simply just laid on my chest or shoulder and allowed me to play with his hair and rub his back, which I can honestly say I have greatly enjoyed! Every now and then he would pick his head up from my shoulder and give me a weary but very sweet smile. He has also allowed Jeff to comfort and cuddle with him too which I know Jeff has enjoyed! So, even though I do wish he didn't have to get sick, there was good that came from it. And I tried not to miss any of the "good" moments in the "bad" situation.
So, whatever season of life you are in right now, find the good in it and FOCUS on that! God is always good, even in the bad seasons of life and he has a purpose for everything!
-1 Timothy 6:6
-1 Timothy 6:8
-Philippians 4:6
To find a truly satisfied and content woman is rare. I want to be rare. -Philippians 4:11
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