In the desert

I was homeschooling my children today.

We were reading a story that had parallels to Moses' 

40 year trek through the dessert.

Mosses led. His people complained. 

They complained about having no water.

They complained about only having bread to eat.

They complained about having no meat to eat.

They complained about having regrets of leaving Egypt.

As I read the story, I too began to wonder if we were 
behaving much like the people of Egypt. 

My husband leads.  We complain.
We complain about having no friends here.
We complain about being so far from everything.
We complain about being lonely.
We complain about being bored.
We complain about not having any family here.
I complain about not having date nights. 
I have regrets of leaving Ohio, Virginia, and Michigan.

How easy it is for us to see the downside of a situation. 
I also realized that if I were living somewhere else, 
I may find something else to complain about there too. 

So, I wanted to try and flip the coin on the situation.
***If we had a bunch of friends, we may not have 
the same amount of time to spend together as family.

***If we lived in a bigger town, we might get irritated 
with the extra traffic and noise that comes with living 
closer to everything.


***In being lonely and bored, we've found more time for Christ.


***If family lived close by, a good thing could become 
strained or lose it's joy. 


***I have regrets about leaving previous locations 
because it is easy to forget the troubles that I faced in the past. 
I only see the troubles I am facing today. Any place will have
it's own troubles. But, any place will also bring with it new 
joys and blessings.

The only thing that I could not find a positive spin on 
was the lack of alone time with my husband. We are short on funds to do activities or pay for a sitter. And, we don't have family to take our children overnight. Or even for a day. And, this does in fact, put a strain on us and hurt our family as a whole. 


I also thought about how Mosses must have felt listening to all the complaining that went on........ 40 years worth! Did he ever wonder to himself, "I'm doing the best I can, and they're still not happy!" Did he ever say, "You think you were happier in Egypt, then go back already!" 


I wonder what goes through my husband's head sometimes.
I imagine that it might be something similar to what Mosses must
have thought at some point. Things like, "I'm doing my best, 
and I still can't make them happy!" "I wish my wife 
would stop asking me the same questions that require 
answers that I still don't have!" 


Since I see now (again) that complaining isn't going to 
get us anywhere at all, I'm going to try and change my 
point of view about being right where I'm at. It will be hard, 
I confess, since it's easier to complain about a thing then to 
look for the positive side.  I'd still like more friends for 
my children and myself. I'd still like date nights. But, right now, 
this is where God wants us. And, like I told my children, 
"If we can find the positive in a difficult situation, 
it will be much easier to find the good in a great situation."