IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER. COLOSSIANS 1:17
Certain days are designed for the sole purpose of expanding our coping ability. I did not learn this directly from Scripture. I learned it directly from life.
After one particular morning in which my coping ability was stretched, yanked and nearly disjointed, I sat down and poured out my woes in a letter to a freind. (I chose this friend because she's single and ehr frustrations don't include kid stuff, so I get a lot of sympathy from her!)
I wrote:
I was exhausted last night and had a nasty headache coming on, so Herb told me not to get up and fix breakfast....said I was to sleep in. The only way I could have accomplished that was to have been unconscious--which, as I see it now, would have been nice.
With only three children in the house you'd think there would be a mathematical limitation to the possible combinations of fighting pairs, but this morning they exceeded the known possibilities. And when I stepped in to prevent further damage, I only increased the combinations by adding myself to the list!
Everybody was totally innocent yet everybody was on the attack. Herb had an early flight to Los Angeles, but he told Jeff he'd drive him to school if he was ready by 7 a.m. Jeff wasn't ready (fighting takes time) so Herb had to leave to catch his plane
He left me with one raging and frantic kid and two possible vehicles with which to transport him (assuming I could hold my throbbing head togethr and get dressed in time). One vehicle had a flat tire, which no one could explain, and the other had windshield wipers that work only in the sunshine and of course it was raining.
But I had another idea for a way to get him there. I dressed quickly as frantic announcements of the time came at fifteen-second intervals.
The phone rang. It was Herb. He ahd barely made it to the airport and his plane was about to leave, but he was wondering how things were going? When I told him, he came up with the same solution I had just hit upon....use the car our friend had left with us.
When I finally got that car warmed up I discovered that the knob labeled "wipers" wouldn't budge the wipers no matter which way I moved it? Jeff ran off in the downpour in an absoulte frenzy. (What do they do to kids who are late that triggers such panic?!)
The condition of the house after the kids whirled through it matches the condition of my head. As I write this, ants are marching across the counter feasting on the rich ravages of the kitchen where three kids simply fixed cereal! There goes the phone again.
I recognized the voice at the other end right away because it said, "Mom"? in this I've-got-a-problem-and-it's-all-your-fault-so-you'd-better-help-me-out tone of voice.
"What, Matthew?" I asked in a patient now-I've-got-the-problem-but-what-else-is-new tone of voice. "You knew I need valentines today because we're having our party and you didn't get them for me." "How could I know, Matt?" You never told me." I couldn't resist using logic, even on a morning like this.
"Well I have to have them," he said flatly.
So now I have to out in the rain without a decent car and find cutesy little paper hearts for my son to give to his classmates who probably don't care anyway.
When I get back home--if I ever do--I have to take a shower (though maybe I can skip that after running around in the rain) and then I have to get ready to go speak to thirty pastors on the ministry of counseling. I'll tell you who needs the ministry of counseling about now, old friend!
But I had another idea for a way to get him there. I dressed quickly as frantic announcements of the time came at fifteen-second intervals.
The phone rang. It was Herb. He ahd barely made it to the airport and his plane was about to leave, but he was wondering how things were going? When I told him, he came up with the same solution I had just hit upon....use the car our friend had left with us.
When I finally got that car warmed up I discovered that the knob labeled "wipers" wouldn't budge the wipers no matter which way I moved it? Jeff ran off in the downpour in an absoulte frenzy. (What do they do to kids who are late that triggers such panic?!)
The condition of the house after the kids whirled through it matches the condition of my head. As I write this, ants are marching across the counter feasting on the rich ravages of the kitchen where three kids simply fixed cereal! There goes the phone again.
I recognized the voice at the other end right away because it said, "Mom"? in this I've-got-a-problem-and-it's-all-your-fault-so-you'd-better-help-me-out tone of voice.
"What, Matthew?" I asked in a patient now-I've-got-the-problem-but-what-else-is-new tone of voice. "You knew I need valentines today because we're having our party and you didn't get them for me." "How could I know, Matt?" You never told me." I couldn't resist using logic, even on a morning like this.
"Well I have to have them," he said flatly.
So now I have to out in the rain without a decent car and find cutesy little paper hearts for my son to give to his classmates who probably don't care anyway.
When I get back home--if I ever do--I have to take a shower (though maybe I can skip that after running around in the rain) and then I have to get ready to go speak to thirty pastors on the ministry of counseling. I'll tell you who needs the ministry of counseling about now, old friend!
When we reach the end of our ability to cope, when we are at the absolute end of our rope, it is in Christ that we need to place our hope. For in Him--and only in Him--all things hold together. He offters peace, rest and the renewal of our minds, hearts, and coping ablitiy.
Susan Lenzkes
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and your have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority....Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues puts on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 2:9-10, 3:12-14)
No comments:
Post a Comment