What I Needed When I Needed It

One of my pastors always said God gives what you need when you need it.

I believe it.

Last week was hard and this week probably won’t be any easier.  But this weekend was a pocket of rest in between where God gave me what I needed.  It all came in the form of others, as he so often does.

While the weekend provided lots of rest—I really did take a Sunday nap—and fun moments there were 3 times where I felt like God was really providing what I needed.

On Organized Playroom

The first will likely sound like the least spiritual provision to anyone ever, but my mom spent hours upon hours Friday and Saturday helping to reorganize the kids’ playroom.  You other moms will recognize this as the Godsend that it is.

I have spent hours through the years (here’s one iteration) doing the same—Barbies here, Polly Pocket here and American girl there—only to have them completely destroy it over and over.  In fact, when it’s the most organized is when it’s the destroyed the fastest.  The whole thing makes you want to bang your head on the wall incessantly.

The past few years I’d kind of given up on the whole deal.  Everything got picked up off the floor and thrown in bucket and good luck, kids!

We’d gotten to the point where we’d just close the door.  Each time I walked by, it mocked me reminding me what a failure I was and how entirely spoiled the kids were can’t you just get it together.

My organization loving mom wanted a good challenge apparently because she volunteered to come and give it another heave-ho.

I got really nervous for her when she kept dumping entire boxes on their end and Barbie shoes and chards of used crayon went flying everywhere.

By day two, Mom was laughing at the disaster but only because the only alternative was to cry.

It was bad.

She pressed on though and while there is still organization of each “station” to be done, there are in fact, stations in the playroom now—American Girl, Barbie, medical lab, houses, parking garage and crafts.

 

The kids are ooh-ing and ahh-ing at toys they haven’t seen in years.  I haven’t seen them play this much with their toys in quite some time.  With Emma 11 this November I know time is running short on their use and before we know it we’ll be transforming this room once again.

Needless to say, getting something DONE is just what I needed after a terribly hard and somewhat unproductive week.  Thank you, Mom.

 

A Hug from a Friend

Lysa TerKeurst’s conference SheSpeaks happened over the last few days here in the Charlotte area and I happened to see a tweet from Holley Gerth last week asking who was going to be around.  Although I would LOVE to go to SheSpeaks, I just haven’t been able to make it all work so I wasn’t attending.  However, since it’s only 30 minutes away I immediately tweeted Holley back about crashing the hotel and meeting up with her. 

You might remember, I spent some time with Holley in a few sessions this past spring so I was really looking forward to saying thanks in person.

I ended up heading up there Saturday morning and listening in to Holley’s session on God-sized dreams.  It was just the encouragement I needed to hear.

One takeaway I thought I’d share was that Holley defines success not by a number or published book but by simple obedience. If we do what God calls us to do then we have succeeded, no matter the outcome.  Guess how much I needed that simple reminder after last week?

Plus, it turns out Mandisa was at the conference too and I sat right behind her and then was able to snag a picture.

You know I love a good run-in with a celebrity.

 

A Well-Timed Word

And finally, this last one comes with unfortunate news. While I was meeting Holley Saturday morning, one of the pillars of our church suffered a heart attack after his morning run and died.  It was terrible news to receive on Saturday afternoon. 

Our pastor scrapped his sermon for Sunday and taught on suffering.  I know that family is suffering way more than I ever have, but I love how God can use his word to comfort many of us in our myriad of circumstances all at the same time.

He reminded us that God uses our hardships to draw us closer to him, not to push us away.

 

So it’s with all that, that I come into another tough week with a renewed spirit and reminder that God is good, he loves me and I can make it through.

I hope your weekend provided the rest you needed and I know God will give you what you need when you need it.