Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psalm 55:22, NIV)

After having brought my daughter home from Vietnam, I assumed that I had conquered the "patience battle" or that patience became easier to access with age - Wrong!! It is not easier or less frequent a problem. Nor do I get less frustrated with the stress it causes. One thing I have perhaps learned: to expect struggles in life. What sort of patience battles consume me at present? When our kids get older, we deal with their waiting issues in addition to our own. It is painful to watch our children struggle as they try to understand the consequences of living in a sinful world. My 17 year old son tore his ACL 17 months ago.  His first ACL repair was not successful and the second ordeal was more complex than the first.  He recently had a revision ACL and meniscal repair.  We are fearful that he isn't healing well once again.  I grieve for him and perceive his sorrow at all he wants to be able to do and can't; it is as if I experience his loss with him. It seems that each of my children has issues of sorrow to deal with or questions about their futures that I don't have the answers to. What do I do when I am impatient or grieving over my children's sorrows? I fuss, I fume, I get angry, I try to inform myself about possible treatments, causes, ways to help them attain their goals.  These attempts to understand and deal with pain give me a sense of control. It is not until after I am exhausted from my own fussing that I finally lay my burden at the cross and ask Jesus to carry it with me.  Jesus said:
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV)

Dear God,
When I am impatient or full of sorrow at the trials I experience, rather than lean on You, my first response is to try to fix things by myself. Teach me to come to You.  Take my burden from me, and guide me to rely on Your strength. Help me take refuge in You. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Blessed!

What is happiness to you? Does your happiness include God? I happen to be a grumbler who often finds things to be disappointed with. Rarely does a situation meet the expectations of what I think it should be. I wonder if God wants us to be happy, and if so, what should this happiness consist of? I recently read that another definition for the word, blessed - makarios in Greek, is happy. Scripture tells us the following will make us happy:

Happy are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2: 12)

Happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (Psalm 32:1)

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8)

Happy is the man who makes the Lord his trust. (Psalm 40:4)

May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be happy in him, all nations call him blessed! (Psalm 72:17).

We have every reason to be happy! We, as Christians, are grafted into God's family. We are adopted sons and daughters:
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:4-7)

We are made new in Christ!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13)

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ! (Romans 8: 38-39)

Why do we grumble? We are blessed indeed!