Tag: Five Minute Friday

Faith

When Life Gets Tough

renewalandrefugewithstella

Today has been one of “those days”.

While working to complete a baby quilt that a friend had ordered my sewing machine stopped working. I tried to repair it, but was not having any luck, so I decided to take a lunch break instead and fix it later.

I had a hair appointment this afternoon and needed to go by my part time job to turn in my time sheet. When the time came for me to leave I could NOT find my keys anywhere. I traced my steps from the entire day with no luck. Knowing that I would probably not make the appointment, I called and cancelled, telling them that I would schedule another one for next week. Within ten minutes, guess what? I found my keys, but it was too late; I had already cancelled. I did however make it to the office to turn in my time sheet.

When I got home I cooked supper and waited for my hubby to get home. We ate and then I somewhat cleaned the kitchen. Then I sat down to once again work on the sewing machine. Screws dropped down inside as I tried to reassemble it, started sewing only to discover that it STILL was not right and I had to take out all of my work. It literally took 2 hours straight of assembling, disassembling, cleaning, and trial and error to get the machine working as it should.

Life can get tough! Through all of these misadventures I found myself praying. “Lord, please help me get this machine working.” “Lord, please help me find my keys.” “Lord, please help this dog stop whining for attention so that I can get this quilt done.”

Psalm 37:3-6 says:

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.

    Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
    Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
    and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

I know that my problems today are minimal compared to the suffering that many people are going through, but the wonderful thing is that God is there for ALL OF US- and ALL of our troubles. We only have to ask for his help and trust that he will help us- no matter the problem!

Faith

Sacrifice

renewalandrefugewithstella

In an effort to continue stretching myself I have decided to join in on a weekly blog post group. Each week they will provide a word. All I have to do is write for 5 minutes with that word as my topic or inspiration.

This week’s word is SACRIFICE.

As a mother I know a lot about sacrifice. We sacrifice our time, our money, and our plans for our children. There are many times when I was at an academic match, a practice, or a run when I would much rather have been doing something else.

I learned about motherly sacrifice from one of the best! My mom rarely bought new clothes for herself. Instead, she made sure that we had food on the table, shoes on our feet, and clothes on our backs. She also made sure that we were able to get to whatever event at school or church we really needed to attend.

My daughter sometimes reminds me that it is ok to do something for ME– take some time to do what I want to do or splurge a bit on something that I really WANT rather than something I just plain NEED.

Yet, my sacrifices are so minuscule compared to those of God. I cannot imagine the sacrifice he made in sending his son to die for my sins! I cannot imagine standing by and watching as one of my children suffered the cruelties that Jesus did on the cross. THAT was the ultimate sacrifice!

If you are interested in joining me with the Five Minute Friday posts you can find more information HERE. Stretch your creativity a bit and try it- after all, it is ONLY 5 minutes of your time!