From worn out to calm & refreshed!
I am going to be honest for a moment here. There are a few things that make me want to “bash my head into a wall” as they say. One of them is dealing with wet basements and the plethora of issues sometimes coinciding with it.
I love The Farmhouse. However, when we found out the foundation leaks with heavy spring rains and some other plumbing needed to be fixed, I was ready to scream and throw a hammer at something. I really wanted to break apart another basement floor and tear up the lawn with freshly growing seed again – said no one – EVER!
All I could think was, Seriously God? Seriously? Dealing with basement/water/septic issues in our last two houses wasn’t enough? You had to throw this one in the mix too? Ugh! You know I don’t have energy to deal with this on top of everything else!!!
My heart sank as we started to add up the unplanned expenses and put more exciting projects on hold, again. As days went by, I felt myself becoming withdrawn, irritated, and tired. Life with the pandemic has changed and added enough other stressors. Any reserves I had were quickly drying up.
I did not want to stay in that state for long. It’s far too damaging to myself and others around me. But more honesty here, sometimes that is dang hard to do.
Seeking encouragement, I grabbed the Bible Promises For Life book, and looked up Anger. I thought it was the emotion I was struggling to work through, but after reading the Bible verses listed, I wasn’t feeling a sense of peace.
As I sat back and tried to filter through my emotions again, the words tired/weary/unsettled popped up. So, I looked up the verses under Weariness. And there it was, a one sentence verse from Matthew 11:28:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.
So simple. So powerful. So refreshing. And yet something I grapple with, because of a human tendency to want to fix and handle everything on my own. Living like that? It is hard and draining. It empties the cup instead of filling it up.
I should probably put that verse on a plaque (maybe 3-4 copies) and place it around the house as a daily reminder. There is no need for me to be superwoman all by myself, it is impossible. But with God’s help? It’s a whole different story. I just need to ask for His help, and that I can handle!
Meditating on the verse, while laying out every unattractive emotion before God, helped recenter my thinking. It took the focus off the negative and shed light on what I could be thankful for instead.
The basement/plumbing project continues this weekend. Even so, I now feel refreshed knowing we have good help with knowledge where we do not. There is gratitude we have access to equipment to make the job easier. There has been accomplishment in organizing the heap of boxes and storage totes thrown helter skelter all over the room losing part of its floor.
And should something else come up and/or break while fixing the original problem? It is a 127-year-old house after all. I will take a deep breath, recite Matthew 11:28, throw up my hands to God, and come up with a plan B.
P.S. Another encouraging verse when feeling worn out:
“Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint”. Isaiah 40:31
