One of my very favorite random things is fresh sheets on my bed. I mean there’s just something about a fresh clean set that makes me feel and sleep better. As much as I love that feeling, I hate putting sheets on the bed. More specifically, I hate putting the fitted sheet on the bed.
If the worst thing is folding a fitted sheet, next on the list is putting it on the bed. I get it twisted around. I put the side on the bottom. Then I turn it around and somehow manage to do the same thing again. (I’m special. What can I say?) I get one side and the other pops off. Isn’t life hard enough already without having to break a sweat, crack my shin and just feel dumb trying to put a sheet on the bed? I mean a fitted sheet is surely the work of the devil.
I was changing sheets on my bed recently and discovered these lovely little tags sewn right in that said “side,” “top” and “bottom.” Someone, somewhere deserves a raise for that. You want to talk about a practical solution for life. There it is. Labels that save me at least 5 minutes of frustration each time I put those sheets on the bed.
Now I find myself wishing that the rest of life came with hidden labels with the right directions. Parenting! Can we start with a label for parenting? Because I have no idea what I’m doing. Oh sure I can fake it a little but between you and I, not a clue. I’m totally guessing. I don’t know the right way to handle every situation. I don’t always know what to tell my kids. It feels like “Fine, whatever you want” and “Just hit him back” might not be the best responses. But then again, maybe they are. I don’t know.
One of mine threw up before school one day this week, and I sent him on anyway. He didn’t have a fever or other symptoms and I had things to do. I went to pick the other one up from school one day, only to get there and be reminded that he was staying after school for a regular weekly activity. Parenting cracks my shins every day.
Life twists me up all the time. Should I buy that car? Is that the right job? Which house is the right one? Can I afford a vacation? Can I afford to not take a vacation? Can I trust that friend? How many friends should I have? Are my husband and I getting enough date nights? Was I a good enough mother today? Wife? Friend? Human? Am I making life too hard? Did God really say that to me? Is that what that Scripture means? I make myself plain crazy questioning everything and trying to find control.
There are so many questions and so few good answers. My naturally inkling here is to say we need to keep seeking God’s will. But I confess, that’s just as hard, if not harder, than all those other questions. So what are we to do? I think we keep seeking and trusting that God will sort it out. We need to read and study our Bibles and see where God leads us. We are each unique and made special by God for His purpose. I believe that, while there are common directives we all need to follow – like loving God first, loving our neighbor as ourselves and do not murder for example – your path might look a little different than mine.
I think the key to everything is to earnestly seek God first. That’s it. If we do that the best way we know how, He’ll take care of us. People who really want to shoot holes in everything will find a way to do it. That plants all sorts of doubt and questions and causes us to break a sweat. I say don’t worry about the holes someone else finds. Seek God. Interpret the Bible the best you can and trust God.
I’m on a quest to really chase and know Him. I can’t help but think about how much I love to be with the people I love. I think about how much I can’t wait to get to Heaven and see my parents. But the thing is, that all needs to be secondary to getting to know my God. So many of life’s question disappear in light of that. They don’t have eternal significance, so maybe I shouldn’t be breaking a sweat over them. I’m doing the best I can. I have places that need work, sins that need dealt with, and I’m working on them. I believe that’s where we start. When He has something for us to do, He’ll chase us.
Life is like that fitted sheet. When we get the top on correctly, the rest of it fits correctly. When we seek God and put him first in all things, the rest of life gets more clear and fits as it should. Let’s stop focusing on the questions and all the possible right and wrong answers and just start truly putting God first.
