One Right Thought Can Change You

[I wrote this a couple of weeks back, but just didn't get around to posting it until now!]

Today began with everyone getting up late. You know what that means. Mom is behind, and everything feels “off”.

Then, around lunchtime, a 5-ring circus act somehow made it’s way right into our home (completely uninvited, I might add). One child was out of sorts and needing correction. Got her quieted and began reading to child #2. In the middle of our story, the phone rang. It was Joshua asking me to do a quick proof-read for him. “No problem! I’ll just finish this story and get on it. Then we’ll do lunch.” I hear a sick baby coughing in her sleep and needing attention. I go to attend that and realize that she has thrown up, so I strip her bed and try to get her calmed back down. Blanket! I can’t find a clean fuzzy blanket for her to snuggle with. She’s still sleepy. Blanket found. Baby back down. 

By this time, both older girls are loudly asking for lunch. I tell them I want to check daddy’s article. I give it a once over. More pleas for lunch. I start heating up soup from last night for the girls. I get that on the table for them with the phone ringing a few more times in the process. Meanwhile, baby awakes again. Bottle preparation underway. Uh-oh. Mega dirty diaper. Rash that really hurts. Crying baby. Coughing baby. Throw-up on floor. I’m trying to put out fires and realizing that I’m really hungry. Girl’s don’t want to eat the soup. I admonish them to eat it up, several times over. Just getting the baby diapered when I hear from the dining room, “Mama! Oh no! Please help me!” Soup all over the floor. Distressed girl. Girl is told that she will have to clean up her own mess. Ultra-distressed girl….

Somehow, we managed to get the baby quietly resting with a bottle and food back on the table for everyone, including mom. The girls were watching a film for a few minutes and I went to the kitchen to collect my wits. Suddenly, it came to me: "The Lord is my Shepherd. He cares for me and is leading me through all this." It was as if my little frazzled nerve endings took a deep breath.

It is so easy to acknowledge a truth in one’s mind without assimilating it into one’s heart. There are plenty of truths that I know, but have I allowed them to change the way I think and operate on a daily basis?

I often wonder how I can possibly take care of these children. I don’t mean feed and clothe them, or clean their soup up off the floor. How can I take care of their souls, guiding them to full mental, emotional, and spiritual maturity? I forget that I have a Shepherd.

I find myself worrying about a current perplexing situation, unsure as to how it will resolve, if ever. I forget that I have a Shepherd.

I ask how I can possibly fit it all in: homeschooling, eating healthfully, exercising, spending time with my children, helping my husband, being a friend to my friends, a daughter to my parents, educating my mind, keeping my home, serving others, helping in the ministry, etc. etc. etc.? Am I forgetting something?

I forget that I have a Shepherd. One whose job description is leadership. It’s not my responsibility to do anything by myself.

Obviously there are other biblical truths that could also apply to the above situations. But the point is that one right thought, when applied, can change the way I think, the way I feel, and the way I act. And the change is always for the better. God is in the process of teaching me how to take truth and prove it in my own life, and the more I am able to bite off and chew, the more my heart rejoices.

Today, I am glad I have a Shepherd who gave His life for me, a Shepherd who is intent on leading me. And I’m grateful God has given us a whole Book full of truths that can transform us, if we’ll let them.