Thoughts on Monday

Spring is coming, and we long for it. 

We wait impatiently.

The winds have been whistling through the tall pines, 

breaking branches as they sway,

leaving their spicy sappy scent on the air,

bringing rain that pelts against the crusty snow that is piled deep still around the lodge.

I mentally calculate how much the snow banks have receded overnight. 

The results are not nearly what I had hoped.

 

At this moment, on this Monday morning,

I must choose whether to live in gratitude or resentment.

I sway like the trees in the wind.

A whispering voice pushes me, calls to me, in this gray day:

"In everything give thanks.."

Today, I must will myself to choose wisely, to choose life,

 a choice that will build my home rather than tear it down.

  I don't feel it, but I do it anyway.

The Psalmist must have wrote this on a Monday: 

"But, I will hope, continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.

  I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of thy righteousness,

even of thine only." 

Psalm 71:14,16,17

It is nearly noon, the remnants of breakfast are still on the table,
I have not even thought about starting school,
and my 2 cups of coffee have had no effect on my fatigue.
Not my ideal morning.
Yet, I will to have a good, beneficial, beautiful day.
I needed some extra time with my Savior this morning.
I needed to soak in His presence,
so that later, when the circumstances of life give me a squeeze,
sweet water comes out,
not the tired, irritable woman I would be without God's grace poured out on me.
So here is my list for today,
the list that will inspire me and give me joy:

I am thankful for the coming of spring, however gradually,

a 2 year old who I find adorable dressed for outdoor play,

God's Word going forth over all the earth at this very moment.

That God is in control, and all that is has been sanctioned by Him.

For coffee with cream and sugar in a favored mug,

and tea relaxing and soothing in a china teacup,

for beautiful daughters, growing in the Lord,

and sons learning and becoming men after God's heart,

for running water,

the warmth and comfort of the flickering flame in the fireplace.

"Be worried about nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Phil. 4:6,7