Now I'm not trying to boast but I'm one tough cookie. I can handle a lot of things physically and mentally. Having lost a child after 2 months in the NICU and then suffering a miscarriage which all subsequently led to a divorce. in my 20's...you learn to hold your own and have a different perspective on life.
So on the day before we are scheduled to move in to our new house and when I learn we still can't walk on the floors, don't have counters or appliances...Cole starts throwing up...and I'm starting to crumble. So much so that several friends and even my mom were calling me regularly to make sure I was OK. Tall building (or drink) here I come. Whichever I can find first.
On the first night we are supposed to stay in the new house (Sunday...Saturday was too hectic) the boys are just completely out of sorts. They were super excited to sleep in their new toddler beds...in theory. When it came down to it, the new house and new beds had them spooked. So we marched back over to the temporary house at 9:30p (me in my nightgown and Daniel's shoes because I couldn't find mine) where their cribs were still set up and the three of us slept there (Daniel stayed back). It was not a pretty sight.
The next night it took me 2 hours to get them to go to sleep. During that time, and after finding out that Cole had a severe ear infection now from the virus which is why he wouldn't sleep, I found myself trying every trick in the book. Calmly I kept trying to get them to calm down and go to sleep (Cole's back in his crib by the way). Then I realized...there was a blessing here.
Picture me exhausted, needing a shower, so stressed I want to cry and attempting to get two out-of-sorts toddlers to sleep in their new environment. We were sitting in our big red reading chair (seen here when they were much younger)...
...and we started singing. I sang all the nursery rhymes the boys like to hear - Old McDonald, London Bridges, Working on the Railroad, etc. - and Charlie starts to sing with me. My favorite was when we sang Jesus Loves Me together. It was a little blessing from God to say "you can do this...I will see you through this craziness that is your life right now." Just hearing your 3yr old sing those sweet words "Jesus loves me, this I know" reminded me that He is with me.
Then a few days later I touch base with my boss on my salary and yet again, God blesses me through work with a substantial raise. Just in time to pay off our renovation costs and the new mortgage. Another little blessing that gave me encouragement to keep trying.
It was enough to make me go for a run the next day since I'm still training for the USMC Mudrun coming up in a few weeks. Those endorphins combined with these blessings kept me moving forward.
Perhaps the icing on the cake was at the grocery store. Don't you hate when you go through the line with a huge cart of groceries only to remember you forgot something important? Well that was me. So I ran back and grabbed it and stood in line again. When it was my turn the lady behind me PAID for my items. She said that someone did that for her the other day and she was paying it forward.
I literally teared up. I knew it was yet another blessing that God gave me to encourage me.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11
So when you feel like you just can't make it another day. You're looking for that tall building. Or you just want to stop and have your nervous breakdown. Stop and think about how God may be blessing you. Sometimes it's all in how you look at it. How have you missed some of God's little blessings of encouragement in your life?
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