Trying not to go mad!

It’s been pretty quiet in our little section of the blogsphere. I wish that I could say it has been quiet over at the Mad house. Oh, no, it has been quite the opposite.

Last week I taught 15 classes and I am so glad that I don’t do that weekly. Mercy, I was exhausted everyday. The other yoga instructor at the Y was out, so I subbed all her classes and then the other yoga instructor at the corporate gym I work at was out too, so I had her classes too. I was yoga’d out by the end of the week.

All that followed being gone in Dallas for the weekend to get my level 5 yoga training. I now have 190 hours of training done. 10 more to go and then I will be done!! It is a good thing I am almost done because I am getting sick of these trainings. I will finish the other 10 hours at the beginning of February and then it will be – celebration time!!

And if that wasn’t enough, we had contractors in the house working on all the little injuries the house has sustained over the past 5 years. And, mercy with 4 little kids there have been some injuries. Last week they spackled and painted, so all the pictures are off the walls and furniture all over the place. They repainted the boys room, so moved their heavy Cargo bunk beds to the center of the room, along with everything else in there. Holy Cow, there was a lot of craziness happening behind their bunk beds. Actually, it wasn’t just behind the bed - it was in the whole room. Little boys are really gross. They should come with their own personal maids.

Anyway, those of you that know me know I do not do well when my house is messy so by the end of the weekend I was in full meltdown mode. Joseph has been working a lot too, so the kids are in full form. Between their behavior, the house and being tired from working, I spent Sunday morning in tears. Major meltdown. In front of my Sunday School class. Nice.

Our lesson Sunday, though, was so good and I have been marinating it over in my head for the past couple of days and sharing it with any and everyone who will listen. We are studying the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and the guy who is teaching is really good. I’ve heard about the Beatitudes my whole life, but I think this is the first time that I have heard it this way. And here is what I learned, in a nutshell, in crazy lady speak.

Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Translated: Blessed are those that realize they have NOTHING to offer without God. NOTHING. I have nothing to offer my kids, friends, husband, family… NOTHING. Not friendship, not kindness, not sympathy, not joy, not love – NOTHING, if I don’t have God. A relationship with him, a love for him. I need him to fill me up or I have nothing to offer anyone.

My cup MUST be filled by Him, to offer anything to anyone else.

Talk about life changing.
Oh, but we aren’t done.

Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Translated: Blessed are those that are so aware of sin that it overwhelms them with the desire to turn to the only One who can bring them to repentance and make them whole. He will comfort them. He offers Good News now and even better news when he comes back for us.

How challenging is that? Do I mourn over my sin? Or do I chalk it up to being human and make excuses? If I’m not mourning over my sin, then I will never be able to experience the fullness of the Good News. And that, my friends, is definitely something that should make me want to mourn!

Don’t you love how those two verses roll together? Blessed are those that mourn they have nothing but sin to offer without a relationship with God, because He will comfort them with the promise of eternal life with Him. (the Sabrina translation)
 Pretty cool stuff for an overwhelmed mom who needs an eternal perspective!!