1. Sometimes in the heat of the moment or if I let my guards down I cuss... Yes, you read that right... I consider it a blessing because I do it a lot less then I used to, and the fact I struggle with this reminds me of how far I've come in my walk with the Lord and reminds me of how far I have to go.
2. I often go to bed without doing the dinner dishes... Yes, this is a blessing because in the evening we all hang out. Sometimes just Paul and I, sometimes with the girlies, and sometimes with them and their guys. And not just watching TV or movies either. We do that probably more then we should, but more frequently we are just talking, laughing, sharing stupid youtube videos, or just all of us enjoying each others company... I am blessed that most nights my life is too full to bother with the dinner dishes!
3. I often have to fake it 'til I make it... Now that we are in ministry (if student ministry counts and "in ministry"...) people seem to think we know it all. That we somehow will be able to answer their tough Bible questions, give some life altering advice, or that our prayers have a more direct route to heaven... The first few times these situations came up I would think "Why are you asking me/us?" but it turns out we frequently do have the answer to their questions, and if we don't we know where to go to look for it... We don't always have "life altering advice" but I have found if you sit and listen to people the Holy Spirit is probably already telling them what to do, and they just need you to hear the same thing and pray with them about it... Which leads me to the prayer part... I don't know if I will ever be a prayer warrior, but I am truly leaning the meaning of unceasing prayer... Now when people as me to pray for them, instead of telling them I will and hoping I remember, I stop whatever I am doing and pray right then... Why not, they asked me to and it is fresh in both of our minds... This is a new phase for me, as I have always been a very "private" prayer person, but I can see the blessings in my life with this change.
4. Sometimes I lose my temper and yell... Like blessing #1, I do this a lot less than I used to... In fact it rarely happens anymore. Probably because of that, when it does whoever has been relentlessly pushing my buttons usually takes immediate notice (usually Katy... Sorry hon, but you know this is true, it's not always you, but you do have a particularly good ability in this area.) and stops... These days I always go back and apologise for losing my cool, and we usually have a very real and open moment for our relationship to grow. Another blessing is that as I age and mature I am really good at seeing when I am getting angry and warning the person/people. Usually something along the lines of... "Give me a few minutes here" or "You may want to stop (enter what ever they are doing here) because you are jumping on my reserve nerve." or something of the like... And (another blessing) they usually heed my warnings...
5. We are the richest poor people I know... Yes, I feel blessed that we don't have "enough" money frequently. I didn't even realize what a blessing that was until last week. Our Pastor has been giving premarital counseling to Katy & Jed and apparently he was talking to them about money and the fact that it is the #1 thing couples fight over. He started with Jed and he shared his observations about his parent's disagreements over money then he turned to Katy and asked her if her parents ever get in fights over money and her answer was:
"Not since I've been old enough to remember anyhow. We usually don't have a lot of money but we always have enough, and when our family is having a particular money struggle we sit down and pray over the problem. My parents got out of most of their debt years ago and we live on whatever the Lord provides. In fact some of my best memories come from times we all prayed as a family over a situation and got to watch the Lord solve it. We have always had everything we need and usually most of what we want. My parents have always insisted we all tithe, even if it was just $5.00 in babysitting money, I think it's because of that they have never worried about money." (I double checked with her on this quote so I think it's pretty close to her actual answer.)
Now, her answer is not 100% true, I mean it is true in that it is from her perspective... We did argue about money in our early years, but not since she was old enough to remember, so that is true. Years ago we came to the realisation that everything we have is God's, and money is just a tool he gives us to live by and do his service with... When it comes to money, Paul tends to be a worrier by nature, so he prefers for me to handle it. This is a job I have thrust back at him several times over the years only to eventually submit to him and take it back. As long as we tithe, pay the bills, and have some money set aside for emergencies, he is happy. We sit down once a month and I let him know where we stand, half the time I am sure he isn't really paying attention, he trusts me but it makes me feel better that he knows. Do I worry about money? Of course... I've shared those worries on here, but I am blessed to have daughters who grew up in a house where worrying about money was not the focus, and not argued about. On a side note: When he asked her what if anything we do argue about her answer was: "Differences in opinions about what the Bible says and your sermons!" (And, no we did not sit in on this session, but we did show up to set up for student worship pratice as they were finishing up and he called us in to share this... With their full knowledge that he planned to do so.)
So there you have it, yesterday my pet peeves about stuff I should feel blessed by (after all, you only attract ants if you have food!) and a list of blessings about stuff that should peeve me... Go figure...
Thanks for listening,
"Differences in opinions about what the Bible says and your sermons!" Ha! You got SO called out. Coincidentally, that sparks most of our "lively" debates as well. Even though we agreed several years ago not to criticize our preacher, since it's like shooting fish in a barrel and often takes on a swift downward momentum. Our drive home from church usually has us silently sitting in the car trying desperately not to put match to the tinder of that conversation. Sometimes, though, he'll give me a sideways look, I'll snicker and the gloves come off. (/Sigh/ so much for our good intentions.)
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