Our life is a stage

It might be easy after a post like yesterday to get the impression that life is "pie in the sky" for me and that I know little about about how difficult life can be...at least at the moment. So, I figured it was a good time to tell you not to begin to think the grass is greener on the other side! It's exactly the color God wants...both in your life and mine!

I am in the midst of planning a new year of school. Between the combination of planning and realizing that school starts back up in less than a month (and, other hormones to boot) I feel like my blood pressure has been rising and that it's lifted my head off of my shoulders...leaving me feeling a bit lightheaded and dizzy...but don't worry, it comes crashing back down again leaving me with a headache and a strong aversion to being joyful! It's a feeling of wanting to crawl underneath the covers and leave a note on my pillow that says wake me up when life gets easier!:)

But that is life, right? It's full of one situation after another that pushes us into the arms of Jesus as we realize that "apart from Him we can do nothing". It's full of our failures and sin but overflowing in God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness. It's lived out moment by moment either "taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ" or drowning in a sea of worry, self pity, and frustration. It's lived by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone or it's lived in a state of utter delusion and pride.

We can't wait for "easier times" while we sinfully respond to the situation we are in because it's so hard. That's an ordinary response (and one I am often guilty of!)...that's excusing our sin instead of repenting of it and turning from it. We serve an extraordinary God Who calls us to live before men (including our husbands and children!) in an extraordinary way...giving thanks in the midst of trials, living hope-filled lives in the midst of what seems like hopeless situations and recognizing that even the mundane, ordinary things of life like cleaning, cooking and lesson planning are the stage on which our extraordinary God is seen as great!