| Saturday, November 11, 2006 |
| Margie Unplugged |
 Wednesday night a local news special aired featuring a single young mother of three and the effects of being in poverty. She couldn't had been 25 years old but something she had said has been bothering me.
Looking over to her three little ones off playing in the background she stated, "I tell my boys to do good in school. Stay in school and get a good education so they do not end up like me."
Maybe there is something very wrong with me because I haven't accepted my current state or the fact that I am washed up and have "ended up" just yet. I sure have bottomed up plenty of times in my life but the stubbornness that is within me keeps turning the boat back over and bailing out. Is there a right time or point in life when anyone should just swim to shore, prop up their beach umbrella and decide to be content in any given situation?
I think about my twitching eye this week and my recent cluster headaches, all that could be traced to stress. The fact that I have so much work to do and things to catch up on that I have no time to relax and enjoy watching my daughter play at the playground. Paddling upstream can be tiring and maybe it is time to come ashore and sit back and evaluate my situation and direction. A temporary holiday or rest stop for by no means will I accept any notion of "ending up" just yet. I still have a lot of fight left in me only I need to reevaluate how to get more efficiency out of my efforts.
OR maybe not. "Phi 4:11; I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in." I believe when Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians he was imprisoned in Rome. He had no way to go out to earn money working, save money, attend college, see a doctor or watch children play in a park. Yet God used him in the place where he was at in life and gave him a purpose regardless of troubles and restrictions.
I'm starting to ask myself why not let the dishes sit in the sink? Why not quit that Friday Afternoon job that bothers the crap out of me? Why not have canned soup for dinner a few nights a week? Is there anything wrong with pulling in my paddles and allowing myself to drift along the Lord's purposeful current? He knows where I will "end up" eventually so I should quit the fighting, stress and struggle and start enjoying the ride.
Giving up the paddles actually takes more strength than turning the boat over, bailing out and paddling upstream requires. A faith and discipline that I know I must learn. The question is; "Will I?" |
Stumble It!
.......posted by Margaret @ 12:26 PM   |
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| 9 Comments: |
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I feel sure you will do what you think God wants you to do. He may want you to slow down so that you can go further. It is not a sin to ease up a bit. But you will keep going and driving on toward the prize that comes not from man's hands.
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A rest is sometimes needed.
thinking about the young girl feeling that she has ended is sad
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HI Margie!
Each day is e new opportunity.
Yesterday is over and done.
Today is the first day of your future!!!
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I am a married 35 year old stay at home mom of a beautiful little girl, but I am not sure where I am going to have 'ended up'. I still have plenty of time for that.
Prince Charming went back to school last year to improve out lot in life. So he didn't accept the fact that having a wife and family meant that he had ended up anywhere either.
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Nothing wrong with pulling the oars in and taking a break. And there’s nothing wrong with being content in whatever situation you find yourself.
I don’t know if where I’ve “ended up” is the best I can achieve in life, but I’m happy, my family’s happy, we eat, sleep in warm beds; and we’re good human beings, citizens and neighbors. That sounds about right to me.
Do what you think is right and remember, it’s not about what you want, it’s about what you need. Really. I may not have everything I want, but I have everything I need…and so does my family.
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stubborn and always fighting my way ahead is tiring. often i have had to just be, cry my heart out, feel the pity and then it's out..the stress, the emotional upset and then i can get up and fight.
i'm always gonna want to go forward. that is and has been my motto for many, many yrs..Go Forth &..see what is around the bend, try and try again...
strength is not always measure by how often we need to pause, stop or fall, but how many times we pick ourselves up. we are but human with all that entails. let yourself feel and letyourself grief and then when it's done, pick up and on with the show. knowing that you can do it, that you have done it, and that you will do it.
i'm knew here but already i have a sense of who Margaret is. she is not just funny and kind but like me she wants to do it all and do it right..i know i'm no perfect anything but i wanna be..and sometimes i'm what drives me harder than anyone else..so let's you and i give ourselves permission to be..whatever that is, just a day at a time without putting so much pressure on our poor bodies and minds.
i have left the dishes for another day. i have quit things that have taken the life out of me because of the stress and have had to do with less, much less..but in the end, the peace and time i gained, the joy and the feeling of control over my choices have been better than any medicine.
we are expected and encouraged to be super woman. like we don't expect enough of our own. we forget to just be and enjoy life for it's the only one we got..one shot deal hon. make changes that you need..be happy...
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Let the oars fall in the water and think about another mode of transportation. Take that great daughter of yours and go do something different. When I thought I hit bottom, my children and I would go work at a local church dishing out meals. Once I was home that night, I looked around my messy apartment and little ones and fell to my knees with gratitude.
Everything must be put in perspective
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Well... back when I was the single mom struggling for every month's rent and every morsel of food, I sorta felt like I'd "ended up" -- but NO, I hadn't given up the fight! And of course, I wasn't "ended up" ... not then. Right now, I'm in a GOOD place, and I don't feel like I NEED to work, and I'm happy where I've "ended up"... but hubby isn't! HE seems to feel that I still need to work and contribute to where we WILL "end up"... LOL! So... I think it's all a matter of perspective -- and maybe even though that Mom is tellin' her boys to WORK HARD and Do WELL in school -- which should be the message anyway -- because she doesn't want them to "end up" like she is NOW... doesn't mean that she's given up and doesn't have plans to eventually "end up" better off! MAYBE?
But enough of this.... I want to hear about the mailbox scandal!
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I feel sure you will do what you think God wants you to do. He may want you to slow down so that you can go further. It is not a sin to ease up a bit. But you will keep going and driving on toward the prize that comes not from man's hands.