Glorious Day

I haven't blogged in so long.  For Lent I gave up being angry and agitated during my afternoons and replacing this time with gratitude.  In order to give this up, I needed to stop blogging.  I had been blogging during my one hour of JT's rest time and then trying to get things done after rest time- hence me being so agitated that JT and Elizabeth would need me.  Being willing to invest in the afternoon and not trying to escape this time has brought peace to our home.

The biggest task for was to bring order to my thought life.  I didn't realize it, but during the afternoon I was filled with thoughts of self-pity and ingratitude.  Once I began to find little things to be thankful for (after reading One Thousand Gfits and the author, Ann Voskamp, suggesting this), I found I could not think ugly things because I was filling my mind with all the great things God has given me- from my gorgeous spring flowers to JT's precious little inquistive face to Elizabeth's little chubby finger pointing to what she wants.  It sounds so hokey, but I am telling you it works.  Being thankful in all things means Satan cannot worm his way into your daily thought life, which directly reflects what you say and do.

I will say I had a minor setback this past Tuesday and Wednesday.  By Wednesday afternoon, I was back to my very angry self.  However, I was so frustrated about that I had so easily reverted to my old self, that I prayed really hard with quite frustration in my bedroom that God would change me and of course He did.  Wednesday night went great.  Thursday morning I woke up and spent a few minutes asking God to make me thankful for what the day would hold and He did again.  Yesterday and today have been totally different- completely enjoyable.

So today is Good Friday- almost the end of this Lenten seaon and I feel like I am a different mom.  I am so thankful for Ann Voskamp with her blog and book because it refocussed me on my purpose in life.    It has been a time of real reflection and almost like a revival for my soul. 

Casting Crowns has put out a new song, "Oh Glorious Day."  It is a rewrite of an old hymn.  The words are so powerful.  I find myself just overwhelmed with emotion as I listen to it- totally thankful that time after time God changes and remolds me. Today I am humbled into silence when I think of the magnitude of what God did for me and then I am filled with extraordinary hope when I think of what Easter means to me.  It means I am not dead- literally.  Many years ago I could have killed myself and God saved me.  I prayed at that time that He would never let me forget those feelings of hopelessness and then the feeling of being picked up out of my muck and mire and I haven't forgot.  So today I am totally grateful that He reached down and saved me.

May you all have a wonderful Easter- one filled with gratitude for what the Lord has done in your life.