Blessings in My To-Do List

This week is madness, more than normal. One child still in basketball, with three games; my oldest in traffic safety four days this week, dentist appointments, PTA meeting, Christmas in March party at my grandpa’s, work is crazy busy… the list goes on, but I’m sure you get the picture. Right now, sitting at my computer… 8:34pm… I have completed the ‘big’ things on my list for the day, and I almost don’t know what to do with myself.

Every morning, I spend time alone, reading my Bible and praying. It is a priority. It has to be. This is when I consciously realize that everything in my life, GOOD and BAD, are insignificant in comparison to God’s greatness. The world fades away when I spend quiet time, putting effort into getting close to God. He’s always there, but in the hustle and bustle of life, sometimes I forget to acknowledge that.

Last night when I was trying to go to sleep, I was anxious about today because of the schedule. I finally had to write a timeline for the day to ease my mind. I even had to pencil in when I was going to eat dinner.

This morning, it would have been very easy to forgo my ‘quiet’ time. I had more stuff to get done than time in the day. But, I’ve realized in the last year, that in order to get through days like this and ENJOY them, and recognize that they are a BLESSING, and not have a mental and emotional breakdown, I MUST take this time to give my day to God, to thank him for all the things I have in my life, and to ask for his patience, peace, and guidance, and to decide that no matter what happens… I will give it to God, and trust him. This frame of mind has taught me not to ‘sweat the small stuff’, it helps me go with the flow, increases my daily joy, and helps me keep things in perspective. Is it really that big of a deal that Mr Ford Ranger cut me off? Nope! Is it going to ruin my life if I get mud on my brand new shoes? Probably not! Will the world end if I don’t get my to-do list completed? Absolutely, positively not. Is the world going to end if a certain candidate wins the upcoming elections? No.

This morning, as I prayed, and just breathed, I thought about how often I rush through the day, desperately trying to cross one thing off my to-do list and get to the next one without really seeing what a blessing each task is… EACH TASK IS A BLESSING. Each task is something that I should be enjoying, or appreciating. Sometimes the things that stress me out, are things that I should be thanking my lucky stars for. Will I look at my tasks as the day’s weeds, I grudgingly pull, or will I embrace them as life’s flowers, in all colors and fragrances?

Sometimes I just need to breathe in God’s goodness that it is all around me… Life can be overwhelming, depressing, and scary, but it doesn’t have to be… each of us gets to choose. You don’t get to choose everything that happens to you, but you do get to choose how you react… and I’d say that life is more about our reactions than it is what happens to us.

And another thing I’ve learned… that even though I have more things on my to-do list than time in the day, when they are God’s minutes, more can be accomplished than I could ever do on my own.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7