I’ve felt like I’ve been in a bit of malaise or brain fog the last couple of weeks, and, interestingly, I was scrolling through old posts yesterday looking for something and noticed I had a post saying about the same thing the first few weeks of January almost every year. I think a lot of it is due to transitioning back into routine after the holidays, but that was disrupted a bit due to several snow days. But after getting a lot of sleep, I think I’m back on an even keel. Yesterday brought progress in several areas:
- Temperatures in the 40s! I didn’t have anything to do with that, of course, but after days and days of sub-freezing weather, 40 felt pretty nice, and most of the ice and snow has finally melted. Winter’s not over yet, but this little break was heartening.
- Lists. In spite of “brain fog,” some of my problem was just laziness. I’d think of things to work on but would veg out with solitaire on the computer instead. After confessing that to the Lord, I made a running list of various things that needed to be done and got started on it yesterday.
- I’m still working on decorating the house. It’s going slowly both because it takes me a while to decide where to put things and because I need Jim’s help for some of the heavier items — plus the holidays put all of that on hold. I concentrated on our room yesterday and got several things up on the wall, several boxes put away, and a dust ruffle and dresser scarf ironed and in place. A bit of lace and decorativeness does my heart good. I do still plan to post pictures of the house, hopefully soon. We’re still waiting on those living room chairs…
- I’ve been able to make headway on this cross stitch project here and there during the evenings. Jason commented that I’d been working on it a long time, and a variation of the song came to mind…”Little by little, stitch by stitch…” I don’t even remember when I started it, but it’s fun seeing it come together. I’m dreading the words in the hoop, though, and left them for later. They’re the most important segment but they don’t follow the lines and squares — I may write them on with a washable fabric marker and stitch over them.
- Anger…which is actually a regression rather than a progression. I’m not in general an angry person every day, and some times, by God’s grace, I can take things in stride. But sometimes I can get blindingly white-hot angry in a flash, and often over some stupid little thing. And it’s worse when I’m in “the right” (or else believe I am) because it’s harder to let that anger go. Such an incident happened yesterday (no, not with anyone in my family), and after the emotion cooled down I was terribly ashamed and discouraged. I didn’t really say anything, though if the other person was alert they could have picked up on it. But the roiling under the surface was neither healthy nor honoring to the Lord. I confessed that to the Lord as well, and a couple of verses came to mind (“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” [Ecclesiastes 7:9] was one, as was “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” [James 1:20]), yet I still felt shrouded in defeat. So this morning I did a brief word study on “anger” and “wrath,” mainly in Proverbs and the epistles. Several helped, but one that realy jumped out at me was, “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” (Proverbs 19:11). Meditation on that and some of the others is helping.
So, though winter will still be here for a while and I’ll always have a list of things to do and an old nature to contend with…I am encouraged to see some progress.
Stray Thoughts 
I thought I would get so much done over this past 4-day weekend but hardly accomplished anything other than the usual day-to-day things and barely managed to get those done. I think it is the weather, the blues, etc.
Kind of got my day off to a bad start causing me to have a not-so-great day but, alas, our day ended at prayer at church last night and I just humbled myself, told Him all about and found a peace in my spirit.
It feels soooo good to get back in a routine this morning and have little Jaylon! And I’ve accomplished more so far today than I think I did all weekend! 🙂
Barbara! Believe it or not….I had a bit of a “fit” yesterday, too, all because of our new cellphone and having to talk to someone from who-knows-where on our planet who couldn’t say my name correctly AND had no idea what they were doing! Imagine that.
I didn’t blow up at her or at Ed. I just kind of fumed and stormed around and “stuff”.
Love your lacey things and LOVE the cross stitch! Sooo beautiful!!
Well, I’m still putting stuff away since our move in June! Some things in my bedroom I had to put off because of the hideous orange shag, but now that it’s gone, it’s like a clean slate to work with.
It’s looking to be in the 50’s today! WooHoo! It’s so nice to have days like this to be able to go outside for physical refreshing without slipping, sliding or freezing my tail off!
Good study on anger. It’s nice to get to the root of what His Word says so that we can apply it to our lives properly.
God bless!
I’m kind of in a post holiday brain fog too. And I’ve got a ton of things to do, and have had to make lists per day to get it all done. I just finished paying bills on line (check that off the list) which is why I quickly popped over to say hi to you.
Decorating takes time. We’ve been here 10 years and I still feel like there are rooms or walls that need decorating (or at this point redecorating).
I love all you lace. You’re inspiring me to put some of my own out.
Hope you get another 40 degree day 🙂
I’m glad I’m not the only one that struggles with January fog.
I know it can be discouraging to see that an old reflex is still there. But it sounds like it could have been a lot worse and you could have nursed the anger much longer. Instead, you’re dealing with it. Be encouraged.
Temperatures are higher here, too, and the sun even came out for a little bit the other day. I finally decided my house needs a through cleaning whether I want to or not, so I might as well want to, and I made a detailed goal list to get a couple of projects done and even purchased an organization book.
As for anger — it is funny but I am apt to get angry more quickly if someone I care for is slighted. I am generally more patient when I am the one suffering the insult; however “generally” is not “always”. Sometimes I have a tendency to chew on things long after I should have let them go and moved on.
I most often find it harder to forgive and move on when the person I perceive to be wrong won’t discuss the matter. Your verses were a very helpful reminder fort me as well. Thank you.
I have a cross-stitch project (a birth sampler for eldest) that I have been working on for almost 7 years! It’s on linen, so it’s really hard to see. I actually looked at it over the weekend and THOUGHT about working on it. I didn’t, though. I have to get to it so I can make samplers for my two other children!
I’m not trying to find excuses for anger but what happened sounds like a symptom of perimenopause. I don’t know if you’ve had any other but sudden anger was something I noticed early on along with mood swings. I still remember how I felt and I was still in my 40s.
I like what you’ve done so far on the cross stitch….I have been doing a lot of reading this month during the day…probably should have been doing something else.
As you know it has been almost two years since we sold the Pittsburgh house (in July) and I still have a few boxes of books and home decor to go through…mainly I just don’t know if I’m ready to part with the decor even though I’m not going to use it..the books I really need to sort and donate to the library..So don’t feel like it has to be done all at once..I was that way when I was younger and we moved but not so much nowadays…..I did finally clean out my linen closet recently…I had just unpacked the boxes and not sorted anything so it was just stuffed in there…I’m going to post a photo because it looks so good…didn’t do a before one, though.
Stay warm,
Mama Bear
Pingback: Friday’s Fave Five « Stray Thoughts
Cross stitch was not one hobby I ever did, yours is so lovely. However, I can relate to the feeling of I’m not sure my husband and I call it hibernation it only happens this time of the year and the feeling can be well overwhelming. I’m about to decorate two bedrooms in our home and I have been in the about stages since November, soon the season will be upon me and I won’t be able as guests will be in.
Barbara,
Love seeing the cabbage lamp coming together in that cross-stitch project!