When Life is Hard

I hesitate to even use the word "hard".  I have friends and family going through much harder times than I'm going through.  When I have friends who have had their little ones go home to Jesus, friends with children battling cancer, friends struggling with miscarriage and infertility, friends who might lose their babies in the womb at any time, I don't like to use the word "hard" to describe my life. I hesitate to even post this at all.  But I know that I'm not the only one going through the regular "hard" times in day-to-day life.  And so I feel like sharing will do no harm and will hopefully do someone some good.

This week has been one of the hard ones.  Sometimes it feels too hard.  Friday, my littlest got sick, and stayed sick for several days.  As soon as she was better, H got sick and is still sick.  It's
tough at any time to have sick kids, but this week has been harder than normal for me.  Why?  I had big plans.

I had hoped to get my house totally clean by the end of the week.  I started Monday when we were kind of in between illnesses.  I felt like I got a TON accomplished and was excited to see what the rest of the week would hold.

My daughter's room at the beginning of the day on Monday.
I'm ashamed to admit that it had looked this way for quite a while and took most of the day to clean up.
But when it was done and organized, I was so excited to get the rest of the house looking nice!

The same room at the end of the day!  It is so wonderful to have a clean room!
And I'm so glad I got it done before she spent the whole next night throwing up.
I might have hurt myself getting to her over and over that night if it had still looked the way it did before cleaning!  

So here's what the rest of the week has held.  Cleaning up after a sick little one, loads and loads of laundry, and an exhausted mommy, sick three year old, and whiny two year old who is still getting over being sick and would rather be doing the "normal" stuff than sitting around at home.  Sadly, none of my plans were a success.  M's room is still a disaster, the kitchen table barely has room to eat on it, the living room is piled high with clean laundry needing to be folded and put away (at least it's clean though!), and every other room in the house needs a good cleaning.  

I think the worst of it is, our church retreat is this weekend and it's something I look forward to all year long.  It's great time for growing closer as a family and a church family and it's very renewing for me.  It's not only nice to get away and focus on God, it's also nice to relax a little and not have to worry about cooking or cleaning for a weekend.  At this point, it's not looking promising that we'll make it.  And it's becoming very tempting for me to slip into pitying myself.  

This is the verse that God keeps bringing to my mind today.  

James 1:2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  

Patience.  Patience.  Patience. It's what God keeps driving into my heart.  If we let it do its work, it can make us be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  And doesn't that sound wonderful?  It does to me.  I know that God has a perfect plan for me, not only for this week, but for all the months and years ahead.  Please pray for me today, that no matter how much longer the sickness lasts in our house, I'll be able to avoid falling into pitying myself and instead, count it all joy.  

What about you?  What can I pray for you today?  

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