For February 4th:

“Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6,7

Sometimes it is the everyday stresses that, for me, are the most difficult to navigate with a grateful and thankful heart.  When a loved one passes away, I know to be thankful for the time that I had with them and remember them joyfully.  When a natural disaster occurs and our house is damaged, I am quick to be thankful to God that family and friends surround me, and I know that all the “stuff” we have lost can easily be replaced.  However, there are times in my life when the busyness of everyday life is more overwhelming than the catastrophic events. 

In the fall of last year, the day-to-day stress of managing a family was catching up with me.  My plate was overflowing with an increasingly stressful job, a husband (we all know how exhausting they can be) with a demanding career, four children under the age of 10, multiple after school activities, massive amounts of homework for three of the children, tedious housework (which has never been a strong point for me), management of the finances for the family, figuring out what to do for dinner and the guilt of living on fast food the majority of the time, and the laundry, oh the never ending abyss called laundry.  I in no way wanted to cut back on anything in our schedule, and I was truly grateful to have such a full life, but at the same time the seemingly never-ending exhaustion of everyday life had me on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. 

A few months prior to the mental breakdown, I had been feeling a tug from God that I needed to adjust some areas of my life, first and foremost being the amount of time spent at work.  God had put an opportunity in front of me to make that change, and I had not responded to it.  Since God also knows that I am just a bit stubborn and require more than a gentle nudge, He was forced to use a mental breakdown to get through to me. It was at that point that I knew God wants my life to be joyous.  It was only in the depths of exhaustion that I was able to see the path that God intended to facilitate a grateful and joyous life.  I am not only grateful to have such a full life, but especially grateful that God wishes for me to enjoy this crazy life I have been given.

Megan Parr