The Power of IF

Have you ever caught yourself travelling pitifully to the land of IF ONLY? I caught myself today, much faster than usual...avoiding any additional preparations for a self-pity party. It was a relatively typical (yet thankfully they frequently last for brief moments) scene at our house. You know, the kind where everyone needs you. Your attention is commanded by another, your blood sugar is dropping, you are nearly doing a split from the phone to the fridge, and your ears have had their limit of screeching decibels. All of my children were either whining or crying, my cats were on the counters, I had fed everyone else yet remained calorically-challenged myself, AND I was attempting to have a serious phone conversation with my cousin. Not to mention that my 6-month-old son was finger painting with pureed carrots that were dribbling from his sweet pudgy cheeks, my middle child had just taken off her soiled diaper, and my eldest decided to practice for the Olympic springboard diving competition on our couch.

For a brief moment, I let myself contend with a few IF ONLY. If only I was working full-time, I wouldn't have to deal with this. If only I was a better mother. If only my children would just grow up. If only my husband would come rescue me! Then, I realized that I was wishing away the present to replace it with a no-guarantee future. I was hoping that time would go faster than it does. I was negating the importance of the here-and-now. I was effectively wiping out the powerful impact I could have in this chaos. I was setting myself up for defeat.

This, of course, ties in with simply being content with who I am, with what I have, and with what I'm doing RIGHT NOW. Mind you, there are some things (injustice, abuse, disease, and all of the related social -isms etc.) that should never be tolerated. Nor am I advocating a "roll over and play dead" to reality position. There's no sense going through life with bland complacency. Be passionate! Get excited about what you believe in and what you do! Peace (and maybe even increased faith) comes, however, when we are able to remain in the moment and refuse to allow our senses to be enticed by that which is not ours- be it an object, a role, another person, a fantasy, or even a calling or gifting. We are rooted and sure of exactly who are called to be and what we are called to do at any given moment. We stop the cycle of doing what we don't want to do and not doing what we do want to do. (Thank you, Apostle Paul!)

All right, I feel much better now. :) Back to my life after this blog siesta!