I get down on some days, such as days when it's a struggle to find the proper approach to get my spirits up. I have my moments as everyone else does—moments that either uplift or wear one down.
Small bumps on the road are not a big deal. It's pretty quick to recover from those. It's the detour that slows me down, and wears me out, especially when it's headed to some uncharted terrain. It's like anxiety waiting to happen. I go into survival mode.
There are times when so many things compete for my attention. It's more like a test of how well I prioritize. Or, to put it another way, how good of a multitasker I am. What I learned from all these years is that in this life, we are problem solvers. We are capable to work well under pressure—for the most part.
What leaves me seemingly debilitated on some occasions, however, is when life throws curveballs that stretch me out of my comfort zone. And when I know for sure that there's nothing that I could do, or nothing more, nothing else that I could do to change the landscape. It's like hitting a wall, and neither do I have the means to bring it down, nor the strength to do it. And not to mention I have to race with time, and I don't have the luxury of time to waste because the stakes are high.
It is that kind of frustration of not knowing what to do that knocks me down to the floor. If that's not enough to call it a breaking point situation, I don't know what is.
My attitude at such times is "If only I could change the order of things." Yes, there were nights I cried myself to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Even awakened in the middle of the night only to resume crying. It was like a nightmare, yet I was awake. Have you had this yourself, too?
I think that to some degree, we all go through this. Well, it's a cycle between calm and turbulent days, right? An endless cycle for as long as we are breathing. In between this cycle are moments of rest. Not necessarily fun days, but more like neutral days because all that we deal with are the daily tasks and minor setbacks, so rising quickly is rather easy.
This time, however, it was the weighing-me-down cycle that I was in. Oh, I could use a little cheering up. I could use a little rainfall from heaven to quench the parching grace in my soul.
Alright, now this is the part where I turn the page in this storytelling session so I could share what God has done to do exactly that: to cheer me up and quench my poor, tired soul.
Let me begin by saying that I didn't have the usual enthusiasm to attend the Mass this morning. I didn't share this with the family so they won't wonder or worry about me. Besides, I wanted to instill consistency in going to the Masses—rain or shine, and that's both literally and figuratively.
Okay, so now you're about to find out how God turned the tides.
At church, someone approached me asking if we wanted to bring the gifts to the altar. Whoa! I thought I heard the angels singing "Alleluia!" Imagine my delight in thanking this servant of God.🌹
Could it be that the little devil discouraged me today knowing I'd be/we'd be in for a wonderful surprise when we make it to the Mass? You be the judge.
Or, could it be that since I didn't give in to the whispering of the little devil not to go to church today was God's way to pat me on my shoulder so He gave us this opportunity to participate in the order of the Mass? Possibly, right? But, I let you be the judge.
All I can say, I love moments like these—divinely-inspired moments that only God can arrange. And did I see celestial fireworks at church? Well, very close to that.
I had one of those most fun times in years at church! True, we have presented the gifts in the past, but this time was super special because I was downtrodden earlier.
Also, our parish deacon not long ago said that because the Holy Eucharist is the remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice, it is during the offertory that it is lifted to the Father. In the presentation of the gifts, we offer our sufferings, our hopes, our dreams, and our plans to the Father. It should be the prayer in our hearts when the gifts are brought to the altar.
And this here is what changed my tenor. It took a 180° turn all because we brought to God the gifts of the congregation, and that includes ours. With that said, anything and everything that was weighing me down is now in the mighty hands of God. Amen. 🙏🏼
It springs to mind how little effort it takes for God to add a patchwork in our comfort quilt to change up our outlook, all because He has a heart for charity. With the grace and finesse of a mother and the brute strength of a father, He does it on a whim, but in a way memorable and thought-provoking. He is the heartbeat of our family if we allow Him.
I left the church with a much better demeanor than I went in with. If I was in a marathon, I would have a victory lap.
Smiling suits us, and God loves to see the smiles on our faces. It makes Him the happiest.
I know that things would again move like clockwork—in His time, of course. No pun intended.
God will always shine a light where it's dark. The time would be right for all the stuff dear to my heart. I just need to stop blowing things out of proportion when the direction things are taking seems rather long and narrow because I rely on what the eyes can see. This is what wears out my patience and clouds my thoughts.
As always, in time, we will get everything sorted. I should know this, but sometimes the circumstances make me forget it. And I know why.
It's not that memory fails, but the emotional effects outweigh the past triumphs. By this alone, are we not thankful for God's immense patience? He doesn't say, "Haven't I shown you how I've helped you the last time, and that other time, and then that other time before that, that you still react to situations as if it were your first having them?"
God could just give up on us and our stubbornness, but no. God is better than that. When we are stuck, God is always ready to pick us up. He knows how far we could go without His help. He will never allow us to suffer one day longer than necessary. He will teach us over and over until we get it right.
At such times that we face failures because we mostly relied on our limited capacities and capabilities, God understands. His omnipotence turns the detours into necessary routes so then later, gazing at the bigger picture, what we see is a magnificent plan all along!
God never runs out of ways to change the outcome of things. A friend once told me that what the Father has planned out since the beginning of time comes to fruition.
We just need to be on the lookout all the time for what the Lord is showing us. Oh, can't wait to see what adventure awaits us next!
These are moments in time worth returning to when life weighs me down.
Now is your turn to share your stories ingrained with a heavenly touch. Shoot me a message, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Many blessings!
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