When those moments come.... I'm actually quite good at pulling up a whole list of things to be angry or worrisome about, once I start to go down that road... I can wallow in misery and decide to quit, unable (or unwilling) to carry on with the things I'm supposed to be doing.
Or, I could actually decide to control my thoughts. I can choose to meditate on what is true and noble and right.... I can keep calm and carry on.
So I wrote these words on a little note card. I have lots of these notecards with different reminders, prayers, quotes, scripture. Words I need to repeat.
Keep calm and carry on. These signs are everywhere these days. But I haven't tired of them yet. I'm not sure that I'll ever lose the need to hear them. The signs as decor are a little cliche, I suppose. But I'm tempted to jump on the bandwagon anyways.
Jill Briscoe was the first person to tell me the WWII story behind those posters. She also said this, about 'carrying on:'
"Be obedient to the priority that God dictates on a daily basis. It's usually obvious. But you must recognize His voice. And you must muddle through, doing the best you can. The better you know God, the better you'll know what to do."
As a mother and a wife and a teacher (and sometimes student) and a daughter, sister, friend (etc...) sometimes it's hard to balance the list of priorities. Knowing what to do...and when to do it usually means NOT doing something else. But I like her words of wisdom about how to know 'what to do.' Usually the 'what to do' that I pretend to be unaware of...is simply cleaning the kitchen.... or folding laundry. But sometimes it's listening to a student who seems to be interrupting me, but needs my time. Or one of my daughters who is worried about a missing toy.
3 comments:
I recently heard a pastor say that he sees the Lord's Prayer as a 'pre-emptive' against worry, strife and temptation, etc. He sees the phrase "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" as a reminder to side-step those things that gives us trouble when what we want to do is jump into it with both feet.
We've been covering Psalms in church and will for the next ten weeks. It is really refreshing to read when you're spiritually dry or just at a low point in this temporary life of ours. I love you sister. I might have to buy you a big, country looking wall decor with these words. ;) you would put it up right?
I can't resist the urge to look for the "Like" button under your comments. :) And I used to be such a devoted blogger...the kind that would never stray to those 'popular' social media options. And now I can hardly speak the blogger language, I'm getting my facebook vocabulary confused.
Thank you for your beautiful words. Jen, the Lord's prayer is on my 'rescue' list...or preemptive list too! It's one of the safe places for my mind to dwell.
I've relied on the Proverbs so much for parenting these days....but I think I need to spend more time with the Psalms now :)
Love you sister. And...if you picked the sign, I'd love it :)
And I'm still trying to figure out how to 'tag' you in these comments @Jen and @Kelly :)
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