Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ~1 Thessalonians 5:18 HCSB

Seeing that tiny tail at the end of the roll of toilet paper hanging there was like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

At least a half dozen rolls sat a mere inches away under the sink, but the people living in my house were preoccupied with other things. We had had polite chats about being thoughtful of others by replacing the roll, but my repeated lectures had fallen on deaf ears.

On top of this, dirty shirts landed just outside the laundry basket, shoes were strewn on the rug, and backpacks landed mysteriously in the middle of the entry hall floor. My favorite was the dirty glass that made it all the way to the dishwasher—except for the last five inches.

These things bugged the living daylights out of me. They still do to a certain extent, but much less so. I remember the day when I had just cleaned up several messes I found around the house. When I walked into the bathroom, I discovered an empty roll of toilet paper, sitting in the holder with another full roll balancing on top. I almost popped my cork when the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “You won’t always have these messes to clean up.”

Ten years have passed. Not long after the Lord whispered those words, my first husband, Jim, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He passed away at fifty-nine. Since then, our children have grown up, moved out, and taken their messes with them. Interestingly, they are better at tidying up their homes than they were ours.

No backpack has lain in the middle of the entry hall floor for years now. The mess makers have left the building. But along with their messes, they took the giggles, the goodnight kisses, the proud report cards displayed on the fridge, and their bliss-covered faces as they took a bite out of a warm, chocolate chip cookie. Children are a gift from God.

Children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from him.   ~Psalm 127:3 NLT

The things that were once so irritating are now bittersweet. Not until they were taken away did I realize how many beautiful blessings went with them. The end of the roll wasn’t so bad.

Kids and spouses make messes. They do things that get under our skin, give us sleepless nights, and add grey hair to our heads. There is a cost to love, but I think most of the time it’s a bargain for what we receive in return.  Children grow up and leave the nest. Parents and grandparents pass away. So do spouses, and even children, sometimes.

Enjoy your family while you have them. Someday, you will look back on the frustrations of today and see them through distinctly different lenses. Time has a way of softening the sharp edges—it puts a filter on our thoughts that allows the sweet cream of our memories to rise to the top. Look for the cream now.

Job wrote, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).  God, in His infinite mercy, has blessed me with another wonderful husband. And wouldn’t you just know it? He does the exact same stuff. The annoyance of yesterday has been tempered by hard lessons learned from grief. Count it all joy when there are messes in your house. They mean mess makers live there.

We all get buried by the cares of life sometimes. Often the best way to pull out of that pit is by shifting our focus away from projects and back to people.

Set a timer for thirty seconds. Name as many blessings as you can.

Heavenly Father, give me a revelation about the other side of my situational coins. Help me to focus my attention on the joy and not the irritation—on the blessings, not just the dirty laundry they create. Let me live in the moment so the busyness of the day does not steal treasures. Guide me to appreciate what and who I have in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2019: The End of the Roll: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly. All Rights Reserved.