Sour Puss

This morning I woke up feeling blue. I glanced out the window and saw the clouds and immediately wanted to crawl back under the covers and start over. My sister had kindly offered to take Isla for a few hours to give me some time to myself but the gray skies were ruining my plans to swim laps and sun bathe alone with my book at the pool. I had a discouraging day at work yesterday that left me feeling under-valued and wondering why I've invested this much of my (and others'!) time to be there. I went to bed angry and woke up sad that I hadn't kissed my husband goodnight. I feel far too emotional to be allowed to reside on this planet and can't seem to figure out how I can roller coaster so rapidly from one extreme to the other. There it is. A real day in the life. It's been an icky 24 hours.

I'm ready for a re-do. It's quiet in the house now (it's naptime!) and so I spent some time paging through 2 Timothy and reflecting. I just love it how the Lord give me gems of encouragement (and a little kick in the pants) when they are most needed! In reading these four chapters, I was struck by how selfish I can be, by how good I really have it. The minor dramas in my life are just that: minor. Chapter 4 struck a chord with me the most today.

Verse 2: "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." Wow. That's a good one for me and my mama duties. The day is only half over and my patience expired hours ago. Oh how I long to be able to do just as this verse says!

Verse 5: "But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." Basically, press on!

And finally, the desire of my heart is that I would one day be able to say the words of verses 7-8 with full confidence: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

I'm ready to turn this Friday around and get this weekend kicked off to a marvelous start! I may not be lying by the pool but I have all the fixings to whip up a homemade iced caramel macchiato that I plan to sip from the patio!