“In the Grand Scheme of Things”

So much of the frustrations in a woman’s life could be eliminated completely if we would only learn to view our daily happenings in light of “The Grand Scheme of Things.” For example, “In the Grand Scheme of Things” what does it matter if the boys fill in the hole I am making? It is better for them to “help” then to be nagged and scolded to death by a wenchy mama. “In the Grand Scheme of Things” what does it matter if your car is running on fumes and your dear husband drives past the last gas station for the next 4,000 miles? So what if you run out of gas? (Note: this did not happen to me… not yet anyway!) “In the Grand Scheme of Things” so what if your kids drop a pile of bowls and two of them shatter all over the floor? “In the Grand Scheme of Things” what does it matter if, rather than using the bathroom sink, everyone uses the kitchen sink to wash their hands – usually when you are scurrying to get the last touches on tonight’s supper. Most of the things that irritate us women usually are completely meaningless “In the Grand Scheme of Things”. Most of the things that irritate us are things that cause us a little more work, a little more adventure, a little more craziness in our lives. For me, the things that cause excruciating irritation are usually simply affronting my SELF.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the Mathew 16:24-26 which says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (emphasis mine).

Denying my SELF is very central to my being a wife and a mama. There are some areas I have had much victory in; others are a daily struggle. There are a lot of things in life that are not bad, in and of themselves, but I find that, most of the time, when I give into them I am merely feeding the latent selfishness that hides within me. The days that I give up (lose) my aspirations and pour myself into loving, instructing, playing with, laughing with, LIVING with my children are the days that are filled with LIFE. On the other hand, the days that I just want to read my book, just want to write my letter, just want to [fill in the blank], just want to live my life (save it) the way I want to, those are the days that I lose it – sometimes literally.

Daily, I need to take up my cross. No – having a family, being married, having a handful of children is NOT my cross. The cross is a place I go to (yes, sometimes begrudgingly and belatedly) in order to put to death the selfishness that would otherwise rob me of fully experiencing the precious childhood years in the lives of my delightful wee ones; they won’t be ‘wee’ for long. The cross is something I willingly take up in order to put to death the selfishness that would exert my ‘rights’ over the beautiful relationship that I have with my beloved husband who cherishes me, oh, so much!

“In the Grand Scheme of Things” a lot of the irritations and frustrations shrivel up and die away once SELF is out of the picture. Then, amazingly, life becomes more full, more joyous, filled with more song, more laughter, more LIFE.

On that note, I have a little girl who would like a book read to her. “In the Grand Scheme of Things” laundry can wait… and so can this blog.