Perspective...

This is a wordy blog so feel free to skip it :)

This past week Michael, our worship leader, asked me to lead worship next week at church. He's running a marathon at Myrtle Beach and wants to be able to stay the whole weekend. Our church right now is in a series called "Radical Sayings" and this next weeks is James where it says to "count it all joy when we encounter trials of any kind" So, this week as I've thought about songs that lend themselves to that topic and read other scripture around that topic (ie Job/Romans/anything Paul said) I should have known that I would get to put this into practice.

Fast forward to Friday when Chris went to the dr to have a "procedure" done. :) I'm grateful for it but it definitely put him out of commission for the weekend. So, he had an appt at 10:30 and then Caleb Shaun had an 18 month checkup at 12 - where we found out that the reason for his fever wasn't teething but rather a double ear infection - oops! Creed is full in the throws of teething and pretty miserable with a low-grade fever himself. and Cadence is a really energetic 4 year old. I knew the weekend had the potentional to be interesting............

So, Friday night as I'm bathing the boys, I begin to have a pity party in my head about the rough weekend I'm set up for. A husband in the bed that can't be of any help to me but the kids want to play with, 2 miserable boys who would rather cry and be held than anything, and Cadence, who was very concerned about her Daddy and basically played nurse all weekend. Just as I began to swirl into a vortex of self-pity, the Lord brought to mind James 1. I hate it when this happens! So, I ask begin to ask the Lord how I can "count this all joy" and He gently reminded me that I had lots to be grateful for.

- I have 3 children when I could count lots of people who don't have any - or at least not as many as they would like to have. Yes, one of them is teething and the other has a double ear infection, but we have the proper medications to make them comfortable and well.

- I have a husband - a wounded husband - but a husband who loves the Lord way more than he loves me and is sacrificing the weekend not because of his own comfort but because of mine. We had the money to go to the dr for the procedure. We live in a country where meds and drs are readily available to take care of us.

- Cadence - although her mouth drives me insane most of the time - as soon as she realized that there could be something wrong with her Daddy immediately burst into tears because she cares so much about him. She has been a perfect nurse to him and in turn, has been a tremendous help to me. She has a heart of compassion towards her Daddy and brothers that has been so evident this weekend that it's obviously a gift from the Lord.

Back to my story..........I got the boys out of the tub feeling much better about myself and my situation. It's amazing what a little perspective can do for you! I put all 3 kids to bed, got Shaunie's feeding tube started for the night and went to pump - yes this is the breast-feeding portion of the blog. Another job I hate and could get ill-tempered over until I thought of why I'm doing it.

First of all, I have a son that Chris and I made together - a real live miracle! I have been able to nurse him his whole life with no problems at all - and I realize that this isn't how it works for lots of people! Why am I pumping? To save up milk so I can have a weekend away in April. Chris is going to watch all 3 kids for the weekend so I can go on our church women's retreat ( you can start prayng for him now). So, there's something to be grateful for! 3 days with some of the best friends that God has ever given me! And I was went to the kitchen to put my freshly pumped milk away, I realized the bottle was full that I was saving it all in and so I went to dump it up into a bag to freeze and dumped the entire 5 oz of milk onto the counter and floor of the kitchen missing the bag completely. awesome. and so I just laughed because sometimes that's all you can do. and my perspective change on it was that I could start making more tomorrow :)

You know, in Ephesians when is says "that as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

or in Romans where is says to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, I think that this must be what it's talking about. When we immerse ourselves in the Word about a specific subject, we'll inevitably get the opportunity to put the Word into practice and hopefully come out on the other side of it and little closer to "holy and without blemish"

James 1
² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.