If you feel led, I could use some encouragement

[MommyInTraining]

I am feeling down and could really use something encouraging to read right now concerning keeping on even when we don't "feel" like it.

 

Thanks :001_smile:

[GraceinMD]

something encouraging to read right now concerning keeping on even when we don't "feel" like it.

 

Not sure if this will "fit the bill," but it was from the old Boards (from Charlotte in Spain, I think it was?):

 

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

 

I'm invisible.

 

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

 

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going... she's gone!

 

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it.

 

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

 

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

 

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

 

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

 

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

 

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

 

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it."

 

And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

 

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

 

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

 

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

 

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Hang in there.

 

I have nothing constructive to say, just wanted to share something with you that makes me laugh and helps me. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's nostalgic for me, but, for some reason, I feel better. It doesn't take much! (Obviously!)

 

 

:grouphug:Hope your day gets better!:001_smile:

[Tammyla]

Sending out hugs and encouragement.

 

Not sure of your situation, but if you are skipping time for summer and the joy it can offer...take time:grouphug:.

 

I am feeling down and could really use something encouraging to read right now concerning keeping on even when we don't "feel" like it.

 

Thanks :001_smile:

[Pata]

Here's one that gets me through the day...

 

Eph 6:10, "Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."

 

It's not my strength that keeps me going when I think I can no longer do this, it's His.

[Julpost]

Well this is what I say to myself on those days....which, in the afternoon, is everyday! It must be the mid-day slump because right after lunch, all I want to do is sit around and read or surf....

 

Anyway, I tell myself over and over, I am not on vacation, this is my "job" and to "just do the next thing"...sometimes I take it 5 minutes at a time, "I'll just do ------- for the next 5 minutes" and so on.

 

I also count my blessings and thank God for each one. In a really, really bad moment, I sing a praise song to God and start thanking Him for anything and everything.

 

We're in a bad spot right now, the ground is saturated so my washer isn't draining, the kitchen sink is backed up, I have to hand wash diapers, I'm behind in some bills, we're struggling financially....it's a tough time for our household. But there is so much to be thankful for (just read the news for 10 minutes), and I don't have a bit of heaviness in my heart. I thank God for that.

 

HTH!!:)

[sdWTMer]

Aaaah GraceinMD - I loved the story.

[WTMindy]

I am feeling down and could really use something encouraging to read right now concerning keeping on even when we don't "feel" like it.

 

Thanks :001_smile:

 

:grouphug::grouphug:

I have no suggestions of reading material, but I'm praying for you today. It is huge undertaking to raise 5 little people and you need all the prayers you can get.

[MommyInTraining]

Thanks ladies....I already feel better :001_smile:

[Doran]

I've been there so often. Completely outdone by what life is bringing me, and by my apparent inability to cope with it in any remotely graceful fashion. The only words of encouragement I can offer you come from my own experience of just trying to ride the low in the best way that I know how with the realization that there will be a shift at some point.

 

Here's a partially edited bit I wrote over a year ago in reply to someone here who was having a particularly hard time that day.

 

 

 

What I need to realize, on days like today, is that other days aren't this way. Other days, there may be some nagging and some voice raising. Fine. But, by and large, there is more harmony than not. Those days, the sun seems brighter, the the coffee richer, the job more rewarding, less poop on my boots.

 

Shall I settle for second best in myself for the rest of my days? Certainly not. But, neither shall I feel as if I'm second rate for the mistakes I make on my way to improvement. The road is full of pot holes. They jerk me around a bit, and require me to need a realignment from time to time, but they don't stop the journey.

 

 

 

I hope your days get brighter soon.

 

 

Hugs,

[jail warden]

I know it can be hard to keep on when you don't feel like it. Especially when you feel down and maybe depressed. I hope you are feeling better.:grouphug:

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Not sure if this will "fit the bill," but it was from the old Boards (from Charlotte in Spain, I think it was?):

 

 

 

Pass the kleenex.

 

That's the sweetest thing I've ever read.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I am feeling down and could really use something encouraging to read right now concerning keeping on even when we don't "feel" like it.

 

Thanks :001_smile:

 

Totally out of context, but I still tell this one to myself over and over:

 

And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

 

ETA: Oh, and to follow on, remember the principles of sowing and reaping:

 

You reap what you sow.

 

You reap more than you sow.

 

You reap much later than you sow.

 

 

(Hang in there.)

[newlifemom]

Just how new is your new little one? For me knowing that I might be particularly vulnerable to being down the info alone will 'pick me up'. Just a thought. I have been and am so there with you.