You press the potato button

Happy Monday, friends!

Well, a lot has been going on over here. I painted my son's room this weekend (with two small enthused helpers). It occurred to me to run downstairs, grab a camera, and take photos of the fun project, but I decided it was all I could handle just watching like a hawk two kids with paint rollers in a tight space. All accidents were averted, though. And his room is one step closer to being Star Wars'ed out. He has a long piece of wall that overhangs, about a foot from the ceiling. I'm going to paint it with flat black today and somehow write, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away on it."

I've also been having fun with my new birthday phone. I totally meant to link up for my very first Insta-Friday last week and completely forgot. So this week I'll have a bunch of little cute square shots to share.

This morning I'm thinking about simplifying. I want to get back to the heart of this post, where I was inspired to ask the Lord for His agenda for my days. I need to be more faithful in surrendering my agenda, and not getting ahead of Him. That's what it feels like my regular inclination is: to get ahead of God and His work in my life.

These thoughts caused me to remember a conversation I had with a friend last year. I was telling her how I no longer cook baked potatoes because I always mess them up. She looked at me confused. I explained that I don't know if it's foil or no foil, it's a pain to puncture them a million times with a fork, I want big bakers, but then they never cook through, so are my punctures enough, I leave them in the oven for an hour and the centers are still hard...I was at a loss as to how to get a perfect potato baked. She again looked at me like I was from another dimension and said, "Well. I just throw them in the microwave." I returned her same look. "What?? For how long? Does it make them mushy? Or radioactive? Who cooks a potato in the microwave??" I obviously don't use mine much. She then leaned towards me and said in the tone I use to impress to my children that they should know better, "You just press the "potato" button."

I was baffled by the news that there was such a thing. Lo and behold, I found I had one of those. In one statement, my potato-baking became totally simplified.

This morning, I was reminded of how complicated we make our own lives. I get overwhelmed with the problems surrounding me, and I think sometimes God is essentially saying the same thing to me: "You just press the "potato button." Which in His language, equals, Let Me Handle It.

This is one of my absolute favorite portions of scripture. (I need to put it on my memorizing list!)

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty.
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 131

Here are some things that are going in the "too difficult for me" folder today:

fixing the deeply rooted issues in my marriage
solving the mystery about why my daughter cried the whole morning as she got ready for school
determining how a little vacation a month from now will go
knowing how to talk to a friend who is struggling in her faith
understanding how God can heal even when things look hopeless

I will certainly take steps in all these areas to do my best. I am not making an excuse to discard my responsibilities. But I refuse to let myself worry. I refuse to overly "involve myself" in these problems. To me, that means, I need to take a day at a time. Slow down to the Lord's patient pace, bring my anxieties to Him in prayer, and trust that He is still on His throne. I am not. And I am only to follow His lead. Not rush ahead.

We complicate our lives so much. And that's not what God wants for us. I'm speaking to myself when I say, "Don't be overwhelmed by what's ahead of you this week. Just walk humbly with our God, one step at a time."

And don't forget you have a "potato" button.