offer them up

Plans.  Lots of plans.  I've got them, you've got them.  And they're lofty, aren't they?  Otherwise, why bother thinking them up?  Of course they're lofty.  We work hard at them.  


But often they fail, at least partially.  Or they succeed, but we aren't steadfast enough--focused enough--to keep up with them.  Does this drive you crazy, making you feel like Paul the Apostle? "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Romans 7:15


The plans I am lamenting over today involve reading to my kids more (at their respective levels), decluttering my kitchen counter throughout the day, and keeping up with paperwork coming in the mail.  The list of frustrations can get long, some days.  I problem-solve and move forward, but then.....I fall.  Smallish issues like these are never quite resolved.  I get close, but never arrive.  


I could blame a whole lot of it on a very active baby who never allows me to sit down, save for her nap times.  We can hardly get through a paragraph in our read-aloud chapter books before she needs another rescuing or redirecting.  Daddy's help used to be the answer, but with the intense studying required for his computer tech classes, I hesitate to ask for that help now.  


During naptime I have to scurry around and get things done I can't do while Little Miss Curiosity is awake--like unload the dishwasher (she climbs on it you know), or the dryer.


While I fight discouragement over these things often, I know deep down why my plans don't quite succeed.  


Because if they did, I wouldn't need God.  


He created me for His glory and for His fellowship.  I wouldn't partake of that fellowship enough, if I didn't so desperately need Him.


As I look back over my years as a stay-at-home mom, I see areas he has changed for his glory--areas of my heart. So it's not as though all is futile.


One thing I'm missing most days is the act of praying through the small things--the things that wouldn't seem to matter to God, on the surface. 


For example, each time I pass the cluttered counter, I can pray, "Lord, this bothers me--takes some of my peace away.  Help me learn to declutter in frequent spurts, rather than in a long spurt at night, when I'm tired.  If this is important to YOU, help me solve it.  If not, help me accept it.  In Your Name, Amen" 


Nothing in the Bible tells me that God doesn't care about each and every aspect of my life. I learn there that he does care.   He does.  So I need to take advantage of that and give him all my prayers.....even the ones that would seem beneath him, like my kitchen counter.  


He welcomes every opportunity to connect with me.


What small things take away your peace--grinding at you day after day?


Offer them up, too.  


______________________________________________


Margie....about those Chocolate Chip Oatmeal (And Bean) cookies.  We made them today and they were gross not worthy.  The recipe can be found using the healthy snack food link in my previous food post.  My suggestion is to only alter the butter by half (half butter/half bean puree).  (This recipe called for only 3 tablespoons of butter.)  The other suggestion is to add more sugar.  They weren't sweet enough, which was the main problem...or soft enough.  I'll have to experiment with adding other things in the place of fat...like applesauce.  I've heard of that before, but have never tried it yet.