My Grace is sufficient for you...

I am having a rough day today.
I cannot seem to get caught up with anything. Well, that’s not exactly true.
I woke up this morning feeling “accomplished.” Premature to say the least.

Today was going to be THE day. THE day that I got my house in order, the day that my kids were happy and getting along. THE day I would check off EVERYTHING on my to do list.

My list of TTD today:

Laundry
Finish all
Fold
Put Away
Only thing dirty is what we are currently wearing and sleeping on.
Clean and dust living room
Start on thorough cleaning of Brenna’s room
Make nice dinner
Continue working upstairs on making more space
Work on MOPS stuff
Adisen to groomer


What has actually gotten accomplished at this time:
Laundry
Finish all – I have the last load in the dryer (minus the stuff on our bodies); 2 overflowing baskets are waiting to be folded and put away. They are sheets and towels. Oh how I hate sheets and towels! I will say that laundry deserves a big CHECK!

Next….on the list…

Well my list seems to have taken a different turn. Instead of a list of things to accomplish it seems to become simply a list of frustration.

I notice that my glider has been converted into a masterpiece of wipes and scotch tape - yes wet wipes being held with scotch tape, only a four year old could figure out how to accomplish that!

In Brenna’s room my eyes are directed to her bed that is buried in stuffed animals and crumbled paper balls. That briefly distracts me from her floor covered in pink shredded gift bag paper!

Crayons in the hallway, wooded blocks in the bathroom sink, miscellaneous toys tossed about and my dog wearing my SanDisk around her neck!

WHY is there cat food and spilled water all over the basement floor after I specifically said…”DO NOT play in the cat food and water!” not even five minutes before I discovered the mess?

HOW did all of this happen so quickly? The more important question…where was I when all of this was happening?! Oh wait, I remember now. I was accomplishing my TTD list and apparently blocking out everything except cries of pain or cries for help!

I hear a quiet voice say…”My Grace is sufficient for you…”

My frustration is louder. I simply want my house in order. Toys put away, clothes folded and put away. Kids playing nicely and neatly. Dinner in the oven. A smile on the face of my husband when he gets home seeing his nice happy family that is getting along and the nice clean house that welcomes him. His praises for all that I have accomplished today.

“My Grace is sufficient for you…”

I ignore the voice and want for once my day to go as I planned. So I explode on my kids and follow them around making them clean up each and every single thing. Teary eyes study me as I continue to lecture and yell. I can hear the words coming out of my mouth but cannot stop them.

“My Grace is sufficient for you…”

The voice again!. I finally stop and listen.

He is right. Of course He is right. I know that I am hurting them with my words, and my angry eyes. I do not want to do that to them. Yes they need to clean up their rooms, but not in the midst of my selfish frustrations.

His grace is sufficient for me. It does not matter that my list is not complete. It does not matter that my husband gives me praise when he gets home.

It matters that my kids and my husband feel my love and that I am always an example to them. That I reflect God’s grace and love in all that I do. Yes, His grace is sufficient for me.

I type this as my son just brings out a baggie full of water and places it on my coffee table…

“My Grace is sufficient for you … Jen!”



"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

~ 2 Corinthians 12:7-10