Stinky

Life stinks sometimes.

I try to keep my chin up and a smile on my face, try to look for the silver lining, but sometimes . . . sometimes there’s no way around the obvious. Life just stinks.

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Like right now, for instance. It’s all I can do to keep up with my housework and laundry and keep my kids fed and homeworked and happy. My job is stretching me to the snapping point (I love my job, don’t get me wrong, but good grief. Test scores. Sheesh.)

And as if I haven’t had enough car woes, I backed into my garage door the other day. Yep. Thought it was open and backed right into it. Oh, not hard. I pulled up, then pushed the garage door opener. Only I didn’t pull up quite enough, and my garage door opened right against the back end of my car. Now I have a lovely racing stripe going up the center of my bumper.

Nice.

I can’t sleep. I worry about all sorts of things. And I’m losing my hair. Every time I wash it, big clumps of it come out in my hands. And to top it all off, my favorite dress ever – the one I look fabulous in – is starting to look old and worn.

Gloom. Despair. Agony on me.

(Pausing for deep breaths. Thank you for holding.)

Okay, enough whining. As I was saying, sometimes, life stinks. But other times, life smells delicious. And as I read back through my list of complaints, I have to kick myself. I mean, really. How dare I complain about the housework, when so many don’t have a house to live in? How dare I complain about an occupation where I get to work with fabulous people, and get hugged by the most amazing kids around? They make me smile. They make me laugh. And what gives me the right to complain about car troubles, when I have a car that is reliable and gets great gas mileage?

I’m blessed. I really am.

Oh, sure. I’m being pushed to my limit right now. But that’s how we build endurance, right?

I’m giving my all, and I’m not quite sure it’s enough, but hey. I think that might be exactly where God wants me. After all, when I’m giving my best, doing all in my power to accomplish all I need to accomplish, He fills in the gaps. He knows my weaknesses. He knows my limitations. He knows my brain is a scattered, freakish, creative mess and I can’t remember to put the dadgum garage door up. He knows. He cares. And when I step back, take some deep breaths, give my all, and trust Him with the rest, good things happen.

So I’m not going to dwell on the things I can’t change. Like my favorite dress. I’m just going to calm down, do what I can, and take one step at a time. When life stinks, I’ll hold my nose, keep going, and look for the blessings.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” Romans 8:18.

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