7.11.2012

God gave me this to do.

God gave me this to do. I may not be overwhelmed about it. I can try as hard as I can, and maybe fail sometimes. I can try as hard as I can and fall asleep at the dinner table. I can try as hard as I can and be completely burned out at the end of the day. But I may not be overwhelmed! The words have a real power over us. If you say it, you allow it for yourself. You give yourself that little bit of room to say, "but I can't!"


When God gives us children, it is work that He is giving us. Work that comes with huge attendant blessings and bonuses, but work nonetheless. So imagine yourself delegating a task to someone (your children come to mind). Imagine you are asking them to clean a room. You can see the work that you are giving them...You also know that what you are asking is well within their abilities. Now imagine one child looks at it, takes a deep breath, and dives in. But the other picks up one piece of food and then lies down to cry a bit about the rest of them. The child who is working faithful will see progress, will see that the task is doable. The child who is feeling sorry for himself will never get past that emotional low without some disciplinary intervention.

- Rachel Jankovic,  Loving the Little Years

~

I think it's no coincidence that I happened to pick up a book that had a chapter on exactly what I've been struggling with. When I say I'm overwhelmed or think and dwell on how much I have to do, I'm giving up, I'm wallowing in discouragement.

After reading this, I made a commitment and asked Bryan to keep me accountable to not say that I am overwhelmed. I might feel in over my head, but by saying and thinking to myself "I Can't! Its too Much!" I'm allowing a bad attitude to take hold.

Like Jankovic says in her book, I'm just going through a time where I'm adjusting to the work load God has given me. God gave me this to do, all of it, and it can be done!

2 comments:

  1. Wow, that's an awesome quote. I've heard great things about that book. I need to read it! I often feel overwhelmed, but don't say it as much, so that's good, right? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. i think that is a good thing! i feel like once i start telling people i'm overwhelmed, i sink further and further into it

    and i have really been enjoying this book; it has been really encouraging to me, i'm planning on buying it so i can reread it every year or so!

    ReplyDelete