I wish I had a better report, but I’ve been doing a bad job at this. Not so much right at the kids, though there have been times when I definitely could have chosen better words, but more what I mutter under my breath when I’m frustrated and my thoughts.
Not too wholesome.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Philippians 2:14-16 KJV
I know these verses because I have taught them to my kids. You know, so that they would hopefully start to think and stop themselves before they complain about something. I don’t like to listen to complaining all day. And yet I haven’t stopped complaining myself.
God has blessed me with 4 gorgeous kids.
Kids will be kids. They will argue and complain and grouch and cry and whine and make messes. They’re still learning, just like I am. They need to eat, so I need to prepare meals. It’s part of the blessing.
God has blessed us with a house to live in.
Houses get dirty and need cleaning. It’s part of the blessing.
God has blessed us with a job for my husband.
For us, that means that my husband is away at work 5 days a week, from about 6 am until 4:30 or so. Which means I’m on my own most of the day. It’s part of the blessing.
God has blessed us with marriage. That means that I have to be unselfish and try my best to meet my husband’s needs while he tries his best to meet mine. Sometimes I want to be selfish, but God has called us to put our spouses before ourselves. It’s part of the blessing.
So why do I complain? When I grumble and murmur, I’m basically telling God that his blessings aren’t good enough. That I think he didn’t get it right. Does God ever “not get it right?”
Of course not!
Life is going to be hard sometimes. Even the blessings will be hard sometimes. But I need to remember to go to God about it, not grumble about it under my breath.
I think I’m going to have to extend this challenge for myself. Even after I wrote this post and before publishing it, with these thoughts fresh in my mind, I’ve failed more times.
It’s easy on easy days but it’s an uphill battle on other days. Those are great verses to remember.
I found your blog on the homeschoolers around the world link up and dropped by. Glad I did. I am also a Canadian homeschooler.
Thanks for your refreshing honesty and plain speaking about the difficulties in keeping a challenge like this. I struggle so much to remember to count my blessings when life gets hard. And, I have a hard time remembering to be thankful for what we do have vs. thinking about what we don’t. It helps me to realize that I’m not alone. But, I also believe that as long as we get back up and keep trying, we haven’t really failed at all.