*Sigh* I know, I know it’s been a while; to be honest, I’ve been too exhausted to do much of anything as of late. When I left you last, I had just been hired to work for a grocery chain (to remain unnamed, but they are pretty awesome) in the natural department – right up my alley! Between the wonky schedule (I work 2 am – 10 am’sh some days, and others 4 pm – 10 pm’sh… but it’s a job, so I don’t complain) and sometimes long hours – this schedule is not conducive to good sleep, or creating an over abundance of extra energy. Along with continuing renovations, homeschooling, a few more sewing projects and time at the clinic, there is little down time. But, they work around our school schedule (thank you boss man!), and it’s only temporary until we get the last of the repair bills for “that house” paid off.
*I can sleep when I’m dead.*
But what prompted me to sit for a few minutes between laundry, ironing, chores, reminding children of their chores, plotting dinner and the Dave Ramsey class my dentist man and I are about to leave to…
…the pastor said something that caught my attention this morning.
~ Fight for, not against ~
Hmmm….
Back during WWI and WWII the generals knew that their men would fight harder, if they knew what they were fighting for, as opposed to what they were fighting against. After all, you knew what your mother, sister, wife/girlfriend, country looked like, smelled like and felt like. What does the enemy look like? What do they really believe? Are they really that bad? But, if you could tell those boys that their families were at stake, you could bet they’d fight twice as hard, against who ever, or what ever they were told the enemy was.
Since we moved into “that house” in 2007, I have been fighting various battles. Between neighbors that decided they didn’t want us there, borough workers that agreed, judges and police chiefs that were too lazy, or too corrupt to do their jobs for everyone equally. Government that enables, someone else’s drug habits, and insurance companies that didn’t want to cover… anything. Or mother nature herself – that wench!
To be fair, there were many people through this that were amazing – and they are still helping us fight these battles!
Today’s words in church made me pause though – I’ve been completely exhausted working to clean up the mess brought on by other people’s mistakes (and a few of our own). I’ve been fighting for a house I loathe, in a town that has repeatedly shown me they didn’t want us there. I have been fighting against them for far too long. I’m tired. I really want to be done.
But… what if I fought for it? What if I fought for my family? Fought for the town? Fought for a real change? Fought for our future? Such a small change makes such a huge difference!
So much easier to work for something, than against it!
Are you fighting against alcoholism, or fighting for your future ?
Are you fighting against depression, or fighting for your health?
Are you fighting against divorce, or fighting for your marriage?
Are you fighting against corruption, or fighting for honesty?
When you are for something, you have a future, hope and something to dream of. When you fight against something, you just have a struggle.
This worked perfectly with the bible study we recently finished about the Armor of God. Using our armor – fight for what God has given us, not against what the enemy has put in front of us.
The battles will never go away, but we can fight them in the right way.
So…
…what are you going to stop fighting against, and start fighting for?
My Blanken World 