With a little help from my friends....
Joe Cocker: Lyrics: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/easyrider/withalittlehelpfrommyfriends.htm
Not going to lie about it. Today is going to be a bad day. God, I am really going to need You today.
Figuratively speaking, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Now my bed is next to a wall, so technically I can only wake up on one side of it, but you know what I mean. It actually wasn't a bad wake-up either. I felt refreshed and ready to start my day. The radio was playing some good songs that I like and the day had every chance to be bright as bright can be. Then, my feet touched the floor...
Now I've been trying to be more faithful lately. I don't even know if faithful is the word. I've been trying to think of God before my feet even touch the ground in my bedroom. I think it helps. I had a professor in college, Dottie Haugen, who diligently reminded me that "If God is the first thing you have on your mind, the first thing you do in the morning, it will be a good day." She's right I think. Today I just shuffled my booty out of bed, turned down the radio (when I'm crabby, loud noises bother me) put on my robe and headed downstairs for a shower. I grumpily turned on the radio in my bathroom, tripped over something and was on my way to a great start of a day. Looked in the mirror, have a zit the size of Mt. St. Helen's on my forehead...Oh yeah, that's nice. Couldn't find the eyeshadow I wanted. Went to eat breakfast to find that the pan I soaked all night still wasn't coming clean. Grrr...Picked out an outfit for the day. Looked like a stuffed sausage in it. Changed tops, like this one better, still feeling fat. Going out for lunch today, which means I have to eat lunch today and get even bigger yet. My roommate thinks our house is too hot and that I turned the heat on. I told her that if the thermostat is on "off" the heat can't go on, she disagrees; I know I'm right, so that annoyed me too. I'm being brutally honest here people...This is how my mind is functioning today and I wish it wasn't.
This is how I should be looking at this morning. I woke up refreshed--YAY! That doesn't happen often. I had fresh strawberries on my cereal...YUM! I have a wide variety of outfits, I can wear what I want. I'm going to lunch with the closest thing I've ever had to a big brother, so I am excited to hear about his week & weekend. I have a roommate whom I love dearly and has been a major blessing in my life.
The point is, there really isn't a point. I'm human, this happens. I wish it didn't. I wish I never got moody, I wish I looked in the mirror and liked what I saw, I wish I wasn't so easily annoyed. That's just it though...The world is full of "I wishes..." I need to change those to "I do's" and "I'm trying's."
So, my friends, I would ask you to pray for me today. Pray that today would be a day of serving Jesus and not serving Satan. Days like today when I get so frustrated with myself--my thoughts, my appearance, my diet--it's those days when I find myself repeatedly asking, "Whom shall I serve today?" It's days like today that make me remember why everytime I eat a meal, I say a short prayer in my head, "Dear God, thank you that I am eating." No matter how mad I get at myself for eating, I know I need to be thankful that I am. Sounds crazy--doesn't it? I think it does. However, I also think that God loves for us to come to Him when we are weak. Times when we really don't feel like we have much going for us, times when HE is all we have going for us. For me, today is one of those times.
God has amazing methods of encouragement. I'm not much of a caller. I worry that people will be annoyed with me calling...I get nervous...Insecure. I am a planner, back home I plan all the get togethers; down here, I get nervous that no one will show up, so I don't even plan. It's silly really. I don't call my friends b/c I am scared they will be annoyed? (That's the devil talking.) I don't have people over for board game night b/c I'm afraid no one will show? (Oh, hello Satan.) Let me share with you one way God encouraged me this week...
My newer friend Katie is awesome. She's outgoing, fun and just a great gal. We don't get to hang out much, but I truly enjoy it when we do. She's a person that I actually feel comfortable going up to and saying, "When are we going to get together?" Well, a couple nights ago I get a phone call out of the blue. It was Katie. She had no purpose for her call other than to see how my weekend was and how my week was looking. It made me feel like a million dollars I tell you. Katie was God's way of showing me that day that I was relevant.
So, today, even though I'm grumpy, I'm going to try to keep my eyes open for God's encouragement. "With a little help from my friends" I think I will find it too!
Dear God, be with me and all my friends today. Help us to encourage one another and to build one another up just as You have told us to do. Lord give me the security to shed this worry-filled, anxiety ridden day and capture Your joy. Lord I pray that as my friends pray for and encourage me that I would also return the favor to them. Help them to know that they are relevant to me and that I am SO appreciative of them. Amen.
Not going to lie about it. Today is going to be a bad day. God, I am really going to need You today.
Figuratively speaking, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Now my bed is next to a wall, so technically I can only wake up on one side of it, but you know what I mean. It actually wasn't a bad wake-up either. I felt refreshed and ready to start my day. The radio was playing some good songs that I like and the day had every chance to be bright as bright can be. Then, my feet touched the floor...
Now I've been trying to be more faithful lately. I don't even know if faithful is the word. I've been trying to think of God before my feet even touch the ground in my bedroom. I think it helps. I had a professor in college, Dottie Haugen, who diligently reminded me that "If God is the first thing you have on your mind, the first thing you do in the morning, it will be a good day." She's right I think. Today I just shuffled my booty out of bed, turned down the radio (when I'm crabby, loud noises bother me) put on my robe and headed downstairs for a shower. I grumpily turned on the radio in my bathroom, tripped over something and was on my way to a great start of a day. Looked in the mirror, have a zit the size of Mt. St. Helen's on my forehead...Oh yeah, that's nice. Couldn't find the eyeshadow I wanted. Went to eat breakfast to find that the pan I soaked all night still wasn't coming clean. Grrr...Picked out an outfit for the day. Looked like a stuffed sausage in it. Changed tops, like this one better, still feeling fat. Going out for lunch today, which means I have to eat lunch today and get even bigger yet. My roommate thinks our house is too hot and that I turned the heat on. I told her that if the thermostat is on "off" the heat can't go on, she disagrees; I know I'm right, so that annoyed me too. I'm being brutally honest here people...This is how my mind is functioning today and I wish it wasn't.
This is how I should be looking at this morning. I woke up refreshed--YAY! That doesn't happen often. I had fresh strawberries on my cereal...YUM! I have a wide variety of outfits, I can wear what I want. I'm going to lunch with the closest thing I've ever had to a big brother, so I am excited to hear about his week & weekend. I have a roommate whom I love dearly and has been a major blessing in my life.
The point is, there really isn't a point. I'm human, this happens. I wish it didn't. I wish I never got moody, I wish I looked in the mirror and liked what I saw, I wish I wasn't so easily annoyed. That's just it though...The world is full of "I wishes..." I need to change those to "I do's" and "I'm trying's."
So, my friends, I would ask you to pray for me today. Pray that today would be a day of serving Jesus and not serving Satan. Days like today when I get so frustrated with myself--my thoughts, my appearance, my diet--it's those days when I find myself repeatedly asking, "Whom shall I serve today?" It's days like today that make me remember why everytime I eat a meal, I say a short prayer in my head, "Dear God, thank you that I am eating." No matter how mad I get at myself for eating, I know I need to be thankful that I am. Sounds crazy--doesn't it? I think it does. However, I also think that God loves for us to come to Him when we are weak. Times when we really don't feel like we have much going for us, times when HE is all we have going for us. For me, today is one of those times.
God has amazing methods of encouragement. I'm not much of a caller. I worry that people will be annoyed with me calling...I get nervous...Insecure. I am a planner, back home I plan all the get togethers; down here, I get nervous that no one will show up, so I don't even plan. It's silly really. I don't call my friends b/c I am scared they will be annoyed? (That's the devil talking.) I don't have people over for board game night b/c I'm afraid no one will show? (Oh, hello Satan.) Let me share with you one way God encouraged me this week...
My newer friend Katie is awesome. She's outgoing, fun and just a great gal. We don't get to hang out much, but I truly enjoy it when we do. She's a person that I actually feel comfortable going up to and saying, "When are we going to get together?" Well, a couple nights ago I get a phone call out of the blue. It was Katie. She had no purpose for her call other than to see how my weekend was and how my week was looking. It made me feel like a million dollars I tell you. Katie was God's way of showing me that day that I was relevant.
So, today, even though I'm grumpy, I'm going to try to keep my eyes open for God's encouragement. "With a little help from my friends" I think I will find it too!
Dear God, be with me and all my friends today. Help us to encourage one another and to build one another up just as You have told us to do. Lord give me the security to shed this worry-filled, anxiety ridden day and capture Your joy. Lord I pray that as my friends pray for and encourage me that I would also return the favor to them. Help them to know that they are relevant to me and that I am SO appreciative of them. Amen.
posted by Bethany at 6/02/2005 08:00:00 AM
2 Comments:
take courage and know you're in my prayers!
I just spent some time catching up with your blog...love it. There's so much realness and depth there. Perhaps depth, I'm going to be honest, I wasn't expecting to find. I can't wait to get together with you in a week or two!
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