Hi there,
How have you been since the last time you heard from me? Well, as for me, life has been happening; not in a bad way though but in a way that has stretched and is still stretching me literally.
So, I was on a Missions Trip last week and boy oh boy was it something special! I wouldn’t say it was easy breezy but the stretching was needed for me especially. The weeks and days leading up to my leaving was somewhat like some pages torn out of a complicated novel, lol. Firstly, I struggled with leaving our kids for that long because the longest I had left them before the trip was for hours only. Now, I had to leave them for a whole week. I was a total mess in my head, but thank God for a solid man that isn’t intimidated by nothing. He kept on saying “Baby, we got this! you go on and do the Father’s work, I will handle things here on my end just right.” While he sounded convincing, I wasn’t convinced enough. I talked alot, repeated the itinerary for the kids a thousand times and one, I wrote notes all over the place…mehn, I was a total mess.
I wish it ended there… but no, I chose outfit for each day and used paper tape to write the day and for whom on each outfit, which didn’t help too much because they wore sweaters almost throughout due to change in weather. Well, the food timetable helped because I had planned for each day for while I was away. Need I say more? I even wrote down the activities for each hour for my youngest because she had to keep up with our routine. Was it the laundry, beddings, name it…I made sure I covered it all. Now guess what? As much as my husband tried to make me happy by adhering to the routines et al, he couldn’t do it all because why? He isn’t me!
As much as he tried to do things my way, he still fell short. I learnt a lesson there…we can only try to please somebody else or in this case, keep a schedule/routine that someone else has written for us closely but we can never be a 100% with it. God has made each of us unique with our unique abilities. That something is done differently doesn’t make it wrong, it is just different. As in this case, my husband choosing a different outfit from the one I selected prior, I would say he made a better decision because mine wasn’t weather compliant. So also with the meals I had to eat or make during our stay where we traveled to, they weren’t what I was used to but different didn’t make them wrong, they were just different. This was part of what we were told before we went on the trip because when people from different backgrounds are gathered together, feelings could be hurt, toes could be stepped on. So, that statement kept us from holding things so tightly to our chests.
Just like in your workplace, you may not agree with everything that is done there, I will advice you try applying this knowledge there this week; say to yourself “the fact that this is done differently from what I am used to doesn’t make it wrong/cancelled. I will reason along and be flexible where I am hard hearted. It is just what, DIFFERENT!” A disclaimer here: I am talking about when things are done differently from the norm you are used to, to produce a result that is still correct, lawful and beneficial. I am not talking about cutting corners here please, lol.
Finally, I realized that sometimes, we really rate ourselves too highly by thinking the whole world will stop when we aren’t there. As much as this is a hard pill to swallow, if I didn’t make any plans before leaving, my husband and the kids were going to get by just fine, maybe just a tad more challenging but yeah, he was going to get a hang of things soon enough. So, I am here to tell you today that as much as you are important, very important, you aren’t indispensable! That job you have, if you like keep complaining about it, sooner or later, someone that is more appreciative is gonna come take snatch it from you. Better wake up, get working and keep your attitude 100% by being grateful for all you have.
I will leave you with this: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. Ecclesiastes 9:10 NKJV.
Deep! My take away is be grateful to God for all you have.
Yes friend. xoxo