What's in your pile?

I stumbled across this post on my website from a few months back and was reminded of this great perspective...hope you enjoy it!

 This past week has been filled with inconveniences. Ever have one of those? 

My week included a refrigerator that doesn’t stay cold, a dryer that doesn’t get hot, and a ridiculously long, tedious process of switching internet providers.

What made my week even more difficult was the fact that school started on Wednesday, AND I’m smack-bad in the middle of publishing my next novel which leaves me with a great need for internet access! Who has time to run the dryer twice, or move the food to an ice chest or make a quick run to a place that has Wi-Fi when you’re busy trying to get your kids ready for their first day of school? Especially when that first day of school sneaks up on you and you feel pretty much unprepared in every sense of the word?

If you could have been a fly on the wall in my house you would have seen chaos, grumpiness, and a stressed momma trying to hold it all together.If you had been at the school that first day, you would have seen my youngest using a gigantic backpack that is pretty much the same size as she is because the perfect kid-sized backpack I was counting on her using had disappeared into the great unknown of a closet.

If you were sitting in the passenger seat of my van when I drove to my empty home, you would have seen a torn woman. Half of me was so very, very glad for the silence and alone time, offering me the uninterrupted hours I need to write. But the other half hurt with the reality that my youngest is now in first grade. They grow so fast, and before I know it, we’ll be scrambling for a first day of college!

Somewhere during the last week I lost sight of what really matters. 

In the midst of little things piling up, I allowed my eyes to have tunnel vision on my problems instead of seeing the bigger picture.I would like to tell you that I came to this realization because I’m a mature person who always prays more than frets or walks around with a wonderfully large smile because I’m choosing joy. But folks, that’s just not it.What brought me out of the pit of smallness? A reminder of where I’ve been.

You see, back to school means paperwork and explanations as to why my kids don’t have the same last name as myself. Most of the time all it takes is an easy, painless sentence or two. But there was one paper in particular that needed more clarification. As I said the words, “My children’s father passed away…” the lady behind the desk had a visible reaction. Tears welled in her eyes, and she struggled to pay attention to anything else I had to say. She turned her eyes and looked at the wall behind me, not wanting to look me in the eye.

It’s been years since the first time I had to say something like that, and over time it’s just become part of life. But the woman’s reaction yesterday felt like a fist had been slammed into my chest. There was that familiar heaviness of grief; but there was also a question that rose up when I saw the sheen in her eyes.

What loss is she facing?

Surely she’s coming to terms with the death of a loved one; I recognized the look on her face.

And there it is. This wonderful thing called perspective.Giant back-packs, warm refrigerators and cold dryers seem pretty trivial when compared to the other struggles we could be going through.

Getting caught up in the day-to-day is normal. Feeling stressed is normal. And, unfortunately, grumpiness is normal.

But should we settle for normal?

No. God has given us far too many reasons to rise above the smallness of life here on earth. He’s given us the ability to see beyond today and get a glimpse of eternity. He’s also given us the job of helping those less fortunate than ourselves, to defend the defenseless and to encourage those whose hearts are heavy.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m sitting in the corner belly-aching about my rough day, I’m not thinking about others, or why I’m grateful for all the blessings in my life.When we find ourselves in that place of little annoyances piled so high we can’t see past our frustration, we can choose to push the “reset button” on our attitude and ask God for bigger and better eyes to see things the way He does. We can’t always choose our circumstances, but we can always choose our response!