Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again; REJOICE!” (Phil. 4:4) This is the verse of the day today on my blog. What a great reminder that in the midst of everything (always… regardless of circumstances) we are to rejoice! No matter how rough things seem to get, there is always something to praise God for.

Today I’m praising God that none of Luke’s co-workers were hurt or killed in the Love Box fire yesterday. (God... you're awesome!) My biggest challenge is being still enough to hear his voice. Our world is so busy, and it shouts louder than God sometimes. It’s in the quiet moments, when the house is still and there are no guitars, pianos, kazoos, radios, or kids making noise – that I can truly feel as if I can tap in to what God has to say to me. Today I have an overwhelming sense that God would have me rejoice. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself because it’s just so darn hard to be the mom of teenagers! (GRR) I have to say that I mostly feel unappreciated and dumb. What a complete struggle it is some days. You just don’t think that your precious angels will ever change from “I love you Mommy, You’re the best Mommy in the world, I never want to move away from you and daddy because I’ll miss you too much”… to… snorts, stomps, scowls, grouchiness, sullen or “you’re so stupid” facial expressions, and exclamations of “I can’t wait to move out!”
(it would seem that there isn’t a place far enough away!)

I have nearly always thought that I was a fabulous mom, apparently that one is up for debate. I do so love my “babies”, they truly are good kids, and I recognize that things could be so much worse. My kids don’t drink or do drugs, they desire to live a pure life in a world that is saturated with sex. (UGH!) I guess what I’m trying to say is… even though parenting teenagers is a challenge, it has its definite rewards. On a drama free day our kids are loads of fun! They have such a weird, wacky and fun sense of humor and keep us laughing. We can also have intelligent conversations and go places and do things that we couldn’t do when they were younger. So… I shall rejoice, because one day my children will be adults and possibly even parents… and they will KNOW how hard it is. And perhaps their mother will be fabulous once again!

What do YOU think? Is there something you're rejoicing about?