Happy Friday, Everyone!
Normally, I would have a guest on my blog today. I decided that at least for this week, “Friday Features” will be taking a break as I gather more guests’ reflections and try to play catch up at home.
We have a busy few weeks ahead of us here after returning home from visiting family, welcoming my husband home after completing military training today (so proud of him!), and working around not having a working washing machine for the next few days (More on that later.
That being said, I didn’t want to leave you all without a reflection for this week, so I decided to share some of my thoughts from this past week.
Finding Joy
This past Sunday, the priest was talking about the importance of praising God and being joyful instead of complaining. He challenged us to find the joy in things we normally would complain about for this week.
I flew back home on Tuesday with the kids. I was dreading it. I did not want to go home to an empty house and be by myself again. I was preparing for battle in my mind. I was visiting my family for a month and had some extra help with the kids. It was great! I was also just really sad knowing that it will probably be another year until I am able to come back and see everyone again (it comes with living far away).
I had a therapy session before I left, and as I was discussing this with my therapist, she let me know that I needed to change my mindset about the situation, otherwise depression would just start spiraling. I’m not going back to where I was before my trip, but I’m going back home and looking forward to my husband joining us in the next few days!
And what a difference finding joy in the situation has made! The transition home was still difficult, and I miss my family, but I have something to look forward to still, and joy is driving me instead of depression.
It really is the Small Things
As I was reflecting on all this earlier today, I thought about our trip home. I had to fly by myself again with all 4 kids, and I was so anxious the day before and morning of my flight. I kept praying that everything would work out well and we would have no problems.
Well, my dad was able to take us to the airport, but he was not able to get a pass and help us through security. Surprisingly enough, that was the fastest security I have been through traveling with the kids at the airport. We made it to our gate with plenty of time and got our seats all assigned next to each other in the very back of the plane (same spot we were in for our trip there).
Gabriel did great, Rebecca did ok, but the younger two girls were not thrilled to be on the plane. Our poor neighbors had to deal with Theresa’s loud screams (yes, people covered their ears) for part of the flight. But I believe God puts people in our lives when we need them. Both flight attendants were super nice and helpful. The people who I was worried about annoying during the flight and who I appologized to for the noise at the end of the flight were all kind and understanding.
One of them asked me how I did it. I just said that to me, traveling to visit my family for a month was worth it. And if I got the chance to do it again, I would (but let’s also say I’m definitely going to enjoy time not stressing about having to travel solo with the kids for awhile too).
But how did I survive it? All by God’s grace. I’m not the type of person who likes to ask for help. I’ve discussed my struggles with humility on here before. And I think that one of the ways God challenges me with the virtues of humility and patience are by putting me in situations where I need to ask for help. It keeps my stubborn pride in check.
But it also gives me the chance to be a witness to the small acts of love (big acts of love in my eyes) of those who help us along the way. The flight attendants who checked up on us, the words of encouragement from them and those sitting close by us on the plane, the pilot of the plane waiting with us on the ramp after we arrived and entertaining my kids while we waited for our stroller to be brought up. Our very kind neighbors who drove us to the airport when we left to go visit my parents, and then picked us up from the airport and helped haul our luggage to the car and into the house when we got home. All these acts of love and service made what could have been an extremely stressful trip tolerable, and made it easier for me to find joy in the situation. And it was truly by the help of all these kind individuals that God put in our lives when we needed them that we survived this trip.
The Challenge for this week
If you are nervous about traveling solo with kids (or even traveling with kids), trust me, I get it. But give it a chance. Allow yourself to see the small acts of love that those around you do to help you. Find the joy in the present moment instead of complaining and worrying.
That leaves me with this challenge for everyone. This is my take on Mother Teresa’s quote, “Do small things with great love” this week: I want to challenge all of you to the same challenge that the priest at mass gave us last week. Find joy in the challenging moments, and praise God. Or, my rephrasing of the quote,
“Do challenging things with great joy”
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
