Between washing, drying, folding, and putting away, I have about 9 loads of laundry in those various phases. My sink is full of smelly bottles. My counter is covered in dirty diapers. You can’t see a single table or counter top in my entire house. I’ve pierced the bottom of my foot about 2,436 times with random toys. I have a nebulizer plugged in and ready to go. I have 2 sick 1 year olds that sleep and eat on their own terms. I have a foster daughter who spends 12 hours a week with her birth mom and requires about 48 hours to adjust after each visit. I’ve showered and brushed my teeth once so far this week.

I just laid the babies down and I am hoping that they will be able to get a nap in without their congestion and coughs interrupting them. I obviously have a lot that I can be doing right now. But one amazing lesson that I have been learning this week is that I need to have grace for myself as well as my perspective in place, as usual 🙂

So, right now with the smell of the best Christmas candle ever, I am sitting in the best spot on the couch next to my favorite 5 year old. We are bundled up in soft and warm blankets. I can see the Christmas tree and stockings out of the corner of my eye. I am attempting to blog with pandora on quietly while Dubs is watching a show about letters and numbers. Sporadically he will break out in a laugh and ask me to look up, so I do. I can feel his soft little arm against mine and tears well up in my eyes. I am so rich and blessed.

Let’s reread that first paragraph with a different perspective:

Between washing, drying, folding, and putting away, I HAVE about 9 loads of laundry in those various phases. My SINK is FULL of smelly BOTTLES. My COUNTER is covered in dirty diapers. You can’t see a single table or counter top in my entire HOUSE. I’ve pierced the bottom of MY FOOT about 2,436 times with RANDOM TOYS. I have a NEBULIZER plugged in and ready to go. I have 2 sick 1 YEAR OLDS that sleep and eat on their own terms. I HAVE a foster daughter who spends 12 hours a week with her birth mom and requires about 48 hours to adjust after each visit. I’ve SHOWERED and brushed my TEETH once so far this week.

What I am overwhelmed with is how much I have! Look at the words in bold. My needs are met above and beyond. I have so much more than so many around me. 9 loads of laundry is A LOT of clothes. I have a sink that is full of bottles. Tells me that I have a kitchen with running water and bottles for my babies! I have tables and counter tops and a HOUSE, a house that I love, by the way! Not only am I able to walk and have both my feet, my kids have so many toys that they completely cover the floors of the house. When my kids need help breathing, we have a nebulizer to help them. I have been blessed with 2 – 1 year olds. So many women struggle becoming moms, some of you reading, may be on the lonely and difficult journey of infertility and you would do anything to take care of your sick baby. Molly is still with us. I have the majority of the week with her to help her adjust to the changes. Finally, I have water to shower and I have teeth that need to be brushed. I may lose them at the rate that I am brushing them, but today I have all of them!

I am not sure what your day looks like. I don’t know how many hours of sleep that you got last night. I don’t know if you are sitting in a messy house reading this or a meticulous house reading this. Maybe you are at work reading this, longing to be at home with your family.  I don’t know if you have thousands in your bank account or negative thousands in your bank account. I don’t know if you’re single longing for a relationship or maybe you’re in a relationship longing to be single.

What I do know is that no matter where you are and what you have or don’t have, you have a God who is intimately and passionately in love with you. A God who hears your heart’s cry. A God who sees the tear stains on your pillow and weeps over your broken and overwhelmed heart with you.

God is good and He loves to give good gifts to His kids. So, here is my challenge to you this beautiful Saturday. Take a look at your heart. What is overwhelming it? What is hurting it? What is making it anxious? Make a list. Next to each of those things that comes to mind, write next to it the positive spin. Grasp a perspective shift. Life can always be worse. Life can always be more difficult. We can dwell on the hard or we can shift our perspective and feel a bit lighter and content in exchange.

It is up to us. No one can make the choice but us. Once we make the choice, we will be better friends, spouses, parents, and just overall people. I don’t know about you, but I want to be the best version of myself. Join me!