Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed? Too much to do and too little time to do it in? Have you ever felt like everyone is making demands of your time and you are being pulled in all different directions? Have you ever been so tired you just couldn’t think at all?

That’s kind of where I have been recently. I’ve been really busy at work with deadlines that were difficult, if not impossible at times, plus all the other demands at home, family, etc. — all good things, but just a little too many at one time. I found myself feeling very frustrated and began having just a little bit of a ‘pity party’… oh, woe is poor little me! I began to wonder where was God in all this mess? I stayed true to my morning prayer time and gradually I began to feel the love of God again and remembered how much he loves me and wants only what is good for me. I thought about the saints, those folks who are especially close to God. Were they’re lives easy? Nope, don’t think so. Look at our newest saint, St. Teresa of Calcutta. She worked hard every day with no regard for her own wishes but only following what she knew God wanted her to do, all this while experiencing no consolations from God. Jesus himself was so overwhelmed in the Garden of Gethsemane that He sweat blood. Surely my little problems were nothing compared to this!

Sometimes I spend too much time trying to make my own ‘agenda’ work and I forget that God has an ‘agenda’ for me that is much better than anything I can come up with on my own. God wants only what is good for me, even if at the time it seems not so good, sometimes even painful. Psalm 139 is one of my favorites.

Lord, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My travels and my rest you mark;
with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
Lord, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is beyond me,
far too lofty for me to reach.
                       Psalm 139:1-6

God knows me better than I know myself. We’re always hearing about how we should be taking care of “number one,” namely ourselves, but the real “Number One” we need to be focusing on is God. Chasing after the things of this world never brings us joy, only doing God’s will brings joy and fills that longing deep in our souls that seems so elusive. God has me exactly where he wants me to be at any given moment, how I react to situations is up to me. If I surrender to God’s will and let Him lead me, the days are so much better.

This past week, while still crazy busy, was not nearly as frustrating because I opened myself up to God’s will and did my best to live in the present moment and not worry about what was going to happen next. If I got in a bad place, I called out to God and He answered—every time. Serving God, which means serving others, is not always easy. Serving others isn’t always as obvious as loving and helping the poor like St. Teresa did. Sometimes serving others means doing your job—whatever it may be—the best you know how because your job helps others in ways you may not see directly.

God can bring beauty out of any situation. Just like the picture at the start of this post, He can make a beautiful flower grow out of some dry asphalt.

After a difficult week, He granted me with a beautiful Saturday spent with my husband, son and granddaughter. We had a wonderful time together—a little shopping for plants, a nice lunch, then some work in the garden. I love to work in the garden and I know God knows that. He gave me that blessing because He loves me—always.

Dear Lord, please grant me the grace to see you in all things, even the difficult times. Stay by my side and lead me to You, the source of all true joy. Amen.