Skip to main content

Tired - Competition


That was it. I was tired.
Not the tired where I will sleep well because my rest was well earned.
Not the tired where you’re groggy and just need extra sleep.
The restless tired. The dangerous tired. The ‘I am done with this!’ tired.
Why?
I was tired of competing with multiple screens: a TV, an ipad, 2 phones.
Tired of competing with every professional and college sport broadcast – with the exception of women’s sports because we don’t get those on our TV.
Tired of competing with presidential news and daily “to do” list that have more weight than US (as a couple).
Tired of there always being one more chore before that project I want to get to can be started.
Tired of the same ol' same.

In the end I was just tired.

Tired of a world where we have to compete for a loved one’s attention.
Tired of competing with society’s mandates.
Tired of being a slave to fashion and trends.
Tired of competing with society’s warp version of pretty.
Tired of competing with a supermodel’s body image.

Mostly, I am tired of not sharing with others.
Tired of an environment where we don’t share our struggles or help carry each other’s burdens.
If we share too much, we are shunned.
If we don’t share at all, what is the point?

Let me share with you.

This life can be exhausting.
But I am no longer going to let the devil gain ground in my marriage, my body image, my relationship with others, my thoughts, my speech, or my desires.
The devil wants me to feel like I am second to the sports my husband and I both like to watch.
The devil wants me to think I have to compete for my husband’s attention.
The devil loves for me to not have a healthy body image.
The devil loves for my relationships with others to lack honesty and authenticity.
The devil longs for my thoughts and speech to be down on myself, off putting to others, and frankly unholy.
The devil longs for my desires to be about me instead of the Lord.

The only true competition I should be in today is being the best version of the woman God created me to be. The only person I am in competition with is me. Even the battles the devil tries to put me in the middle of are God’s. How fortunate I am that I can be used as His warrior? Still, the battle is not mine. The battle belongs to the Lord. (1 Samuel 17:47)
May I compete daily to be the best version of myself. May I seek to improve from the me I was yesterday. May I remember the me of today will have failures and successes, and I can choose to use BOTH of those as building blocks vs. carrying them as heavy boulders. (Still, a little weight training is good for us, huh? It makes us stronger!) May we carry one another’s burdens and realize our Lord wants to not only carry our burdens but to carry us. All of who we are - our trials and toils, our joys and sorrows, our hopes and dreams. He wants to carry each of us. May we find rest in His arms. 

 Lord, how can I grow weary when You are with me?!
May we each find our strength, our hope, our rest in Him!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Minute Fridays

I follow several blogs, but there are only a handful I read daily including Rainmakers and Stormchasers, http://www.jennyrain.com/ . Jenny has a blog friend who does Five Minute Fridays where you write on a given topic for five minutes, post your writing unedited, and encourage others to do the same. Today’s topic was 'Remember'. Here's my unedited five minutes on 'Remember'...(What did you do on your lunch break?).... Remember...  I remember those times… with family and friends… Those long seemingly endless summer days at Memaw’s with my sister, brother, and cousins…I remember waiting on mom to come in for lunch…And those special days when Aunt Barb came too…Oh the days we spent at Aunt Barb’s…I remember loving… Then, there were those mornings before school where we all gathered around the breakfast table…Memaw always prepared a feast…we would argue over who’s turn it was to say the pray…but I remember all the other conversations were so good…I remember ...
3 comments
Read more

Five Minute Fridays

It's time for Five Minute Fridays. No editing, no backtracking, and no over-thinking. Just writing for five minutes on a given topic. Join us. Today's Topic: Grit. Grit is the gumption not only to keep going when times are tough but to keep going with the determination that God knows what is best, and no matter what He will see you through this. The most important part of the endeavor is to realize not only is God leading you through your struggle, but He wants you to lead others, to set a Holy example, to love as Christ loves, and to come out stronger on the other side. Never resenting what you’ve gone through, but being thankful for the grit to keep going. Grit is more than continuing when others would stop. Grit isn’t walking blind or slowly moving through a valley. Grit is climbing towards the mountain top… Pulling others with you as you climb… Carrying more than your own load but that of your sisters’ and brothers’ in Christ... Grit is there when you physically, ...
3 comments
Read more

Steadfast Love

         In the last few weeks, I have been struggling… I can see all the ways God blesses me. All the ways He provides. I know in almost all my posts since I started writing on this blog about two months ago have been about how God takes care of us. I’m telling you it is like an annoying habit! You focus for just a few days on what God’s provided for you, and then it becomes a constant way your mind works. (It’s kind of like how people are doing 30 days of thanks on Facebook. I know it seems redundant and maybe even a little annoying to you, but you see for those people posting daily status updates on thanks has become a habit. A way of life for them.)           So, what’s my struggle? It is about love. Do you ever wonder about love? Why does your friend love you when you know your singing gets on her last nerve? Why does your significant other love you when you would rather recount your entire d...
3 comments
Read more