Philippians 4:8 - Think on these things...

     Yesterday, I served for our church in the kids’ ministry, with the 2nd-5th graders. I’m not entirely sure that I’m meant to serve with younger kids. I have two of them, so I obviously can keep them alive, but I’m not the super outgoing teacher-type. As I described my preferred activities in the classroom to my husband, he labeled it “scut work.” Need someone to cut something out? I’m your girl. Need someone to distribute snacks or take a kid to the water fountain? Right here. Need someone to read something? I can do it. I often feel bad for the other volunteers that I’m paired with (and I’ve been blessed to be paired with women who are the exact opposite of me) because I feel like maybe I’m not pulling my own weight. Maybe they also feel that way, or maybe not, but I will always step up to serve, even if it takes me out of my comfort zone and I have to stretch my skill set and talents.

This week, the lesson was about Philippians 4:8. I’m a huge fan of Paul and this bit of scripture has a special place in my heart (IYKYK).

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

I loved this because we applied it to “back to school (which for most of our kids started today)”. Focusing on the positives instead of the negatives and asking God to help us with that. Hate homework? Focus on the good parts of your day, or perhaps even focus on the fact that the homework was meant to help you practice what you’re learning so you can better understand it or get better at it. Paul was sitting in JAIL writing this letter to the Philippians and if anyone had a reason to be unhappy and focusing on the negative, it was him. But he didn’t!

I do want to mention toxic positivity for a moment. Because sometimes “good vibes only” just doesn’t do it. By constantly telling people “everything is going to be fine” and “don’t worry about it,” we are invalidating others’ feelings. It may be fine down the road, but when you’re in the thick of a mess, you should be entitled to feel however you feel. A gentle reminder to those around you that you’re praying for them is enough, and it doesn’t invalidate what they’re feeling. Ask how you can support them.

This reminder was good for me, though. As a major introvert who suffers from anxiety, I’ve had people tell me “don’t worry about it” until they’re blue in the face and guess what? I still worry about it. But shifting gears and intentionally counting my blessings does help sometimes. 

Sometimes, things DO suck. Sometimes life is a mess and it’s dark and lonely and sad. You’re allowed to feel those things. But it has helped me immensely to focus on the blessings in my life when this happens. It’s kind of like one of those “critique sandwiches.” Like, a positive, followed by a negative/weakness, followed up with another positive. For example, it’s a beautiful day outside, I have a hard meeting I have to attend that I’m dreading, but I started my day with a pumpkin coffee (sometimes, it really is the little things for me that make a difference). Sometimes, that’s not enough. And when those days hit, I pray. A lot. I ask for God to help me focus on what is true, right, noble, lovely, etc. Friends, I can tell you that there have been many dark days, even after I found Jesus. But I’ve never been alone for any of them. Knowing Him, has made all the difference for me. 

I hope those kids in our classroom remember this week’s lesson as the week throws first-week obstacles at them. I hope that when they sink into the desk in their math class and start to stress out about decimals and fractions, they’ll focus on the fact that they have amazing teachers who are ready to help them get it figured out, or that as soon as they make it through math, it’s time for recess. Sometimes, it really is the little things.