Skip to main content

This Life

Crossing the street from the pool entrance to my parked car, I looked into the park. In the dusk and after-rain light the grass looked greener and the air smelled of dirt and worms and growing things. In this moment the question suddenly came to me: do you like your life? Perhaps my post-exercise mind was just more awake and present than it had been in a while, but the thought came as it was, walking into my mind with a comfortable smile and taking a seat to stay for a while. 

Do you like your life?

My life is a mix of my decisions and my response to circumstances outside of my control, and it is not what child and teenager me ever planned or dreamed of. I'm guessing that it is easier for each of us to think about things that we dislike in our lives than the things we like, but this morning during prayer I was reminded that God is good and He is good to me, including the parts of my life that I'm not a fan of. 

When I start with the goodness of God, it is harder to concentrate on the things I don't like. It is hard to consciously believe that God is good and does good and then complain about the things God has done. 



Heavenly Father, thank You for making me single. You have taught me so much through the loneliness, the need to make independent decisions, the need to depend on You. You have been there in the middle of the night when I can't sleep and You have been there for every humorous moment others have missed. You have lived my whole life with me. Thank You. 

Thank You for my apartment, for my occupations, for my friends. My cup overflows with friends. And thank You for all the little people in my life. My cup overflows with kids too.   

Thank You for a body that can do all the things I need it to do, from working to paddle boarding to playing with all those kids. Thank You for a mind and imagination and the ability to read. Thank You for the ability to enjoy things. 

Thank You for this life, this life that I would never have chosen but You have planned it out perfectly. Thank You for the hurts and sorrows, the joys and celebrations, and the ever day life that You are living with me. You are good and You do good. You do good to me. Thank You. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe It's Supposed to Be Hard

We want a whole, happy, calm life. We want to be healthy. In "crunchie" circles, people use essential oils, grow their own produce, and stop using plastics. In Christian circles, there is an idea, an ideology, gaining ground that presupposes a holistic, restful life is possible if one follows the spiritual disciplines of the desert fathers and mothers. Mysticism. Prayer, scripture, silence, solitude, sabbath, fasting, rest, etc. (If you're looking for a couple interesting reads on this topic you could see these books by Jefferson Bethke and John Mark Comer. ) I want a holistic, happy, balanced life. My kitchen contains wooden cutting boards and loose leaf tea. I begin all my mornings with homemade kombucha, prayer, quiet, and scripture. I do Pilates throughout the week and hold the Lord's Day as holy every Sunday.  And I'm tired. And I'm weary.  And I wonder if that's just how it is in this sin-soaked world as we run to Heaven.  After all, the Spirit tell
Post a Comment
Read more

Being Single is Kind of Like Not Sleeping Through the Night

For as long as you can remember, you have been told that normal people sleep through the night. You've been trained to sleep through the night. The vast majority of your friends sleep through the night. Your entire family sleeps through the night. Everyone at church sleeps through the night. But you don't.  At first, a number of years ago, you were really frustrated about not sleeping through the night, and the frustration was compounded by people consistently asking questions as to your ability to sleep. Have you tried medication? Have you turned all your screens off before bed? Do you exercise? Do you drink caffeine in the afternoon? The fact of the matter is, you do all the things you're supposed to do, but you still wake up in the middle of the night, for apparently no reason.  You're confused and frustrated, so you pray. The next night, when it happens again, you pray. Soon, waking up in the night has changed from a time of frustration to a time of worship and gett
Post a Comment
Read more

4 Ways to Help Single People

It is very likely that not all single people will completely agree with the list I'm about to share with you, because no two people are alike, but I've heard similar things from single people that I follow online and think it will be helpful to share these. If nothing else, let this post lead you to have conversations with the single people in your life and find out what would  be helpful to them.  1. Hug Them I'll admit, I'm not much of a hugger, but a few months ago another woman I follow recommended to her audience that they begin hugging their single friends and I've been thinking about it since. Now (due to a change in my life) I'm seeing certain friends more often than I had been, and I am also receiving more hugs; this is good for me . In particular, it is good for me that one of my guy friends often gives me a hug when I see him. I don't mean that in a sensual sense, I mean it in a brotherly sense. The quick hug he offers tells me that I am seen, I
Post a Comment
Read more