I’m plum wore out! I’ve been sitting on the couch in a vegetative state for the past hour. I had 22 (of the 24) 8th grade kids over here from Ryan’s graduating class for a swim party. It began at 11am and the last didn’t leave till 4pm.
Seeing all the kids in the pool, laughing, playing and simply being ‘kids’ made me happy. I didn’t look at my phone most of the day because it was providing the music. When I did swap my phone out for the radio it was late into the afternoon. I surfed through the texts and listened to voice mails and finally checked email. In a course of a day my email contained:
1) A dear friend letting me know she has liver cancer and wants to know how to tell her grandchildren.
2) A young woman in need of advice in regards to her ‘touchy’ boyfriend.
3) Another family I helped earlier in the year sent me an update that the father has passed away suddenly of a heart attack today(young man in his 40’s).
It was also filled with great news as well:
4) A notification of a substantial donation made (praise God!), which brought me to tears because it goes along with God will give you what you need
My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus Philippians 4:19
5) A ‘thank you’ for a message given through the blog.
6) A possible connection for a PLACE TO HANG MY SHINGLE that ‘God – willing’ will come to pass (name it and claim it, right?? 😉 )
All in a day …. love it. 😉 It fully encompasses the cycle of life – dealing with the hurts, aches, sorrows, angers, uncertainties and relishing in the accomplishments, joys and possibilities. I’m not putting this out there to say ‘Oh feel sorry for me,” or “See how hard I work,” or “Look how great I am.” I’m trying to express to those that are close to me who comment on a regular basis “I don’t know how you do it,” that I’m only able because it is rarely one side of the equation. Yes my heart plummets in sorrow when I am dealing with a more serious issue but then it seems something happens next that causes my heart to soar with joy or appreciation for the good in life.
Granted, don’t get me wrong, you’ve been front row Joe’s to the days that I’ve gotten stuck in the pull of the rip current thrashing around and getting pulled to the bottom. I know the energy it takes when you are thrashing about and the danger it can cause…it is better to chill out and stop fighting against the current so you can rise above enough to get your bearings and recognize the good once again. (FYI here is a great article on Rip Currents that I’m referencing to…you should read it if you are going on a beach!)
Regardless, we all need a break every now and then…I don’t care who you are or how much energy God gives you! 😉 I will admit I’m looking forward to a beach vacation my family has in a few weeks. Hopefully we’ll have internet so I can continue blogging! Though I’m not sure how exciting it will be…I plan to immerse myself in mind-less reading where I get to be a voyeur in other people’s lives that have feel good happy endings. 🙂
I will say this though, makes me smile, it is near St. Maarten where we are going (this whole trip is a FULL BLESSING OF GOD) and the family we are going with uses this grocery store (ShopnDrop St. Maarten) where you have to get in touch with them ahead of time so they know what we’ll need (daily staples). When our friends went on their FaceBook page to get in contact with them they had my speaker FaceBook page (Shannon M. Deitz) as a ‘LIKE’ on their site! Too funny. Small world. 😀
Listen, life will wear you out. Quit struggling against it. I’m speaking to myself too! We all need to remind one another when we see each other struggling to ‘chill out’…you will soon rise above. 😉
Blessings
Shannon