Six of Seven and the Accompanying Guilt

Yeah, I know. I missed a day, but I was helping with a scouts camp ALL DAY yesterday and just, seriously…there’s like 300 other bloggers to fill my teeny absence. You didn’t really miss me. My feedly has just been bursting this week, as have my comboxes and Saturdays are when I typically try to respond to comments and catch up on other blogs and just…just…..why is blogging so overwhelming???????

Anyway, thank you to everyone who’s been visiting this week. I’ve read all your kind comments and clearly, all the best people hang out here despite my gratuitous selfies. You rock. (And a big thanks to all the visitors from DENMARK who, according to my stats, were showing up like crazy this week. Please send me a gluten free Danish. )

That’s me giving you a fist bump. Go ahead. Touch the screen. You know you want to. Nobody’s looking.

Now I’m going to share some favs from the past week or weeks.

Help Jen pick her Lenten discipline. Or don’t and let me win. I’m buying her a hair shirt.

Fascinating article from Laura Grace Weldon about a young man saving babies in Africa.

Kendra’s post on discipline; yes. Do what she says. You’ll find having disciplined kids you enjoy being around will make homeschooling so much more tolerable as well.

The pat on the back you need from Lisa Jo Baker.

Your changing dreams and embracing the opportunities God throws your way at A Beautiful Mess. 

It’s seems many people are writing about seeking help outside yourself, as in therapy for marital trouble or mental illness. I used to think that only “certain people” went to psychologists or therapists. “Normal” people could just work through problems on their own. But the older I get and the more people I meet, the more I understand how vital therapy is for helping people through martial crisis, mental illness and understanding their children’s difficulties. The sacraments are just as important, however there comes a time when it is not enough and outside help is necessary. This is not a sign of weakness. As Simcha writes, 

 You know the old joke about the helicopter.  One day, in the middle of lunch, there is a flash flood, and everyone climbs up on the roof to await rescue. A boat comes by, and takes on as many passengers as it can.  One man declines, saying, “No, I have faith that God will save me.”  Then a helicopter flies up and loads up the rest of the stranded people — but again, the man declines, saying, “No, I believe that God will save me!”  The flood waters continue to rise, until finally the man is drowned. He turns up before the throne of God, and man, he is not happy.  “What happened?” he demands. “I had faith that you would save me!”

And God says, “What, you didn’t see the boat or the helicopter I sent?”

So, there it is.  Confession reconciles us with God, restores us to grace, strengthens us, and remits sin. We need it, and we cannot do without it. But it is not always all we need. Many, many of us need something else to help us off that rooftop, whether we’ve climbed up there ourselves, or been chased there by circumstances or by other people or by the trick of biology, or some combination of those things.

Sometimes we come out of the confessional knowing that we must try harder, pray better, recommit to a life of holiness.  And sometimes, we come out of the confessional knowing that, in order to try harder, pray better, and recommit to a life of holiness, we need help.

Check out Bonnie’s contribution HERE and Modern Mrs. Darcy’s take HERE. Don’t wait until it’s worse. Don’t go it alone.

(Climbs down from soapbox.) So there you go. Random-y link-y randomness to help me not feel bad about only blogging six of the seven days. ……STOP JUDGING ME……