Are You Struggling?

*Updated 1/18/2020

Are you feeling overwhelmed with emotions? How is day-to-day parenting, your family, extended or step-family issues going for you these days? Are you feeling scared, stressed, unloved, unappreciated, guilty or shamed at all?

I am.

I worry about my boys

(whom I've been homeschooling for almost two years). Are they learning to love God and love others - especially each other? Are they learning what they need to be successful and to support a wife and family one day? What about my step-daughter? She's been living with her mom and step-dad 2,000 miles away for the past four years. Our relationship is not as close as it was - mostly because we are not in each other’s daily lives. It is the thousands of daily little moments of life that build closeness and strengthen relationships. And how can you maintain a close relationship with someone you only see a couple times a year?

I feel anxious about my work.

I am the Director of Early Childhood Ministries at Grace Point Church and have about 100 volunteers (but need about 120) whom I pray for and appreciate and love. I pray for the families and children we serve and want what’s best for them as well. I wonder if I am doing enough, what I else I can do, and how I can make the discipleship process of these young souls more real and rich and rewarding. It never ends!

I am troubled in my soul

for the number of broken marriages and divided families all around me. It breaks my heart on a deep level - because I myself suffered divorce and our current family will forever be blended - which basically means we are rarely all together, all doing regular life together, and that weighs on me heavily.

I even get stressed about Connect Point Moms!

I wonder if I am I actually being helpful to you moms and your families. Am I putting in way more time and work than is actually necessary to make a difference in your parenting, in your lives? I just don’t know! BTW: Any feedback you have in the form of comments on this post would be greatly appreciated!

I wanted to talk about these overwhelming stressors, because I meet with moms in their homes who are struggling with similar issues. They want to be the best mom and/or wife they can, but they’re SO tired. Sometimes they drink or eat too much…or not enough. Sometimes they sleep too much…or not nearly enough. Sometimes they exercise or clean compulsively…or maybe not at all.

Moms! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS MADNESS!

I am here to give you hope. This is always a little uncomfortable at first, because I know that not everyone has the same ideas about God. But thank God HE doesn’t allow me to stay comfortable or I may never live into what He created me to be! Ok, here it goes:

The answer is NOT working harder or smarter or better! The answer - the hope! - is to reorient ourselves from looking at our current circumstances and turn our eyes toward the One who has created us! Even if you know God and have a relationship with Jesus, I wonder if you just have a cognitive awareness and not an emotional one. This is a personal struggle for me at times.

Are you willing to do something with me? If so, think about a relationship in your life. One that you enjoy. One in which you feel secure and safe and happy and loved and known - at least on more days than not! Now, think about if you have always felt that way about this relationship. How about when you first met? Well, sure you may have enjoyed each other’s company in the beginning, but it is only now, after time spent together, talking and getting to know each other, laughing and crying together, maybe even fighting and making up that you now are feeling safe and happy and loved and KNOWN. So, why would it be any different with our relationship with Jesus?

Opening the Bible is actually hearing from the very mouth of God! We can hear from the actual living God, by reading His Word. That is pretty awesome, right?

Seriously, we need to GO OUTSIDE and look up - not that God is just there, I mean He really is everywhere - but, like Jared C. Wilson writes in The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together “We have a diminished capacity to be captivated by anything as wonderful as God when we are constantly preoccupied with small, everyday tasks.” BOOM!

Do our every day tasks matter? Of course they do! They matter to you, to your family, and to GOD! I am not saying IGNORE them, I am saying shift your attention to the BEAUTY of Who God is and what He has done for you - rather than on all you "need" to get done. Because really, you don't need to DO anything. He has done it all. It is finished. You just need to accept that. If you remind yourself of this truth, I promise you, your perspective on your struggles is going to change.

Do I still struggle with overwhelming emotions? Yes, because I am a sinner and will not see perfection this side of heaven. But do I lean on the provision and sleep better at night knowing that I am saved by grace alone and not by anything that I could do or by things I don’t do? Absolutely!

If you want to know more, or to share how this has helped you, please leave a comment on this article or after watching this video. Thanks!

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