Overcoming the Midwinter Blahs

This is from The Homeschool Minute put out by theoldschoolhousemagazine.com.



Mercy Every Minute

Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

 

I was trying to figure out this week why I was feeling so downcast. Maybe it was because within these last few weeks:

• I've had tons of discipline and training issues.
• I've had the tension of starting school after our break.
• I've had my credit card number stolen and lost a debit card.
• I've been falsely accused.
• I've gained more weight over the holidays.
• I've had several migraines, blood sugar, and yeast issues.
• I've had lots of visitors, expected and unexpected.
• I've had some painful teen issues to deal with.
• I've had my plans and to-do lists laid aside once again.
• I still have Christmas decorations up and boxes all over my bedroom.

 Okay, I just realized that the focus of that whole list was: me! Hmmm, perhaps that is the real reason for my blues. Let's see if I can change that perspective a bit:

 

• God has blessed me to keep my children home all day to train for His purposes.
• God has given me the privilege of participating in their instruction as we discover what they were created to do for Him.
• God has blessed me to be able to live in this country, where I have money in the bank, clothes to wear, and a warm house in which to live and laugh and love.
• Jesus was falsely accused. He was afflicted by men, rejected by men, reviled by men so that I might live and move and have my being in Him.
• God has continually provided cupboards that are full; enough to share with others.
• God continues to either heal me or give me strength for one more day, and children who are more than able to handle the household when I am down.
• God has provided a bounty of good food in His Word so my soul can delight in fatness, and friends to encourage me to eat everything else in moderation. 
• God has sent friends and strangers and maybe even "angels unawares" to my house that He might draw them to Himself and teach us all to be servants.
• The Holy Spirit is doing His work in the hearts and lives of my children and teens as I pour out my heart for them and find help at His throne of grace.
• God gives me the freedom, the desire, and the ability to do His will, in spite of my plans, and teaches me the necessity and grace of flexibility. 
• Jesus is worth celebrating every day, all year round, no matter the boxes!

Real life can be overwhelming and discouraging, especially in midwinter, and our hearts can be easily overwhelmed. This is when we need to get a higher perspective:

 

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. Psalm 61: 1-3

 

When we look up, we see His face. When we climb that rock that is higher, we get a higher perspective-one not tied down to the things of the earth. When you are tempted to look down, keep looking up! When we are on that higher ground, the Lord can minister to us so that we will be refreshed when we are sent out to serve our family and our world. He knows our frame, that we are but dust, but He is the excellency of power that dwells in our earthen vessels. To Him be the glory, and the power, forever and ever, amen.

 

~ Deborah

senioreditor@thehomeschoolmagazine.com