Yesterday, I needed an attitude adjustment.  The day before at work I had reached my frustrational limit.  I was D-O-N-E!  So what happens when you’re a working mom and frustrated at work?  I am ashamed to say that, for me, I come home and am frustrated with my kids.  And when I am frustrated with them, their behavior only gets worse.  Instead of proactively parenting, I go into reactive mode.  Instead of trying to teach them why swinging around on the freezer door handle is dangerous, I just snap and grab them off of it–probably yelling “knock it off!!” in the process.  And the more irritated I get, the wilder they seem to be.

When we finally got them to go to sleep, at almost midnight, I knew that something had to give.  “God,” I said.  “I cannot have another day like today.”  It was abundantly clear to me that in order to not have another day like this, I would have to adjust my attitude.  And to adjust my attitude, I needed some divine inspiration.

God says to us that when we seek Him we shall find Him.  How true this has been in my life!!  I gave God my D-O-N-E day.  I prayed for renewal and a sense of peace.  I prayed that God would take the frustration from me and help me to focus in on doing what He has called me to do.  I went to work carrying this in my heart:

The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.  Isaiah 50:4

Here is the truth as I know it in my life.  When I take time to still myself before the Lord.  When I listen to the teachings of the Holy One and delve into the Word which was and is and always will be, God helps me to see things in a new perspective.  His Wisdom takes away the clouds of frustration that can surround my mind and my heart.  He reminds me of His Purpose, of His Power, of His Love.

I walked into work yesterday with a song in my heart.  I was positive, upbeat and re-energized for my day.  And it wasn’t because I had flipped some mental switch, gotten a good night’s sleep, ate a good breakfast, etc…. It was because I spent time before the Throne of the Most High.  It was because I gave my burdens up to One much more capable than me.  I let God be God.  I gave Him Sovereignty over my being.

Don’t get me wrong–I’m no Pollyanna.  And God doesn’t come in and just magically wave his wand like some sort of eternal Albus Dumbledore and sweep all of my problems and frustrations away.  He does, however, (and did) give me a better spirit in which to encounter it all.  And so, I can say with the Psalmist:

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.  Psalm 5:3

Blessings and Peace,

Sara