Choosing Joy

I read a great post on The Marathon Mom the other day, entitled "Dear Overwhelmed Mother of Little Ones." It is a great post and I really recommend everyone read it. If you don't have a house full of incoherent little devils... I mean, sweet little angel preschoolers and toddlers... then read it to gain some understanding of those of us that do. If you do... read it because you need to read it. It will make your day (although it might make you cry, so if this is the one day you decided to opt for mascara, maybe wait until tomorrow).

Anyway, it got me thinking about the verse in Romans that talks about renewing the mind:

 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

--Romans 12:2

 

 

As I was driving in the car today, trying not to lose my patience with my sassy little 3-year-old, I started adding up all the "I won'ts" and "I can'ts" and "I will do" in my brain--- basically, succumbing to the "pattern of this world" that tells me that I should be depressed, overwhelmed, stressed, and self-pitying about my current *domestic* state. Things such as "I won't go on an adult vacation/sleep through the night/pee by myself for another ??? years" or "I can't leave the house without a diaper bag/make plans more than 2 weeks ahead/leave the cupboards open for another ??? years" or "I will change ??? diapers/make ??? bottles/ get peed/pooped/puked on ??? times before I'm done raising kids."

 

And then, the stress became compounded. I could hear the devil whispering in my ear "This is coming from your choice to continue having children. You could stop and go on a cruise in less than a year. You could stop and have no more diapers in 2 years. You could stop and have your body back, your nights restful, your house clean, etc etc etc." And part of me wanted to give into it.

 

But then a stronger voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit, came soaring in, telling me "be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." And the love of God filled my heart and reassured me: not that any of those things were necessarily lies, because they aren't, but that I am doing HIS will, and while those things may be true, there are stronger, higher, brighter truths as well.

 

It is true that there is no end in sight for us--- no end to baby, toddler, preschool, and in the future pre-teen and teenage years. And I could choose to listen to ramblings of a crazy man (ie, the devil) and wallow in the negatives that come along with each of those, and let that wallowing drag me off the path I know I am meant to walk.

 

 

OR

 

 

I can renew my mind and give myself a Godly attitude (as many times a day as it takes). I can strive to be like the person in Psalm 1:

 

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

 

Granted, I was in the car with a *sassy* (that's really the nicest word I have right now) child, so it didn't all come this clearly. But, the scaffolding was there :) And the main point that I did get was this: I can choose joy. I can meditate on what God has promised me, and I can us that to renew my mind, and I can choose joy--- because once we look for it (and we don't have to look hard), joy is there.

 

And the biggest reason it's there, for me, is this: There are a million little things to love about the phase of life that we currently find ourselves. Many more than there are things to hate, although the things to hate push themselves to the front of the line and scream "Me! Me! Right here!" while the things to love wait patiently and sweetly behind them.

 

Things like:

-How funny toddlers find it to escape mid-diaper change and run around the house naked, laughing like an insane person.

-A preschoolers eagerness to help-- even when that help isn't all that helpful--  that is going to evaporate much faster than I want it to.

-The amazing love and joy that comes from a child that is sick or hurt and depends totally on you to fix them.

- Midnight snuggles

- Car rides and neighborhood walks where my kids discover things they never knew existed-- like Roly Poly bugs. Or sprinklers. Or lawn gnomes. Or bulldozers.

- Always having snacks in my purse for when I get hungry ;)

- How proud my daughters are of me when I go potty. Goooooo Mommy!

- Seeing the unique uses for common household items that I would have never imagined had that cupboard not been raided.

- Watching my daughter turn into a person with her own thoughts, feelings and attitude... even if I don't always like that attitude...

- How sweet a little hand touching your cheek and saying "Time to wake up, Mommy" can be, even if it's 6am.

 

 

And what makes them so precious is that I don't know how long they are going to last. I may be blessed beyond measure and get to experience them again (even 5, 6, or 7 agains) or I may be a person to whom the Lord chooses to say "No, you're done now." Part of the joy comes from not knowing if this is going to last for 20 years or if it will be over in a few short months. And I won't know until that happens, so my best bet, the smart thing to do, and even the selfish thing to do is to choose to take all the good things and focus on them for however long they are there.

 

Lastly (I promise): my encouragement for myself, and I hope my encouragement for other people, is to rest on the promise of God in Psalm 1. He promises that if we delight in His law, if we meditate on His word, we WILL yield fruit. We WILL prosper in whatever we do.

 

Can I get an amen??

 

XOXO,

Me

 

PS: My list above is by no means exhausting. Please, comment and add your little moments of "choosing joy" for whatever season you're in. I'd love to read them and add them to my list of things to watch for :)