Difficult Days

This afternoon I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. I groaned. My brain felt like it was draining through my sinuses, I coughed and nearly hacked up a lung, and my throat was on fire. My newborn baby daughter lay beside me, her own nose snuffly and congested.

What a rotten day.

A splitting headache prevented me from taking a nap, so I rolled over and retrieved my Bible from the nightstand. I read the following verse:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life --- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life --- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him ...
Romans 12:1 (The Message paraphrase)

I like reading The Message because it makes the Bible easier to put into context. This verse stayed with me as I shuffled through the rest of my day --- wiping runny noses, fixing snacks, changing diapers, picking up toys. When all I wanted to do was give up and crawl back into bed, I placed one foot in front of the other and offered my day as a sacrifice to God.

My life as a stay-at-home mom is not all daisies and roses, play dates and trips to the park. Some days are very difficult. But I choose to embrace my three young blessings, my caring husband, and my life at home. I place it before God as an offering --- a service of love.