Well, tonight I actually had something happen to me that reminded me of the next topic that I wanted to bring up on here. It’s been a rather long day (two tests in two hours) and I had to go buy hay for my horses and then take the lovely 6 bales-six hundred pound of itchy allergic torture over and unload it. So, as I pull up, two little children go running out of my horses’ pen and take off for the tack shed. Hmmm....that’s never a good sign. What were they up to? I get out, open up the gate, pull through, get the truck all lined up after three or four tries, and then go look at my horses. They’ve been stringified – apparently it is great fun to see how many twine strings you can get on the horses tied around their neck and belly. Sigh. Lucky I have two horses that don’t like to kill small children. Too bad their owner doesn’t feel the same way. No, just kidding. So where am I going with this? Encouragement, really.
Life is messy. No one is exempt, and really no one is better. No one “has it together.” I think we have this view that everyone else on the planet is somehow better, more capable, and their kids are more behaved than ours are. They’re homes are cleaner, their marriage is happier, they’re better multi-taskers...whatever. And maybe I don’t even have a right to talk about this – I’m not married, and I don’t have children, but I’ve got the next best thing: parents, siblings, and animals.
What is it about children or animals that love, just LOVE to embarrass us. I have a big Catahoula dog that I had spent years of my child hood training. If you can think it, he can probably do it. So, we had some friends over one day, and they wanted to see my dog. Well, you know how this is going to end – it’s like when you have people over and you expect your children to be polite, behave...and then...something goes terribly wrong. So, my dog is sitting in our front yard. I take the leash off of him, throw it, and he is supposed to go and get it and bring it back. I look back...and he’s clear down the street. He had taken off the moment I had turned my back and...it took me awhile to catch him again. Grrr. I mean, what have I done to deserve this kind of gratitude? Children take it to a new level. How do I know? Because I did. I remember my sister used to get so mad at me because whenever our friends’ parents were over, I’d do something outlandish. For my poor mother’s soul, I’m not going to write particulars. I’ll only say that my dog has a tame personality of disobedience compared to mine.
There is no cure to this beautiful disease of a messy life. We’re not perfect. We’re not angelic. We’re just struggling human beings all trying to survive. Families amplify the messiness. Those people that look the very best and you think that they have their life all figured out are in one of two places: they are either really good at hiding the wreckage, or they just haven’t hit the barely-surviving times yet. So, here’s my question. Why do we try to be something we’re not? Why do we say we’re doing fine while holding back tears? Life is hard, and we have to share it with others and lean on them for help if we’re going to get through it. I think, in some ways...it would be so much easier to admit, if we knew how much everyone else out there was struggling.
Here’s my take away. Realize that everyone is probably in the same boat you are. We all live difficult lives, and, though different, we all struggle. It’s okay. As my friend is always pointing out to me, if we didn’t struggle, then why would we need the Lord? And with that realization, I think there’s a peace that you are going to get through this disaster, you will learn something, you will be stronger for it, and above all else: keep fighting! Don’t give up. Don’t give in. You aren’t the only one who can only see tomorrow, whose children are perfect, and whose house is not running as well as you would like it. There’s comfort in knowing you aren’t alone, and you most certainly are not!
Life is messy. No one is exempt, and really no one is better. No one “has it together.” I think we have this view that everyone else on the planet is somehow better, more capable, and their kids are more behaved than ours are. They’re homes are cleaner, their marriage is happier, they’re better multi-taskers...whatever. And maybe I don’t even have a right to talk about this – I’m not married, and I don’t have children, but I’ve got the next best thing: parents, siblings, and animals.
What is it about children or animals that love, just LOVE to embarrass us. I have a big Catahoula dog that I had spent years of my child hood training. If you can think it, he can probably do it. So, we had some friends over one day, and they wanted to see my dog. Well, you know how this is going to end – it’s like when you have people over and you expect your children to be polite, behave...and then...something goes terribly wrong. So, my dog is sitting in our front yard. I take the leash off of him, throw it, and he is supposed to go and get it and bring it back. I look back...and he’s clear down the street. He had taken off the moment I had turned my back and...it took me awhile to catch him again. Grrr. I mean, what have I done to deserve this kind of gratitude? Children take it to a new level. How do I know? Because I did. I remember my sister used to get so mad at me because whenever our friends’ parents were over, I’d do something outlandish. For my poor mother’s soul, I’m not going to write particulars. I’ll only say that my dog has a tame personality of disobedience compared to mine.
There is no cure to this beautiful disease of a messy life. We’re not perfect. We’re not angelic. We’re just struggling human beings all trying to survive. Families amplify the messiness. Those people that look the very best and you think that they have their life all figured out are in one of two places: they are either really good at hiding the wreckage, or they just haven’t hit the barely-surviving times yet. So, here’s my question. Why do we try to be something we’re not? Why do we say we’re doing fine while holding back tears? Life is hard, and we have to share it with others and lean on them for help if we’re going to get through it. I think, in some ways...it would be so much easier to admit, if we knew how much everyone else out there was struggling.
Here’s my take away. Realize that everyone is probably in the same boat you are. We all live difficult lives, and, though different, we all struggle. It’s okay. As my friend is always pointing out to me, if we didn’t struggle, then why would we need the Lord? And with that realization, I think there’s a peace that you are going to get through this disaster, you will learn something, you will be stronger for it, and above all else: keep fighting! Don’t give up. Don’t give in. You aren’t the only one who can only see tomorrow, whose children are perfect, and whose house is not running as well as you would like it. There’s comfort in knowing you aren’t alone, and you most certainly are not!