Sing Your Hallelujah...

I decided to give up complaining for Lent.  I made the decision to put a quarter in a jar every time I complained and then I was going to do something with the money I collected.  To be honest, I didn't really have a plan for what I was going to do with the money, because I was hoping there wouldn't be much in the jar, but yesterday I dumped the whole roll in the jar, fully knowing where my heart has been and called it a day (this was to the benefit of my kids who became the recipient of the quarters, because I was too cheap to buy candy to stuff our eggs with...everyone wins, right?).

Truth be told, life can just be draining.  Parenting is hard.  Work in never ending.  We never seem to have enough time in a day.  Marriage is work.  Transitions can kick the life out of you.  Expectations sometimes aren't met.  Disappointments are a real.  Relationships are complicated.  And sometimes, you just find yourself struggling to keep your head above water.  And so you complain.  About everything.

I think the enemy kind of likes that.  The whole complaining thing.  I actually think it's one of the things he uses to drive our heart further from the heart of Jesus.  He wants us to focus on our insecurities because those will be the very thing that cause us to forget what God created us to do.  He wants to keep our thoughts on what's not yet in hopes that we'll forget what God has already done.  He wants to remind us where we are weak so we'll take our focus off the seemingly impossible things that God might be stirring up.  He wants to remind us of just how hard this life is so that we'll walk around as people who have forgotten about the hope and joy that once captivated us.

I've found myself these past few months fighting with the enemy.  Sometimes it's at work as I battle insecurities.  Sometimes it's as I hold my little girl whose really attached to her Daddy which sometimes is just hard for this mama.  Sometimes it's as I deal with the unmet expectations I have in life and in people.  The enemy loves to fight.

But Jesus.

This morning, I was sitting in church with my family when we sang these words:

The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting
Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated

Jesus has already won.  He's defeated the enemy and he fights for our hearts every single day.

As I stood there with my family, weeping like a big baby (to which Madi kept saying over and over, "what's wrong mama") I was totally overwhelmed by that Jesus.  Just five months ago, we pulled a little girl out of the only world she ever knew and brought her to a place that so foreign and so unfamiliar.  Five years prior to that, her big brother was flown half way around the world to discover the meaning of a "forever family."  Both children came from places where hope was scarce and pain was an every day reality.  Now, totally dressed as royals (literally...those were the chosen outfits of the day), one was held in the arms of her Daddy and the other had his arms around his forever family, as we all sang the next words to that song.

We sing Hallelujah.
We sing Hallelujah.
We sing Hallelujah.
The Lamb has overcome.

The enemy has NOTHING on our Jesus.  When life is draining...When parenting is hard...When work is never ending...When we don't have enough time in a day...When marriage is a lot of work... When transitions kick the life out of you...When expectations aren't met, disappointments are real and relationships are complicated...When you think you're drowning...stop putting quarters in the jar and just let out your hallelujah.  Because you know what?  The lamb has overcome.

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