Hanging On

When I glanced up at the light fixture in our two story foyer and saw this bear, I could totally relate.

Sometimes it feels like I am just barely hanging on. ;)

I was meditating on this scripture this morning from Psalm 13: 

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and 

everyday have sorrow in my heart? 

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. 

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

my enemies will say, I have overcome him, 

and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 

But I trust in your unfailing love; 

my heart rejoices in your salvation. 

I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."

According to the notes in my Bible, this scripture was written

by David at a time when he was struggling with a life threatening illness.

I have no life threatening illness, but I do have a real enemy that seeks to 

devour me. The enemy I am battling is the evil one who tries 

to attack my thoughts and knowledge of God's truth. 

I am battling against my sin and the sin of others against me. 

But the Psalmist does something that I'm not inclined to do. 

In the midst of that battle (which for him is a battle for life or death), 

He TRUSTS, REJOICES, and SINGS to the Lord. 

"Affirm your trust in [God], regardless of how you feel. Thank [God] for everything, 

though this seems unnatural - even irrational." Sarah Young

1) I praise God for His WORD. I praise Him for giving us scripture and truth to blot out the lies of the evil one. I praise Him for music. Music is a balm for my soul. I've been obsessed with the "Seeds of Worship" CD's. It is scripture set to music and although I think it is intended for kids, I have been listening to it nonstop. I need to crowd out the lies with TRUTH. 

2) I thank God for this sweet, sweet boy. He can be a pill BUT, his sensitive spirit always senses when I am discouraged or sad. He is quick to hug me, kiss me, and remind me he loves me. I love his hugs. God has blessed me with a special connection with this one. 

3) Might sound irrational, but I thank God that we have not had any broken bones or emergency room visits in a while. :) These kids are testing every limit. 

4) I thank God for how art soothes one boy's soul. Even if that means he spent 5 hours drawing, tracing, and coloring horses instead of doing schoolwork. 

5) I thank God for these sibling friendships. One of the blessings and struggles of homeschooling is that they are together so much. They truly love each other. (Sometimes they express their love with fists, other times it is with hugs.) You should see the goodbye's on homeschool academy days. They are hugging and kissing and waving as the big boys pull away with Daddy.

6) I thank God for laughter. Some days I need to really force it to happen. Today was one of those days. A quick pink highlighter mustache does wonders for my cranky 5th grader. The giggles were AWESOME!! This photo is terribly unflattering. I have not taken a shower today and I'm still in my exercise clothes. Notice I didn't make it extra large. :) Please note: the mustache did not wash off easily. I still have a pink face, but it was so worth it.