Babysitting, Cleaning…and Choosing Joy 💗

I’ve realized that often, the hardest things are the ones which teach us the most. In these hard moments, we need to choose joy over complaining or grumbling.

I know I’ve written on this subject before, but I’ve learned so much and I want to share with y’all again, how important this is.

I’ll share a little story with y’all first, though…

I’ve had lots of experience taking care of my siblings, but one day in particular was hard for me.

Mom and Dad had to do a lot of things in relation to the rental homes we have. They left at around 8:30 a.m. and left me in charge of the two youngest boys. No big deal, they were really easy to care for. Mom and Dad got back at 2 p.m. and left again at around 4, this time leaving me with all but the youngest, of my siblings. This was a little more work, and my stomach was hurting, but I had to keep at it. After all, this was what I had been told to do. Being the oldest of the family, this was my responsiblity and I wasn’t about to quit. I’ve always been told to “Go Hard, or Go Home.”, and on our family, it’s pretty much not an option to choose the latter. That being said, I was all in, on this babysitting thing.

Mom had started on supper, but I still had quite a bit to do. So, while I was on that, I talked on the phone to one of my best friends, Riley. That was really nice and I was able to get a good amount of things done. By the time I got off the phone with her, supper was almost done and I had done a little laundry. Then, I found out that Mom and Dad wouldn’t be home until around 9 p.m.

Anyways, I’m sure this whole step-by-step of my babysitting is rather boring y’all, so I’ll cut the chit-chat and get down to matters.

The thing was, I had had an already-long day, and to think of there being 4 or 5 more hours of this, was depressing.

I tried to make the best of the situation, however, and I pressed on. Everyone ate supper, I cleaned up and sent them off to watch a movie upstairs. While they watched, I cleaned the upstairs like a mad-woman. I’m telling you, never had I cleaned that well, before. It took awhile, but once I got it done, I nearly collapsed into a seat, with my supper and cup of tea.

Honestly, at that moment, I felt like crying for several reasons. (1). The whole upstairs looked amazing and I was proud of myself for cleaning all of it. (2). I was stressed out about everything that still needed done, (3). My stomach wasn’t feeling good, and (4). I really was very happy to just be alive.

This is honestly not the best example, but I’ve been learning that God uses our worst moments for His good. He showed me that I can be joyous, even through the difficult moments. He is right alongside me, so why should I whine and complain about it?

We serve an absolutely amazing God and I can’t begin to describe how much I have been learning, on regards to choosing joy over complaining. It starts as a desire, but don’t let it stay as one. Let your desire turn into a choice. We all have the choice to say “No.” to complaining and grumbling and “Yes!” to finding the joy in our lives.