Bump on a Log

Fallen Log

Holidays can be exiting times of laughter and cheer.  Throughout the year we have holidays to give us times free from work, times with family and friends.  But for some these are times of sorrow and sadness, missing those who are no longer here and the lives they wished they had. 

I have been at both ends of this spectrum and can say I have encountered both extremes of analysis in just a few days.  In facing another holiday, a time for get-togethers and preparation, I admit I become lost in focusing on my current circumstance, those points that have yet to happen in my life.  It is so easy to get lost in the “Poor Me” mentality.  I can so easily become swallowed by those things I do not have.  Not being married, never having children, not getting the career, not going on vacation.  These things are just that, things.  They can seem to become our identity if we let them.  We let our mind focus on them to the point where they imprint on every part of our personality.  I can get lost in a picture of being a failed specimen, a rejected product.  It can overwhelm my every thought until I feel I am going to brake.  At that point it is easy to just give up, just throw in the theoretical towel.  Just let the holiday pass as if it is another day, just let the flood engulf me. 

But sometimes God puts people in our lives to remind us how important we are.  To veer our focus on whom God made us, and not what we think we should be.  It is so easy to just wish someone else would do it. Someone else would make the plans.  Someone else would do all the work, but waiting for someone else means miss out on the things God has for me.  Sometimes it is so easy to just be the picture on the wall and watch what everyone is doing as they pass.  Hoping that someone will stop and notice me, someone will consider me as a worthy purchase. 

In facing another holiday, I made a decision to not be the bump on the rotting log, but to be the flower that grows out of its withered remains.  I make a decision.  I clean my house, I cook my meal and I remember I have people in my life.  I send out last minute invites and plan for guests.  By the end of the evening I sit with my friends enjoying many laughs and making many memories.  Unbeknownst to me, I am given an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else, other lives that are thinking the some kind of things as me and walking similar paths as I.  God shows me I had a purpose and I was not a failure.

At times when you are tired of walking your own path, when you feel your life should be different then it is; I encourage you to look around and remember how you bless those you encounter.  Even though the circumstance may not be what you have planned, you still have a purpose and God has the strength to help you take ever step. 

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.  Philippians 2: 3-4 (NKJV)