This is supposed to be the “funny” and “witty” blog. I PROMISE to be funny and witty as much as possible (I’m making the Girl Scout gesture)… why do I always feel the need to keep it light? Oh, well. There’s always next time. Per usual, I’m writing about something that pertains to me. Selfish, right? However, I always hope when I write that even just one person sees him/herself in my writing or can relate. That’s what writers do, I suppose… we say the unsaid.

I’ve had a cold this week (along with the rest of the United States). At least it’s not the flu. However, I feel pretty rotten and I’ve dropped the ball on picking up around the house, errands, and so on. Sounds very mundane. “Middle-age teacher mom gets a cold and doesn’t feel well enough to do everything “. Big whoop. Well, I really wish I could just sit here and unload ALL the burdens of my heart, but there are things we all deal with that are not necessarily for posting/publishing. When I say we all do, I mean men, women, teenagers, children, rich, poor, middle-class, educated, uneducated. I dare you to find someone not in pain, coming out of pain, or on their way to feeling some kind of pain.

My heart has been heavy this week. I’ve heard these type of burdens referred to in churches as “unspoken prayer requests” and “special intentions”. Whatever you call them, these are common to us all. Sometimes only God knows and that’s okay. The phrase “we carry unnecessary burdens” is a fairly common one. I personally (and no one asked me) think the more appropriate phrasing is that “we carry burdens unnecessarily”. The first phrase implies that our burdens are “unnecessary”. The second implies that we have bonafide burdens, but we carry the majority of the weight and we shouldn’t.

Little one unknowingly taught me a lesson about this today. I love how children are conduits of God unawares. We got him a small training bike for an early birthday present. He kept pulling it behind him to the door to go outside. He fussed because it was heavy, and more so because I told him we couldn’t go out today. It was very windy and wet. He pulled and struggled. I kept telling him I would help him and we could play inside. He just kept struggling with the bike and fussing about not being able to go outside. It hit me as I was watching him. I’ve been carrying the weight of my burdens this week. Struggling. Instead of praying about it (continuously), I kept trying to fix everything myself.

Eventually, I got him settled in the playroom and we listened to worship music and played with Play-doh. He and I felt much better and a weight was lifted off me. The burdens remain, the problems, too, but the weight of them is now lighter. Lay it at His feet. Every day, several times if you must… but lay it down.