Accepting my Limitations

Dear Lord; Good morning Father, and happy Wednesday.  Well, first off I want to thank You for limiting the snowfall in our neck of the woods.  What potentially could have been a huge mess ended up being limited to a 3 – 4” coating that simply covered everything with a pretty white blanket.  The kids still got a day off of school but everything else seems to be moving along as normal, for which I’m very much appreciative.

Today Father, I’d like to discuss one of my biggest challenges if I may.  I Lord, am a “fixer”; my nature is to try to fix things no matter what.  While in many cases that can be a positive character trait, in some situations it ends up causing more trouble than helping.  This morning was a case in point for the latter.

Shannon had a very rough night and didn’t sleep well due to some pain in her legs, and woke a little on the edgy side.  I tried talking with her about it and after several pointed questions to see what I could do to help, it became apparent that all I was doing was aggravating her further.  I completely misread the situation and in my efforts to “solve a problem” I missed the point and handled it poorly.  Thinking about it on my ride to work this morning, I realized that this part of my nature needs to be more carefully tempered going forward.  For that to happen, when my urge to “jump in” strikes I need to remember a couple truths :

I’m not in control.  I can’t fix everything.

While I actually do know this Father, my brain sometimes ignores these seemingly simple facts when I see something I feel that I can help with.  I need to know when to simply sit and listen, and when to realize that things are outside my scope and to leave them in Your Loving Care.

Heavenly Father, please steer and temper my yearning spirit.  Help me make good choices as to how I can best serve Your Will, and to be the best Child of God that I can.  Where I can be of help, may Your Presence be my Guide to a positive end.  However when my involvement is not warranted, please help me recognize my limitations and lift those situations to Your Care.  In You, all things are possible Lord.  Amen.

~Phather Phil