Redeemed
I've been thinking about the lives of some of the moms I work with lately and it's leading me to wonder what they think about their own lives. There are several of them that have been walking through crummy situations for years now. I wonder if they ever look back at their lives ten or fifteen years ago and wonder how they got to this place. Do they ever remember what they used to dream of being because no one grows up saying I want to have AIDS by the time I'm 30. No one grows up saying I want to be left by two or three husbands after having a baby with each of them. No one grows up saying I want to work in a Karaoke Bar. - But all of these things and more are pieces of so many of their lives.
It's so easy for me to get consumed by all the things that are going on in my days and all the different ways I'm overwhelmed by all the things I need to do or want to do that sometimes I forget that I have really so little to complain about. Brad Paisley has a song that says:
"And so it's been one of those days,
I let things get to me.
I got no right to complain,
Cause when I look around I see.
Folks that are fightin' for every breath,
And it makes me realize.
It's just been one for those days for me,
But for them it's been one of those lives."
I have been so abundantly blessed in my life. I don't have to worry about how I will feed the boys or myself ever. I know we'll always have food. I don't need to worry about whether the government will take my house away. We're not squatting on government land. I don't have to worry about where to find a job so that my bills can be paid. If the day comes that I stop working here I know I'll be able to find a job somewhere else. So maybe we need more staff here, maybe I'm tired most days, maybe the list of things I need to finish is incredibly long, but life is really so, so good.
A few weeks ago a friend was sharing with all of us how the Bible never tells us to dwell on all the negative things in life. We're straight up told not to complain. Far more consistently it says praise God and be thankful. In Philippians 4:8 it says:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
And so I'm trying to lift my eyes higher. I'm trying to remember I know the one to hope in and that changes everything. He's the one who redeems lost lives and lost dreams. And I want my friends to know him too.
It's so easy for me to get consumed by all the things that are going on in my days and all the different ways I'm overwhelmed by all the things I need to do or want to do that sometimes I forget that I have really so little to complain about. Brad Paisley has a song that says:
"And so it's been one of those days,
I let things get to me.
I got no right to complain,
Cause when I look around I see.
Folks that are fightin' for every breath,
And it makes me realize.
It's just been one for those days for me,
But for them it's been one of those lives."
I have been so abundantly blessed in my life. I don't have to worry about how I will feed the boys or myself ever. I know we'll always have food. I don't need to worry about whether the government will take my house away. We're not squatting on government land. I don't have to worry about where to find a job so that my bills can be paid. If the day comes that I stop working here I know I'll be able to find a job somewhere else. So maybe we need more staff here, maybe I'm tired most days, maybe the list of things I need to finish is incredibly long, but life is really so, so good.
A few weeks ago a friend was sharing with all of us how the Bible never tells us to dwell on all the negative things in life. We're straight up told not to complain. Far more consistently it says praise God and be thankful. In Philippians 4:8 it says:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
And so I'm trying to lift my eyes higher. I'm trying to remember I know the one to hope in and that changes everything. He's the one who redeems lost lives and lost dreams. And I want my friends to know him too.
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