A place to share struggles and triumphs, a place to bless and serve - but never a place to murmur or complain. 

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Two or Three Witnesses

January 8th began with me in difficulty on an emotional level. I needed to talk to friends. I prayed for someone to call. I called L C - a friend of mine from college. She didn’t answer, but called me back. No sooner had I hung up the phone with her, but D Y called. Both of them had the same advice for me. They said that I should look into teaching design courses online for a community college or online college. The fact that they both gave me that advice, on a day when I had been contemplating what I should do with myself professionally, I found to be much more than coincidence.

In December, my Dad gave me a blessing. This is what it said:
Pour your heart out to the Lord.
Life will be challenging, but you will have the ability to do what needs to be done.
Surround yourself with good people, some of your friends will be able to help you with your challenges.
Seek help when you need it.
You will have the ability to soothe and comfort your children. Love and listen to them.
Encourage the children to maintain and strengthen their relationship with their father.
Seek the Lord’s guidance and He will show you the way.

I feel that so many parts of that the blessing were fulfilled in my experience today, it is awe inspiring to me. It gave me great comfort, helped me to see the Lord’s hand and showed me that He is still very aware of, and listening to me. I was so grateful for that. There hasn’t been a day in a long time that I needed that reassurance more than I did today.

In the evening, T (my 12 year old) was very upset. He’s been having more trouble in school. He’s been missing assignments or not completing things. He is suffering a great deal as well. He was bothering the little ones at bed time, which is something that I find very difficult to manage. In the end, he simply needed my ear, my encouragement, my confidence and my love in much the same way that I had needed my Heavenly Father. Until today, I hadn’t thought of it in quite that way, but that’s what it was. I was able to soothe and comfort him, as Dad’s blessing said that I would be. He needs to have some experiences with the Spirit to strengthen him and buoy him up. I need to pray for that, and trust the Lord to provide for this child that we both love so much.

2 comments:

EarlGirl said...

Wow, I'm so glad you were able to see how your boy needed you instead of just getting on his case for bugging the little ones. I'm so grateful for times like that when I'm guided to do the right thing instead of just reacting.

Abby said...

Well, here is where I admit to something important. My Aunt called while T was bothering the kids - and hearing all of the chaos, she said to me, "Sounds like he needs to talk." Thankfully, as you noted, I hadn't "just reacted" - YET. When she said that, a Gigantic Light Bulb went on in my mind. Even without knowing all of the issues at hand, she cut right to the quick and I will always be grateful for that.