Sounds like my life

 I was flipping around through various radio stations the other morning after dropping my son off at pre-school.  I don't listen to a lot of country music but every once in a while I will tune into the local country station when I can't find anything good on the Catholic radio station we have here in the Tampa Bay area.  So, as I was driving home and thinking ahead to my day of home schooling the older kids, cleaning up my messy house, cooking dinner, and all those other exciting tasks I get to tackle day in and day out, I flipped to the country station and heard a song that sounded like it was written for me....

"...I say hey man, what’s going on
He said I don’t know where to start
Sarah’s old car’s about to fall apart
And the washer quit last week
We had to put momma in the nursing home
And the baby’s cutting teeth
I didn’t get much work this week
And I got bills to pay
I said I know this ain’t what you wanna hear
But it’s what I’m gonna say
Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me..." ~Darryl Worley

    It was almost frightening how much it did sound like life to me, my life!  The broken washing machine (for us it is the dishwasher this week), the teething baby, the bills to pay and the worries about how we're going to pay them, it sounded like it was straight out of my own life!  The song made it sound almost humorous how we can let life's little nuisances get us down but it really spoke to me.  I, too, find myself frustrated, even depressed at moments, about all the little things that can go wrong in life. I, too, can let all the challenges in life drag me down and wear me out.  I lose perspective, I forget about my blessings, I feel like no one really understands how hard it can be at times.  Thankfully, you won't ever find me drowning my sorrows in alcohol but I do, do an awful lot of wallowing some days.
    I guess this song is proof that I am not the only one who struggles with discouragement and despair over life and all its trials, both big and small.  So, if your life seems to be as full of broken appliances, fussy, whiny kids, mounting utility bills, and self-pity as mine is these days, maybe you, like me, are focusing a little too much on the ordeals of life.  Maybe, it is time we start counting our blessings and offering our suffering up for those with even bigger problems than ours. 

(post script-- for those who are familiar with the whole song, the reference to an unexpected pregnancy in the second verse does not happen to apply to my life right now but I have experienced that, too.  To read all about my surprise pregnancy click here).