A Day in the Life (Uncensored)

My day to day can really take me and put me in a cycle of repetitiveness.  It’s the same old same, day after day, with slight changes, but the same beginning and end.  I wake up, take the kids to school, go to work, pick the kids up from school, dinner, bath, guilty pleasure reality shows, bed.  Repeat.  Some days, I choose to do something different.  I ask the husband to pick up the kids, go visit a friend, or two, then go home…dinner, bath, reality tv, bed.  Either way, I’m living the life the Lord has gifted me to live.  So now…..the challenge….yes, I said it…it’s a challenge in its own way….how to live every day fully and for the Lord, according to my standards.

See…there’s a stigma on Christians.  I’ve witnessed it, I’ve thought it, and I’ve heard it.  Christians, to some, are dreamers.  Christians, to some, are naïve.  Christians, to some, even other Christians, ….have it all together.  The perfect portrait of what the Bible tells us that Christians should be.  Bible thumping, Holy Rolling, Disciples of Christ in every sense of the word.  (Palm to forehead emoji insertion!)

Yes….Christians pray to be, and strive to be, sharers of the gospel, examples of goodness, lights of the heavens, followers of God at every second of every day.  But we fail.  Pretty much every day.  We fail at being what those around us look to us to be.  Contrary to popular belief, we are NOT naïve….we are NOT constant dreams and we DON’T always have the perfect catch to the curve balls that this life throws our way.  Our prayers are not always answered in the way we ask them to be.  Our positive outlook doesn’t outlast every trial that we go through.

So today, I write, not to discourage you by bringing the real life up to surface, but to encourage you by letting you know that you are not alone!

Let me take you through a day in MY life…if I may.  I can’t speak for others.  I’m not the best author, I’m not the faithful-est of Christians, I’m not even the best at being who I am…but I am an everyday average Jane that would love for you to breathe a sigh of relief that you aren’t the only Christian that doesn’t have it all together.

Today I woke up, getting over a sinus infection, 20 minutes before we needed to leave for school/work.  I did not pray before my feet hit the floor like I probably should have.  I shot up, went and yelled at my kids to get up, then began pulling myself together.  I did not take a shower….after all….I took one yesterday…doesn’t that count?  I pulled my hair up as neatly of a mess as I could….put together an ensemble(I seriously cannot believe that I spelled that right on the first try) of clothing together that matched…threw on some heels that seriously made me regret even HAVING feet…much less using them, and brushed my teeth.  I then spent the remainder of the 5 minutes we had left to spare at home yelling warnings at the kids to be ready to go, searching frantically and finding lunch boxes….finding that my oldest thought it was perfectly acceptable to leave a constructed ham and cheese sandwich in her lunch box, in her room, overnight, with LITERALLY the last 2 pieces of regular bread we had in the house because I was too lazy to go to the store over the weekend.  Therefore….she got…you guessed it….the two BUTT pieces of bread left in the bag.  Her fault, not mine…right?!  Anyways…we finally get ourselves together and get going.  I drove too fast to get to school…too slow to get to work…and too distracted to even remember driving, to be honest.  It was like I was on autopilot.  I get to work, do my thing, make my sales visits, try not to let the jerk at the security station at the 16^th place I went to make me TOO mad to not still be joyful…but to be honest…I failed.  He really ticked me off with his condescending….nevermind.  Moving on….

So….After the past 10.5 hours…..normally…I would go straight home…dinner, bath, bed.  After all, the day was long.  Sure, I would praise God through my music in the car all day and all the way home….but was I really praising? Or was I just singing?  There are some pretty catchy Christian songs FYI.  And in case you are wondering, yes I do listen to Christian songs all day, every day, because they bring me joy and they bring my God praise.  What could be a better combination?

Instead, I go visit a friend.  Now, you should know…I’ve spent years and wrinkles forming my close circle.  It’s not that I don’t love and adore my family and friends outside of my close circle, but I have been choosy with who I surround myself with the most because, in my experience, it has EVERYTHING to do with my attitude, my morale, my sanity, and my motivation.  Yes, my strength comes from the Lord but for that, the Lord has put few people in my life to kinda “help a brotha out” so to speak.  So…after being sick a few days, missing church, going to sleep instead of doing my bible study, sleeping in too late the Sunday before, etc…..I needed my circle.  I had a great visit.  Lovely!  So much fun, as always!  But you know what the best part was….when she told me how much I meant to her, spiritually.  When she told me that a blog I wrote a year ago popped in her head the other day and taught her something.  When she thanked me for being a light in her life…I mean…wow.  Here I was, having a SUPER mundane blah type of day and she reminded me of why I’m here.  Not only did God put her, and a few others, in MY life to hold me accountable to HIM but here SHE was, reminding ME that God did the SAME FOR HER THROUGH ME! How humbling!  How amazing!  How reassuring…..How God!

I’ve had all the emotions and thoughts today, much like any other day…tired, lazy, groggy, negative, then positive, then negative, then tired again, judgy(at that mean man at security-butthead), lesser than, un-worthy, sad, happy, humble, peace.

So no….Christians do not have it all together.  We try…we never succeed!  There is always something…there are always challenges, trials, just plain old blah moods…and that’s ok!  Don’t beat yourself up for being human.  It’s going to be OK!  Because when you pray…like REALLY pray…and then…wait for it….LISTEN…………….you just might hear God’s response and it’s highly likely to be super helpful.  And if you’re not careful, you just might SEE His presence in your life.  For reals…… Just because you are saved doesn’t mean you won’t sin!  And just because you are forgiven doesn’t mean you don’t still ask for forgiveness!  It’s the life of a Christian.  Christians don’t have a conscience…it’s replaced with the Holy Spirit at salvation.  That Holy Spirit….it’ll getcha!….you won’t get away with much before you hit your knees and beg God to forgive, to guide, to speak, to heal…..you know what I mean!  If you don’t, call me, we should talk!

So today, I want to be real with you, I want to be vulnerable and transparent….I never have all the answers…but I always ask God to shine His light through me.  And today, when my good friend told me that when she thought of my blog and stopped the voice in her head telling her she wasn’t good enough….she heard from God more clearly…and more often….at that moment, I remembered how much God has trusted me and gifted me with discipleship.  I’m here to be a light for others the way that God is a light for the world. If I let today’s or yesterdays or even last month’s troubles effect my spirit or my joy….I’m in DIRECT confliction with what God’s plans are for me…

Literally, if I can change ONE person’s mindset at ONE moment in their life that makes ONE change in their mindset….I have done what God has gifted me to do!  We should all live each day with that goal in mind.  Just be a light to someone else.  That’s it!

I certainly do not have it all together….not even a little bit….but FFH’s song speaks to what my point is tonight…”Lord move, or move me”.  Lord, move the mountain….or help me to do it!

All these “imperfect” thoughts and ideas that popped in my mind today but thankfully, I was still able to work for God.  I’m blessed!  Be blessed!

Bye for now,

RR