Don’t sit on the cactus
“Being negative only makes a journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don’t have to sit on it.” - Joyce Meyer
Joyce is and has always been one of my favorite Christian speakers. She bluntly tells it like it is and I long to have that personality. But what she says is always true, whether we want to accept it or not. I read this quote while waiting in the car rider line with my children and it struck me that this is my life now. I have been given a cactus and I have been sitting on it. No wonder I was such a “pain in the rear” (no pun intended). I would mope around, cry, blame it on someone else. I was not a happy wife or mommy to be around yet I couldn’t turn it around. It was like I was living in this bubble of negativity that couldn’t be popped.
I’ve read and listened to a lot of Joyce’s sermons. So many, in fact, I could probably tell you her life story. She has become a huge mentor to me. There are still plenty of times where all I can be is negative. I mean - what else am I supposed to do when these are the cards I have been dealt with. The prayers haven’t been answered. I’m not patient and the bad guys keep winning, where’s the justice in that?! Of course I want to be negative. But Joyce has a point here. Have you ever set on a cactus? I haven’t, but I can only imagine. They look beautiful, but they look like they would hurt too! It’s like telling the child not to touch the hot stove just as his fingers are touching it. So back to the cactus. How can we make the journey more positive or less negative as we are traveling this difficult road at this point in our lives?
Have you ever taken a 9 or more hour road trip with 4 kids under the age of 10? Well, I have and sometimes I wish I was probably sitting on the cactus instead! An, just joking! So, as a mom preparing for this journey, I am packing and planning, buying books, going to the dollar aisle at Target, making as my oldest daughter likes to call them “Bags-o-fun” AKA things to keep them entertained or supposed to keep the entertained the entire trip. Making sure they have their phones, iPad, charges, headphones, etc. I am researching Pinterest for cool ideas as well to make the time fly by and be fun (positive).
But you also have to plan for bathroom breaks, food stops, and maybe the occasional traffic, so you must physically and mentally prepare yourself for this as well. This same prinicipal applies to the difficult journey you are facing right now. IF you can be positive and survive the “road trip” to the destination God has for you. The same - positive thoughts, research the Bible, and not sitting on the cactus in despair waiting for someone to come pull you up and get your through it.
Allow for the rest breaks for yourself to heal. Food stops are needed to keep you physically healthy. $1 coffe shop talks with friends.
There will be down days where there is stop and go traffic or a complete standstill, but you must also persevere and wait till its time to move forward again.
Joyce is and has always been one of my favorite Christian speakers. She bluntly tells it like it is and I long to have that personality. But what she says is always true, whether we want to accept it or not. I read this quote while waiting in the car rider line with my children and it struck me that this is my life now. I have been given a cactus and I have been sitting on it. No wonder I was such a “pain in the rear” (no pun intended). I would mope around, cry, blame it on someone else. I was not a happy wife or mommy to be around yet I couldn’t turn it around. It was like I was living in this bubble of negativity that couldn’t be popped.
I’ve read and listened to a lot of Joyce’s sermons. So many, in fact, I could probably tell you her life story. She has become a huge mentor to me. There are still plenty of times where all I can be is negative. I mean - what else am I supposed to do when these are the cards I have been dealt with. The prayers haven’t been answered. I’m not patient and the bad guys keep winning, where’s the justice in that?! Of course I want to be negative. But Joyce has a point here. Have you ever set on a cactus? I haven’t, but I can only imagine. They look beautiful, but they look like they would hurt too! It’s like telling the child not to touch the hot stove just as his fingers are touching it. So back to the cactus. How can we make the journey more positive or less negative as we are traveling this difficult road at this point in our lives?
Have you ever taken a 9 or more hour road trip with 4 kids under the age of 10? Well, I have and sometimes I wish I was probably sitting on the cactus instead! An, just joking! So, as a mom preparing for this journey, I am packing and planning, buying books, going to the dollar aisle at Target, making as my oldest daughter likes to call them “Bags-o-fun” AKA things to keep them entertained or supposed to keep the entertained the entire trip. Making sure they have their phones, iPad, charges, headphones, etc. I am researching Pinterest for cool ideas as well to make the time fly by and be fun (positive).
But you also have to plan for bathroom breaks, food stops, and maybe the occasional traffic, so you must physically and mentally prepare yourself for this as well. This same prinicipal applies to the difficult journey you are facing right now. IF you can be positive and survive the “road trip” to the destination God has for you. The same - positive thoughts, research the Bible, and not sitting on the cactus in despair waiting for someone to come pull you up and get your through it.
Allow for the rest breaks for yourself to heal. Food stops are needed to keep you physically healthy. $1 coffe shop talks with friends.
There will be down days where there is stop and go traffic or a complete standstill, but you must also persevere and wait till its time to move forward again.
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