Wrong Side of the Bed

Today, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I never understood this saying until recently. It’s when I wake up grumpy and then I just can’t kick it the rest of the day. It’s awful. And it can happen to all of us. You’ll get the saying at a whole new level too, if it happens to you.

When it happens, treating my husband, kids and family with kindness 24/7 becomes a tougher task. And bringing two kids into our family, I realize how much I need patience and consistency (patience not being a strong point for me especially on those wrong-side-of-the-bed days).

In the Bible Mark asks, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”

“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This is huge, so God calls us to love Him and to love our neighbor!!!

As I leaned on our kitchen counter still grumpy at 2PM, it dawned on me, “love your neighbor??” My “neighbors” are not just the people sharing the fence line, they are also the people sharing (in my case) the food in our pantry. Our neighbors include whoever is closest to us (emotionally and physically).

From the moment I open my eyes, I have the opportunity to love my neighbors.

From the moment I open my eyes, I have the opportunity to love my neighbors. Living each day with my two little boys and one grown guy as my immediate neighbors, I strive to love them well because God calls me to! Some days, family can be the hardest neighbor to love. And some days they can be the easiest to love too! My boys melt me with their love and beauty every day!

But just as we are called to love our fence-sharers, coworkers, friends, and the people we encounter throughout our every day, so I must also love the neighbors that share the toilet paper roll.

Loving our neighbor starts at home and then grows outward. We may fumble, but there is always forgiveness and the ability to grow as we learn to love those around us well!

Who is closest to you, in your daily reality, that God might be asking you to love? Who are the neighbors that can at times be hard to love?

Let’s love well!

A prayer I might pray:

God, Thank you for loving me, accepting me as I am, and thank you for forgiving me. Help me to love my family well today, and those people in my closest proximity. Help me to overcome my weakness in being impatient. Let me be selfless and graceful. Help me go out and shine your light to those around me. -In Jesus name, Amen

When you’re unstoppable, you live your life loving others well.