Tuesday, January 19, 2010

It's the Little Things...


It happens occasionally...I awaken from a deep sleep with an overwhelming sense of fear and hoplessness. It usually involves those life circumstances that I struggle to hand over, to relinquish to my Savior...to believe He can do anything in.

It's a spiritual battle. I know it is. The Bible tells me it is.

Last night it happened again. And I found myself praying fervently, in the darkness. Replacing fears with truth. Truth that nothing, nothing is too big for God to handle. No circumstance, relationship, financial situation, etc is beyond His reach. And in the darkness, as I claimed those truths (for the millionth time) His peace replaced the chest crushing hopelessness...and sleep came quickly.

But the battle doesn't end. I awoke early to...

  • My husband letting me know the furnace had stopped working sometime in the middle of the night, he'd talked to a good friend and something must be wrong with the gas line. Ben heads off to work.
  • I wake up and find that school has a 2 hour delay because of fog (also learn that it's the 6th day in a row without sunshine)
  • Call the gas company and they send someone out.
  • Teenager comes down stairs ready for school, not knowing that it's a late start. Not happy.
  • Two day care kiddos arrive.
  • Gas guy comes...gas is not the problem.
  • Call friend who can fix the furnace.
  • A dear friend calls, a tragic situation has happened in her family that lives far away. My heart hurts for her...
  • Load 5 kids up in order to take 2 to school. Buckle everyone in. Gripe under my breath about the cold.
  • On the way to school, someone drives right through the yield sign without ever looking...it wasn't super close, but close enough to make my heart pound.
  • Get back home unload 2 preschoolers and a 7 month old. Walk into the house to have teenager tell me their ride to school over slept. Load preschoolers and baby back in the van, pick up teenagers friend, and take to highschool.
  • Someone calls and needs a babysitter, I say no...which makes me feel bad for not helping.
  • Friend comes and takes 5 minutes and furnace is fixed.
  • Feed kids lunch, delay nap of 7 month old because...
  • in 30 minutes I would need to load 3 kids up again to take one to preschool.
  • My head hurts, my back hurts, my pregnant self is tired, my patience is tested...
But in reality, this is an average ordinary day. Sure, some stuff's been a little extra annoying...but nothing too far from the average day. It's life.

And then the realization hits me. It's not the big life-altering situations that bring me to my breaking point.

It's the tiny little ones. The every-day-ordinary ones. The freezing weather, the dishwasher not getting loaded/unloaded, whining, piles, my cell phone that never stops ringing, on and on and on. Nothing significant...until you put it all together.

I know what I should do. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Knowing is generally not the problem for me...it's the doing.

Looking at the daily craziness of life as a blessing, rather than a huge pain. Some days it's easier to do that...but I want to get to the point where I choose quickly to see the "inconveniences" of life as opportunities instead.

I'm a long way from that point. God has some work to do...I have some yielding to do.

How about you? What brings you to your breaking point?


29 comments:

  1. It's the same for me...the little aggravations of life tend to steal my joy.

    I have this quote posted on my refrigerator...

    "It is the dull, bald, dreary, commonplace day, with commonplace duties & people, that kills the burning heart unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus." -Oswald Chambers

    POWERFUL, huh??

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  2. I'm sorry your day's been tough!!! Hope tonight is restful & peaceful (after the boys go to bed).

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  3. I'm just like you --it's the little things that get me down. And I know in the grand scheme of things, I've got it pretty good, but I struggle to keep my perspective. "Knowing" and "doing" are two different things indeed

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  4. I know the feeling! Most of the time, for me, it's school things. The kids that complain over and over and over.

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  5. Other people's bad attitudes. I can roll with most things, but when other hoist their BA on me, I have a hard time letting it roll. Take today for instance... {bleh}

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  6. I agree with you about the little things. Perhaps it's because they are "little" that we tend to view them as "insignificant". And since the little things are so "insignificant", we don't easily remember TO SURRENDER them over to God.

    Before we know it, the little insignificant things we've been holding onto instead of surrendering begin to noticeably weigh us down... which brings us to our breaking point... and inevitably brings us back to the point of surrender to our Lord and Savior.

    So, I wonder, what is it that always seems to keep me from bringing it to Him sooner? Believing in the lie that I am and/or should be self-sufficient? Or believing in the lie that He doesn't really care about the little things? Being too busy that I forget to pray?

    Hmm.... Good food for thought.

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  7. It's the little things for me! Psalm 61:2 is always a comfort.

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  8. true true.....it's always the "little things" that I *think I can handle myself* without telling my husband, without praying about them.....and then all of the sudden I'm in over my head.

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  9. Yep, it's the little things. I can usually do the big things and remember to turn them over to God really quick. The little things I don't remember until I've blown a gasket and then I have to apologize and start over again. Will I ever learn?..I certainly hope so.

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  10. little things for me too...especially when they cause me to feel that I did nothing of real value that day (I know "real" and "value" are relevant terms...just saying what i think, not saying it's right! haha :)

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  11. Oh the little things. Or the little things that aren't really little but seem little in the midst of the BIG things (like Haiti). I succumb to the daily stresses...things that I really can handle with the right perspective...

    Ugh...yeah...the little things.

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  12. Well stated..I'm about to teach on the disconnect between knowing and doing. What's bad is I haven't quite figured out what that is..:)'

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  13. yep, the little things. the compoundingof one annoying inconvenience on top of a frustrating person and unreasonable expectations. i have to give it all over to God over and over and over!! thanks for visiting our blog, btw! you made it for the stewie post, classic, lol!

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  14. Learning that I am mid-way into re-learning a lesson that I should have learned the first (or tenth) time round... Lord, when will I learn?

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  15. My day was much the same! I finally laid my head down on my car steering wheel and gave it all to God. I just couldn't carry His load anymore!

    Praying that you rest well!

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  16. Yes! It's the little things that stack up and then everything topples and I crumble.
    It sounds like you had an extraordinary day with just the sheer number of things on your plate plus the unexpected!

    Being pregnant is exhausting by itself:)
    Here's hoping for an easier tomorrow!

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  17. I went through some big things a few years ago and came to the conclusion that the little things are often harder to defeat than the big things because the little things are so persistent. They are like the tiny trips of water from a faucet that eventually erode the sink.

    Great post.

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  18. Today, it was TRYING to get my house in order for a 6 month post adoption visit from a social worker to satisfy China's requirements while the Twin Men followed behind me and undid everything I tried to do... and the spilling of the gallon of milk on the floor and the fighting and the crushing of the crackers and the breaking of the lamp and the hubby who got tied up at work and the.... you get the idea.

    Man do I hear ya today.

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  19. I sometimes feel like all the little things are Satan's way of getting me down. The big things are easy to go to God for. I can bow at His feet easily while struggling with pride, fear, death or any other ugly situation... However the little things the having patience when my three year old is testing me for the 13th time, when the 5 year old thinks they are big enough to be my momma, when I am not managing my time well and well you get the idea. That is what I think Satan uses to pull us farther away. It is such an uphill battle somedays.

    Thanks for being awesome. I enjoy your blog.

    Someone told me two things recently...

    what we see as problems God sees as possibilities.

    if God brings you to it...He's gonna bring you through it.

    Hope that helps

    Blessings
    Momma to 3
    *Shay B*

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  20. walmart.

    add all those stuffs and then a trip to walmart, and maybe dog pee on the floor.

    :) hang in there sweetie. all the small stuff is adding up to glory for Him.. even in the middle of the frozen tundra.

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  21. it is all the little things! they just add up so quickly sometimes!!

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  22. I too find it is the accumulation of the small stuff that gets to me. I think somehow when something big happens we know we have to meet that challenge and we rise. But life's everyday annoyances are where I find my patience tested (and often lacking)...I had a little melt down yesterday over something so silly and small. Thankfully, His mercies are new every morning!

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  23. I can so relate w/the weather, as I woke up to no sun again. It's definitely the little things for me too.

    I listened to this the other day and it was perfect timing for me...so many things I needed to hear. Maybe you've already seen the video?, but in case you haven't I thought I'd share. http://deathisnotdying.com

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  24. i hear you. it's the little things that add up and threaten to overwhelm me.
    i posted this in my house (to help with those less than picture perfect days)

    "everyday happiness lies in the embrace of good enough"

    great blog :)

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  25. EXHAUSTION. how much sleep i'm getting has a huge impact on my attitude and my ability to deal with life's little annoyances.

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  26. Mainly the little things but of course the big things too. There is a song we sing at church that says Jesus Jesus I'm calling you. And then also I love the song when you can't find the words to say say the name of Jesus. I sometimes just cry out to him. The devil will hit us harder when we are down we can't let him steal our joy. Thank you for this post.

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  27. This is SO me. The little stuff all lumped together overwhelms me...and it shouldn't, but it does.

    I'm working on it. He's working on me.

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  28. I related to this post in so many ways...it is the doing that is hard...it is the everyday nitty gritty that in the scheme of life is no biggie but in the moment brings me so down...

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