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It was that kind of night…

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Have you ever had one of those evenings when you had hopes to have a fun night with your family and it turned out to be a disaster?

That was my night recently.

We went out for pizza and then decided to go to watch a movie.  I checked online and found the movie we wanted to see and we headed out.  It was a 25 minute drive to the movie theater and we were on schedule to make it with no time to spare.

As we got in the car….it started.  The bickering in the back seat!

Ellie and Sam were not happy with each other at all!  Just the slightest thing set them both off.  They were arguing back and forth and Bryan and I had had enough.  So then we started fussing at them and how they could not get along and the conversation escalated.  Before I knew it, we were all arguing with each other and I had no idea how it all even happened.

There was heavy traffic and we hit every light on red.  By the time we arrived to the theater, we were all in a terrible mood.  I was just ready to get into the theater, sit down with my popcorn and enjoy a good movie.

THAT…DID…NOT…HAPPEN

I think all of the greater Triad area decided to go to this same movie theater on this particular night at this specific time.  There were at least 50 people in line to buy a ticket and by the time we pulled into the parking lot, we were already 10 minutes late.

There was no way we were watching this movie.  We could never get through the line in time, so we got back in the car to drive 25 minutes home.

I wish I could say that we all had a positive attitude, ended up doing something super fun and made a beautiful memory with the kids!  Nope!  We didn’t.

We were frustrated and in a bad mood.

As we drove home, the complaining began about all the time we had wasted, and how this night had turned out to be a terrible night, and we didn’t get to have any fun and now we wouldn’t get any movie popcorn, and we should have never came to see a movie, and how we should have stayed home. etc. etc. etc.

So I sat there, in the passenger seat feeling sorry for myself over something so ridiculous, but when you’re in the moment, you do not have good sense.

I was discouraged that my kids were not getting along.  I was discouraged that we missed the movie.  I was discouraged that we wasted so much time driving to see a movie we couldn’t even see because half of America was there to watch the same movie.  I was disappointed.

As we were nearing our neighborhood, it was quiet in the car and we had our radio on the local Christian station.  I heard Bryan start to sing along with the radio.  This song was playing:

As Bryan continued to sing along, Ellie began to quietly sing too and then Sam joined in.  They were singing, “Lord I need you, Oh I need you”.  Eventually, they all three were singing to the top of their lungs this beautiful song about our dependence on God.  I sat there with a smile on my face because God was using this evening to remind me how desperate we are for Him.

We need Jesus.  Without Him, we have no hope.  We need Him every minute of everyday.

Life isn’t what we see on Facebook.  No one has a perfect life.  People have troubles.   People argue.  People get on each other’s nerves.

You and I should strive to love each other the best way possible, but we will have moments of failure.  We will fail as a friend, spouse, parent etc and when we do, it’s a good reminder on just how much we need Jesus.

When people and circumstances disappoint you my friend, I encourage you to remember this beautiful song sung by Matt Maher.  Listen to the lyrics and sing out loud, “Lord, I need you, oh I need you”, because….you do.

Hoping your next trip to the movie theater is better than mine was!

~Joy

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Art Madill
    at

    ALL things work together for GOOD for those that love the LORD..

  • Reply
    Jennifer D.
    at

    Thank you for sharing real life stuff!!

  • Reply
    Diane Fink
    at

    Great post_!

  • Reply
    Kim
    at

    I love your post, this one and all the one’s before. I was rushing through a busy day when this one hit my inbox but I saved it because I knew it would be words of wisdom and encouragement that I would need once my busy day slowed down. I finally got around to reading it and it was exactly what I expected! Thanks and keep it coming.

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