April 30, 2024

This Is The Stuff

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I lost my keys
In the great unknown
And call me please
‘Cause I can’t find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that’s getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I’m blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I’ve got to trust You know exactly what You’re doing
Might not be what I might choose
But this is the stuff you use

45 in a 35
Sirens and fines
While I’m running behind

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I’ve got a new appreciation
It’s not the end of the world

Francesca Battistelli
Songwriters: Tony Wood, Ian Eskelin, Francesca Battistelli

*  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

If I had to choose one word to describe my life, I would have to choose the word ‘busy.’  But within the busy of my life is a fair amount of routine—certain things happen at certain times each week, tasks need to be completed over and over again, kids need to be fed, clothes need to be washed, bills need to be paid.  My busy can become very mundane.

Earlier this year I heard something that has stuck with me.  I don’t remember where I heard it, or who said it, but God has been shining a light on this theme consistently: ‘Find beauty in the mundane. ‘  The everyday happenings, the losing of keys, the washing of clothes…find beauty in it all.

I had a client tell me the other week that she loved ironing.  I’m sure I gave her a confused look, because she followed by saying that there is something about taking a wrinkled piece of fabric and working with it until it becomes something beautiful.  Now, I’m not going to say that I look at the pile of clothes needing to be ironed and see a work of art…but I understand what she is saying.  It is so easy to get pulled into frustration and irritation when we think of doing the things we truly dislike but that still need to be done. Whether it is work, or home, or church, or any other responsibility, there will always be a level of mundane we will be working with.

The days when I’m rushing to work, the days when I am struggling with motherhood and with being a wife…there is some mundane that life can be sometimes, a lot of the time.  All of these are tools God uses to show us who He is, to show us His love, to show us how blessed we truly are.  I can’t help but to wonder why I cannot find beauty in the mundane. Who said that I can’t look at a dirty kitchen or living room and see the beauty I can make of it, the beauty I can bless my family with.

As a counselor we’re taught to help our clients re-frame, or, look at their situation from a different perspective.  We have to help people think of ways to see the world and their situations differently.  But God!  But God gave us a book filled with ways to see the world as He sees it.  Verse upon verse about learning to love the mundane.  I am going to make an intentional effort to look at life differently, and consider what God might be using to speak to me….

Might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

*  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

Let’s pray: Lord, help us to see beauty in the mundane.  Help us to see You in the ins and outs of daily life.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

This Is The Stuff

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me, please, ’cause I can’t find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that’s getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I’m blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I’ve gotta trust You know exactly what You’re doing
Might not be what I would choose
But this the stuff You use

45 in a 35 sirens and fines
While I’m running behind
Whoa ho ho

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I’ve got a new appreciation
It’s not the end of the world
Whoa ho ho ho…Oooooh
Whoa whoa ho ho
This is the stuff You use 

Performed by: Francesca Battistelli

Songwriters: Francesca Battistelli, Ian Eskelin, Tony Wood

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Anyone else going through some STUFF lately?  I am sure I am not alone!  When things are hitting us right and left, catching us off guard, this is when we become tired and weary.  Much like being in a boxing ring.  Our temptation when we feel this way is to throw in the towel and quit…however that is the exact moment when God reminds me that I am more than a conqueror through Him.

Just as it is written: For Your sake we are being put to death all day long.
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
Romans 8: 36-37

It is easy in trying times—when many things are coming at us at once—to forget how BIG we are blessed. I then purpose to sit myself down and think on all of the blessings in my life and the miracles that God has done. I start to meditate on these things instead of all the stuff that can drive us crazy, and keep us preoccupied and distracted from the One Who loves us the most.

Here is one of my favorite Scriptures and proclamations on blessings…I speak this over my life each and every day.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all His commands
that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you
high above all the nations of the world.

You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.
Deuteronomy 28:1 and 2, 6 NLT

What an awesome promise to hold onto….

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that the things we go through is just stuff and that we can conqueror anything we go through because of You.  Let us not forget how big we are blessed!!!  In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!!!