Tag: tired

Motivational Monday

Hey friends!!  Y’all.  I am LOVING this weather!!  I love not being cold all the time!  Now, I want to go ahead and warn you, I will complain soon over how hot it is.  75 degrees is about perfect weather in Jennifer’s world.  🙂  

Do you consider yourself a good christian?  Not perfect but you try.  Do you get tired?  And this could be spiritually but really it’s emotionally and physically.  You are tired from everyday stuff.  Well, let’s talk about it.

For the last couple of months, I have worked more Saturdays than not.  I have been to the dentist so many times that my dental insurance is tapped out FOR THE YEAR.  This week, my cat is having surgery and I have to go to the doctor.  Not to mention, I worked until 6pm tonight.  I am not telling you this to feel sorry for me.  I am telling you this because it is just life.  Nothing huge is happening (my cat’s surgery is very minor.  Yes I’m worried about her but not overly).  But I’ll say it, I’m tired.  When I have week’s like this, this is when I will miss church on Sundays.  I make excuses why I couldn’t come but they are just excuses.  The root is, I am tired.  I set my one day I have to worship to the side so I can rest.  When I should be taking things off my plate so I don’t feel the need to rest on Sunday.  It’s a choice.  It’s my choice and there is no one to blame but me.

Most Mondays, I write these motivations.  A lot of times, they are from my life.  Minor issues that I can write about because I feel like it affects everyone day to day.  There are some topics I write about, that I think I am pretty good on…like questioning God.  I really don’t question Him for the most part at this stage in my life.  But I do get tired.  And sometimes I wonder if I am burning the candle at both ends because I don’t trust Him.  Meaning, I don’t think He created us to bulldoze our way through life.  Am I like this because I want to make sure we are financially ok?  Or is it because I am trying to live life to the max?  For me, it’s both.  I am not going to be able to keep up this pace forever.  Am I wearing myself out?  Probably.  Do I pray about it all the time?  Absolutely.

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:30-31

Even the youths shall faint and be weary..” Think about a child in your life.  When you have tried to put them down for a nap, they INSIST they don’t need one.  You can look at them and they are red and glassy.  They are irritable.  They need sleep but they fight it…and they are 3!  I’m 46.  Why do I think I can outdo a 3 year old with a gazillion times more energy than me??! Even youths, with all their energy and excitement, fall tired.  One thing I have to tell myself, is it’s okay to be tired.  I am not a failure.  Even scripture backs me up here.  God knows we will get tired.

“…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength”.  Well, that’s what we are supposed to do about it.  We have limits.  God doesn’t.  We can’t do it all.  But He can.  God knows we will get tired and weary.  God never tires.  When we get tired, we don’t need to push through it.  This is our opportunity to lean on Him for His endless and everlasting strength.  Remember, everything that you are not, He is.  He will pick up where you left off.  Work with God as a team.

Maybe I’ll remember this since I wrote it down.

Love you all,

Jennifer


Motivational Monday

Hey friends!  I am so glad you are here.  I want to discuss something that hits close to home for me personally and that’s attending church.  So let’s just jump in and talk about it!

I have been a member of Spring Creek for a little over 10 years now.  Before Spring Creek, I had been to several churches over the years but none I could call home.  Once I found Spring Creek, I instantly loved it…and still do.  But if I can be 100% transparent for a minute, there are Sunday mornings I don’t want to go.  It’s not because I don’t like/love my church or the people in it.  It’s not because I’m mad.  Honestly, I am just tired 99.9% of the time.  Either I am tired mentally, physically or both.  And if I do go to church when I am tired, I don’t listen.  

But some people are different.  Some are not interested in going to church because they don’t see the point.  “It’s just a building.”  Some people are angry with God for various reasons.  Some are just sad and they don’t want to go to church.  And some people view it as a burden and not a blessing.  And for them, it didn’t start out that way.  So why is that?

Well, it could just be a season for you.  It’s where you are in life.  Meaning, are you single in your twenties or married in your thirties with three kids, divorced and starting over in your forties or retired in your sixties.  Life is full of ups and downs and every age has unique challenges.  I think Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 sums it up best.  Your struggle with church may not be church…it could just be life for you right now.  But here’s the kicker!  Don’t get discouraged.  This will not last forever. (Song  of Solomon 2:11)

One reason I hear frequently is the hypocrisy in a church.  Well, look.  I get it.  It is so easy to throw a stone at someone else’s glass house instead of looking in yours.  My point is none of us is perfect.  We are all sinners.  If there is someone in the church whose sins are front and center, maybe that’s why they are front and center in the pew.  The question you need to ask yourself is have you elevated your preferences above biblical principles and therefore, it’s robbing you of the joy of Sunday morning worship?

Sometimes it’s not you and it is the church.  Churches have growing pains.  Some are good and some are not good.  Why would it not be good?  Because it’s made up of imperfect people.  And if your church is going through a time of trial, it would make sense why you are struggling.  Here is where you need to make a choice.  Do you stay and work through it or do you look for another church?  Either way, Sundays will be challenging.  No matter which challenge you chose, it is important you seek refuge in Him. (Psalm 34:8)

One reason you may not be enjoying it is because you are living in habitual sin.  Again, we are all sinners, right?  But this is someone who knows what they are doing is wrong yet they continue with the same behavior.  Stealing money, looking at pornagraphy, mistreating your spouse, excessively drinking, etc.  I view church like your parents.  When you are doing wrong and you go home to visit, your momma and daddy is going to call you out.  That’s their job no matter your age.  Well, listening to sermons when you are habitually sinning feels like every sermon is about you and it’s uncomfortable! (Psalm 51:12)

Or lastly, it could be that you don’t know Jesus.  And I know you are saying, “Well that’s silly!  I’m at church!”  Umm, that doesn’t mean you know Jesus.  That doesn’t mean you are Christian.  BUT, I am so glad you are at church!  And look, no judgement here.  But if you are not sure you are christian and need to talk it out, then let’s talk it out.  I want you to experience living through Him (Ezekiel 18:32), know Him (John 17:3), love Him (Zephaniah 3:17), and enjoy Him forever (Matthew 25:23).

For me personally, it’s a season for me.  How do I know?  When I don’t go to church, people call and check on me.  Not because they are nosey or messy, it’s because they love me.  How do I know they love me?  I feel it.  They tell me.  They make me feel valued even when I am tired.  Whenever I don’t go to church, I feel like I am letting God down because I want to be there.  And I am always worried I am letting my church friends and family down by not being there.  But guess what?  They always lift me up and support me when I need them.  That’s why finding and going to church is important.

Love you all,

Jennifer

 



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