Exalting The Good

Now, I hope you’re sitting down when you read this, because there’s something I have to tell you that might knock you off your feet.  Are you ready?  Here it is: there have been times…several times…that I have felt like a terrible mom. There, I got it out!  I’m not joking about this either.  I have felt that way several times in the recent weeks with my hectic schedule. Between going to school, and working, and making sure all three boys are at basketball events, and making sure everyone in the family has eaten, and knowing who’s going where and when…my mind is sometimes overwhelmed with thinking.  I’m often doing my best to keep up with everything but finding myself overlooking small things. It leaves me focusing on my mess-ups rather than the good things that may have taken place.  Have you ever forgotten all the good things you do, because you’re focusing on the few mess-ups? 

For example, I have attended every one of my boys’ basketball games to be the best cheerleader I can be for them; however, there have been a few times this season, minutes before leaving for a game, a boy has said to me, “Mom, I can’t find my jersey!” Only for it to be found in the dirty clothes, because mom failed (my words not theirs) to get it washed in time for game day. What a failure I feel like to them.  It’s in these moments, I have a hard time focusing on the good, because I can’t get past my mistake.  It’s like an Eagle Scout has been in my brain tying knots and I can’t get them untied. 

These are the times when I lean on Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” That’s a popular scripture and it’s an important one to know. We often hear it repeated to others. It provides peace in a storm, courage when we feel small like a grasshopper, and encouragement when we feel defeated. Hello, undone laundry!!! Recently, when praying this particular verse over myself, I decided to open my Bible and read it from the page. Here’s the thing that surprised me when I read the verse again: there’s more to that verse than just, “Be still and know that I am God.” It actually has a very important message to consider.  Here’s the full verse, He says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” If I’m all tangled up in knots on the inside and displaying distress on the outside (imagine my hands on either side of my face like Macauley Culkin in Home Alone), then how is He being exalted, let alone among the nations or in the earth?  

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, a couple of forgetful moments don’t disqualify me as mom or disable my abilities.  Just like forgetting the second half of a famous scripture verse doesn’t disqualify the fact it’s still God’s Word. You see, God doesn’t need me to be the mom of all moms, because He is the King of all Kings. God will always find a way to be exalted.  In the same way, I have to find the good moments to exalt. I have to forget my mess-ups and focus on the good.  After all, a dirty jersey doesn’t keep a boy from winning a basketball game, especially when he’s got the best cheerleading mom in his life!