Wednesday, January 29, 2014

In The Midst Of Chaos

Everyday I have an agenda, but the two top priorities are exercise and my daily quiet time.  When my schedule gets too packed and I need to find time to fit those two things in, I get nervous and stressed.  See, if I do not accomplish those two specific tasks, I feel unaccomplished.  Unfortunately my anxiety only gets worse with age.  I cannot just go with the flow anymore!  I cannot just cut myself any slack these days!  Today is a pretty calm day, but with the roads being slick, schools are closed and husband is home.  While I enjoy this time with my family, I find it hard to accomplish my tasks with all the chaos.  I sat down to do my devotional and this is what it says:

Keep our focus on Him.  He has gifted us with amazing freedom, including the ability to choose the focal point of our mind.  Let the goal of our day be to bring every thought captive to Him.  In His radiant light, anxious thoughts shrink and shrivel away.  Confused ideas are untangled while we rest in the simplicity of His peace.  He will guard us and keep us in constant peace, as we focus our mind on Him.
Psalm 8:5; Genesis 1:26-27; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Isaiah 26:3

Ever since breakfast, I have been drawing up a tentative schedule in my mind about what I am going to do, and when I am going to do it.  Things do not go according to plan when all the children are at home.  They want to go outside and play in the snow, they want a snack, they need a drink, they want to play UNO, and so on and so forth.  I do not get a minute of quiet time to sort out all the things that are floating through my brain, begging me to put them in some sort of order.  But any thought I have of myself I need to take captive.  I do not need to feed into Satan's lies about how unmotivated I am.  I do not need to fill up each day with a schedule.  I need to accept today for what it is worth:  God bringing our family together in the midst of the chaos that is still going on in Atlanta.  There are people out there still stuck in traffic; kids still stuck in schools, and I just need to be grateful for all of us being home, safe and warm, and together.

No comments: