Monday, July 30, 2007

Monday, Monday

Well, it's Monday again. There are 52 in a year (or something like that), so why can't I ever get used to them? It's never easy to get out of bed on a Monday morning, no matter how early you go to bed on Sunday night. I really don't like going to bed early on Sunday nights though. During the week, I am one of those that likes to be in bed by 10 pm. (My parents probably think I am nuts if they are reading this now b/c I was the child that always protested bedtime!) But now, I can't wait for the end of the day when I can crawl into my warm bed, snuggle up next to Brett and drift off to sleep as I count my many blessings. Anyway, on Sunday night I just can't bring myself to go to bed early. It's like I am protesting Monday morning because I know the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner Monday morning is here and I have to go to work. Ick! I love my job - I do, and I love the amazing company I work for, but this can not be all there is. Monday mornings have to feel good at some point in life, right? Maybe someday when we have little ones and I have the luxury of staying home (hopefully) I will learn to cherish the Monday mornings more. To wake up and see the smile on the face of my little ones and be able to care for them and love them and experience life through their eyes. Oh, the joy! Plus, when you have kids, everyday is like a Friday, right?! (Am I right all you moms out there?) I will not even be able to tell a Monday from a Saturday because everyday is a weekend, right?!?!? You are all laughing hysterically at me right now, aren't you!?

So, I guess you could say I have a bit of the Monday blues. It's a Monday and I'm allowed to be down, right?! A big part of my Monday misery is that I miss my brother so much. For those of you that don't know he is in Lima, Peru for the next 2 years (well, 2 years from the first of June when he left). He is there through the AIM program (Adventures in Missions). He completed the classroom portion last year and is currently serving the mission field portion. I am so very, very proud of him and so amazed at the opportunity God has given him, but the selfish side of me misses him more than words can express. My brother and I are very, very close. He is 12 years younger than me so I have always felt a little like a 2nd mom to him. He is one of my very best friends and continues to challenge me and amaze me every day. Please pray for him and his team (there are 5 others besides Brent), their safety, the lives of the Peruvians and so many others that they are there to minister to and pray that they will truly cherish every moment of this once in a lifetime experience they have been given. 'Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 28:19)

I am also a little down today because I have a really good friend that is going through a tough time right now. He has been dating this girl for about 3 years and the relationship really has never been that great. He stuck it out hoping it would get better but he has really known all along that it was not right. He tells me all the time that "This is it" - the day that he is finally going to walk away. He never does. He doesn't want to hurt her. He has such a kind heart but he is making himself miserable. I keep telling him that not wanting to hurt her is just hurting himself in the process. He has been "stuck" in this relationship for 3 years too long and each day that goes by makes it harder and harder for him to really walk away. I tease him by telling him that I am not going to be his friend anymore if he stays with her. But the last thing he needs is for his friends to walk away from him. I really have contemplated it though because I think he leans on his friends too much and knows that we will be there no matter what (which we will but I am getting a little frustrated with this merry go round). I care about him a lot and want him to be truly happy. I just don't know what to do. I have prayed for him - a lot! Please pray for him as well. Let's call him Mark. (In case any of you do know him, I want to protect his privacy as he confides in very few people). Please pray for Brett and I as well, that we will know what we can do to help him and that God will use us to speak to him in ways that we haven't been able to yet.

I apologize for my meltdown and negativity above. I am over it now! (Writing can be so therapeutic!) I promise I have not forgotten that God is good and I have more blessings than I can count. I just had to throw a 5 minute pity party. Now I am good and all is well.
I hope that this Monday finds you all doing well and that all Mondays ahead will offer at least a glimmer of a fabulous day only packaged with the label: Monday

Love to you all!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Christine! It's Barbara (Norman). It's been a long time, but I'm glad to see you have a blog, too! (I saw your comment on Suzanne's post.) Mondays are the WORST- I agree. For me, it means giving up time spent with people on the weekends you don't usually get during the week. OR, just having some much needed down time. Hopefully the day got better as you went along. Michael and I will keep Brent and your friend in our prayers. How amazing that God is using Brent in such outstanding ways! I know you're a proud sister. Keep in touch!

Suzanne said...

Today was the gloomiest of Monday's for me...check out my blog for details. I have always assumed (based on Garfield's mentality) that Mondays are supposed to be dreadful. But, if we think of them as a "clean slate" per se, they can be QUITE ;) hopeful. We should use Mondays as a time to reflect on the previous week and see how we can improve this week. We should use Mondays to meditate on how we can better ourselves for the week ahead. We should use Mondays to...oh PLEASE!!! Mondays are awful, just admit it! :)

Leilanni said...

I love your Monday post! I always got an icky feeling in my stomach come about Sunday afternoon because I knew the week started all over the next day and I wanted to hang on to the weekend a little bit longer! And Suzanne - your comment cracked me up!!!

Honestly, I can't even remember what day it is most of the time now. My only 2 gripes with Monday now are 1)Brad goes back to work and 2)it's laundry day around here and you already know how I feel about that. :-)

Yay for Brent! I know you miss him but I know he will be such a blessing to all those around him. I will keep him in my prayers!

This is turning into a REALLY long comment - but I'll be praying for your friend, too. It's so frustrating to watch someone you love continue to make bad choices over and over again!

GlitteryKitchenTable said...

Mondays are such a drag! I think Suzanne's comment said it best-there are so many things we should use mondays for but it is just so much easier to put stay up late and put the day off just a little bit longer! :)

I will be praying for your friend-I know it's hard to watch someone your close to go through something like that. You just want to shake them and tell them what they need to be doing!!

And of course, Brent is such an amazing guy and such a great example to all of us!

Thank you for such an honest post. Tomorrow is Tuesday! Yay!

Suzanne said...

Christine!!! Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I somehow skipped over your paragraph about Brent. I've read everyone's comments about Brent and kept thinking, "she didn't mention Brent...it's BRETT silly!". I finally realized that I must have missed something.

I know how much you miss him...and I'm sad that you're sad. But, we know that God is using him and that he will do amazing things with His hand on him. This is such an amazing opportunity Brent has and his life will change from it. As will yours.

I love the relationship you have with Brent. If Shelby is half the big sister that you are to Brent I will be so pleased. Brent is so lucky to have you, and the greatest thing is that he knows it. You both cherish your relationship, and it's always been so amazing to see you together. I know it seems like he'll be gone forever, but he will return, and when he does your relationship will be stronger than ever.

Holly said...

I like your post! You are so funny about Mondays. It's laundry/pick up a Toys R Us worth of toys destruction day for us. Our house truly looks like a Toys R Us clearence sale after Will is done with it. When I taught school, I always got kinda sad on Sunday night.
I'm sorry about you missing Brent. Your mom said you are going to see him in December???
He is such a great guy and you are a wonderful sister to him. I'll be praying for God to continue to use you with your friend. Have a great week!

Suzanne said...

Okay Christine...time for a new post!!!!!!!!! I'm taking you off my "fellow blogers" list if you don't get your act together! ;-)

I love you sweetie!!
Suzy