Stress-buster

I am going to attempt to write the post I lost earlier.

You know, life with 3 little kids can be demanding and stressful at time. :-) Sometimes more than others. Like when I am sitting down and my feet are being stepped on while someone asks for something or fusses. Like when I am nursing the baby, my 18-month-old son is fussing for milk and my 3-year-old daughter needs some tissue to wipe her bottom. Or when everyone is hungry, the baby needs to nurse and supper needs to get finished and the house sounds worse than a zoo. Times like that are demanding and hard.

I am learning, however, that the way I handle it makes a big difference in the way it affects me. For instance, when things like getting jammed up trying to get through a door irritate me, and the person causing the jam is about 2’ tall, it just builds the stress level. I then can’t be the person I need to be to meet my kid’s needs. I lose the ability to be a stable, steady, “nothing you do or anything else is going to shake me” person in their lives. Little kids need that.

So, God has been showing me that many things that I think are big, serious issues are not, and that little stuff or big stuff is not worth losing even a little peace over. (Like getting my feet stepped on.) This is a hard thing to learn. But I am learning to just not let myself get irritated about stuff. I don’t mean stuffing it, but I am learning to train myself to not allow myself to go around getting irritated at big or little things. I have not arrived on this, that is for sure, but I am working to renew my mind in this area. I am willing to pay the price since I have seen what difference it can make in my day and attitude with my kids. Romans 12:1-2 is something I am thinking about in this area.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able the test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

It is hard but I am learning. I am willing to be a living sacrifice in this area and allow Him to work in my life. He will receive and is receiving glory from the transformation in my life.