Nicole Thayer

It has been quite a season here in the Thayer home. It's been a good season but a trying one nonetheless. Through the fall and winter, we've gone through the process of listing our house, selling it, and buying another house. It's a tall order while parenting four young kids! And we're finally here. In the homestretch. It's moving week. The box truck comes home tonight and we spend the next two evenings finishing up our packing and loading the truck and we move on Thursday. It's the week we've been waiting for and we're so excited and thankful. But friends, I'm overwhelmed. The list in my head is going something like this... you have to make lunch but wait first you need to do dishes gosh why didn't i pack the cups yet i need to pack the cups and silverware still i need to assemble another box okay now i really need to start laundry and start packing a suitcase for the kids to go to grandmas oh crud lucy drew on the wall again wheres that magic eraser oh no i totally forgot about that closet should i really throw this away what time is the cable company coming where are we going to put all the food from the fridge for 36 hours when should i go drop off that trunkload of donation items what are we going to have for dinner?

It's not my favorite mode to live in.

I texted Eric today as asked him to bring home Taco Bell for dinner. Again. (We'll stop grabbing fast food AFTER we move. For real. We really will.) And I told him I was overwhelmed and there is so much left to do and pack. He sent me this link and said, "Watch this. Change your overwhelmedness." Change your overwhelmedness. Overwhelmed is a pretty big word. It means to bury or drown beneath a huge mass. It's pretty much how I've been feeling yesterday and today but I listened to that song. And I was overwhelmed. I actually took my moment to be buried in God's great love. I let myself drown in his grace. For a moment I just sat and allowed myself to be quiet with him and reflect on his love and grace for me. And I was overwhelmed. It's hard to be drowning in these short lived fears and anxieties when you are drowning in His eternal love.

God talks a lot about what we look at. He tells us to "behold" him and what he has done. He tells us to turn our eyes on him and when we do something happens. We're overwhelmed in a different sea and it's a sea that gives us life, not destruction. God tells us to cast our anxieties on him because he cares for us and as I spent those moments with him, it was so easy to hurl those cares on him. It was easier to toss them when I was focused on HIM. In Philippians we read, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Now, I'm not about to think that my stress about moving compares to what you're going through. Maybe you're in the midst of losing a home or important relationship. Maybe your marriage is falling apart. Or your career. Maybe your health is deteriorating or the car repairs are more than you will earn in the next two weeks. Maybe right now motherhood feels like running a marathon with bricks tied around your ankles. But, dear friend, I promise that the greatness of God's love and grace is bigger. I PROMISE. I promise that his perfect peace is available to you and it will BLOW YOUR MIND. I mean, after all, it transcends all understanding. Just look at him. Look at him and who he is. He is not disappointing. Lift up your eyes, friend.

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.