Faith, Patience, & Thanksgiving

This morning was bad. Really bad. I took yesterday as a day off, as my body is still struggling to recuperate from pneumonia, and a 3 hour trek to pick up my oldest from college for the Thanksgiving break on Friday had exhausted me beyond all reason. I told each of the 3 males in the house to:

1. Pick up after themselves.
2. Take care of putting their own dishes into the dishwasher.
3. Try not to make a zillion messes for me to deal with.

Needless to say this did NOT happen. I awoke this morning to wet towels on the floor, dirty laundry on the bed, empty pop cans everywhere, empty candy wrappers on tables, a double kitchen sink FULL of dirty dishes, and a myriad of other messes to assault my nerves. I snapped. I spent 1 hour and 10 minutes just getting it all set to rights, cleaning out the litter boxes, and running the vacuum. I didn't get a shower before church (thank GOD for the invention of velcro rollers!). I barely had time to eat a hard-boiled egg and little bit of applesauce before dashing out the door. I was LIVID. I blew up at my youngest, sent a humdinger of a nasty text message to my hubby at work, and wanted nothing more than to put on my sweats, curl up on the couch, and have a good self-pitying cry followed by a brooding session.

Then a little voice in my head...one that sounded remarkably like my dear, departed Papaw...said to me, "If you're this dissatisfied with you life sitting on the couch moping is the last place you need to be. Get dressed and get your behind to church." So I did. PRAISE THE LORD, I did.

Our message this morning was geared directly towards my bad attitude. To the point that the preacher's opening statement had me doing the "guilty shuffle" on the pew. It was simply this: GIVE THANKS. Do not be unthankful, ungrateful. Rejoice even in the trials in life, because you're here to suffer them. As the sermon went on I admitted my guilt to myself, and to God. With that admittance came calm understanding. I figured a few other people out there might be feeling dissatisfied with their lives, too, so I figured that I'd list out the progression of HOW I'm now giving thanks for what had me disgruntled a few hours ago...

• Yes, I awoke to a mess...but I have a HOME that can be messed. How many people don't?
• Yes, the mess was taking advantage of me...but I have a houseful of HEALTHY, HAPPY MALES that made the mess. How lucky am I, when so many others are dealing with illnesses, addictions, etc.?
• My hubby might not appreciate me the way I want him to, but his is FAITHFUL & HARD WORKING. We all know that is saying something, with the world full of lazy cheaters!
• Last of all, the MESS was taken care of. By ME. I had the energy, the will, the desire, AND the ability to take care of it. I had the health and stamina to live through it, and to get dressed and get my behind to church. A month ago I wouldn't have. A month ago I was so ill that the doctor was debating admitting me into the hospital.

So the next time you're feeling under appreciated, disrespected, and taken advantage of I challenge you to find the hidden blessings. Because they ARE there. Because finding them will bring you some peace. Oh, and if you'd like to read the verses in the Bible that sparked this understanding in me here is a list of the passages that were covered this morning:

• I Thessalonians 5:18
• II Timothy 3
• Romans 1
• Romans 8:28-29
• Ephesians 5:20