Philippians 4:13: this is the verse Brent chose as our “verse of the week.” It’s not a hard one to memorize, which has actually been nice because I’ve been spending the past couple days really meditating on it and mulling it over in my mind.
I used to think people “over-spiritualized” everything. I would hear people talk about how losing weight was a spiritual battle or how they prayed about what kind of dishwasher to buy and I would think “God does not care what kind of dishwasher you buy.” But then, as I got out on my own and realized that I ate food when I was stressed instead of running to the Lord and I started trying to figure out how God wanted me to spend my money, I realized that God does care about those things–that in fact, EVERYTHING is spiritual.
So today, as I mull over our verse for the week, I am realizing that “ALL things” really does mean ALL THINGS. The big stuff and the hard stuff and the traditionally spiritual stuff, and also the small stuff and the daily stuff and the things I wouldn’t normally think about.
We can do ALL things.
B can do the early mornings and the long days and the late nights.
I can maintain a work/life balance.
We can live with an uncertainty about the future.
B can lead our family.
I can submit to Brent.
Brent can work and study and prepare.
We can manage our finances in a way with which the Lord is pleased.
We can live without fear, knowing God has us in a home he picked for us.
We can do ALL the things!!
But why do we fail? Because we’re trying to do ALL things through our own strength. I’m trying to keep an orderly home and be successful at work and run a great cheer program and keep a healthy body and memorize Scripture and maintain great friendships through Rachel’s strength. And Brent is trying to lead our family and study for tests and apply for school and work all the hours and maintain a healthy body through Brent’s strength. And we fail.
We can ALL things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.
We can do NO thing WITHOUT CHRIST who strengthens me.
Daily, moment by moment, we are learning to lean on Christ, to gather all our strength and ability from Him and through our relationship with Him, knowing that then, we can do all things.
osh, I love that man. We celebrated with all his favorite foods at my parents the day before, then he went to breakfast with his best bro on the big day. After a quick lunch meeting for me, we put Baby B in the car and headed out to my in-laws. We spent the weekend at their cabin, mostly just relaxing and eating A LOT. It wasn’t a huge celebration, but B loves family and friends, so it was a perfect weekend for him. Plus the man’s love language is gifts, so he always loves his birthday. He got the Jawbone Up 24, moolah, and tickets to see Brian Regan next weekend. Moment #2: Cheer Camp!! Cheer ca
mp is this beautiful, exhausting experience, and I love it. It’s pretty much exactly what you think it would be, except harder. There are matching outfits and big bows and glitter and there is so.much. pep. Except you have to maintain all that pep while you throw a girl in the air over and over and over again and you’ll probably get punched in the face or dropped on the ground and you still have to smile. My girls did so awesome–we made it a whole week with very minimal drama, they brought home some trophies and had a whole lot of fun. Love those girls. Moment #3: I feel like the most beautiful situations do not exist without some pain, they are brutally beautiful…”brutiful.” When I was little, all I wanted to do was be a wife and a momma. I am absolutely devoted to prioritizing my family and giving my husband, and eventually my kids, the very best part of me. But shut-the-front-door, it is hard!! These last few months, work has pulled a lot of my best out of me, leaving a tired, disheveled, frustrated wife to greet Brent when he gets home at night. I hate that, and it makes me angry, which just worsens the cycle. I’m working on choosing Brent, choosing relationships, choosing quiet, choosing solitude, choosing the best things God has for me, and letting go of things that don’t really matter. It makes sense for me to have a job outside the home right now, but it definitely complicates my priorities and goes against the desires of my heart. But that’s not an excuse–it’s just where God has me right now, and I need to remember that He is my ultimate priority and when I focus on giving Him my whole heart, He will help me line up my priorities. I’m daily striving to put my heart and time in God’s hands, holding loosely to my life, trusting that He will carry the pieces that matter and He will drop the pieces that don’t. So grateful my life is not my own, so blessed to share it with Brent. 
Team Bahl 