You Revive Me

You revive me
You revive me Lord
And all my deserts are rivers of joy
You are the treasure I could not afford
So I'll spend myself til I'm empty and poor
All for You
You revive me, Lord

These are lines from a fabulous song by Christy Nockels, called, appropriately, "You Revive Me."

Raise your hand if you've ever felt like you needed to be revived.  I think all of us at one point or another, feel worn out, run down, beat up - by life, by people, by circumstances. I love that God can take what feels like a desert and turn it into a river of joy.

This song touches me on many different levels right now, but when I was listening to it this morning, the line that really jumped out at me was:

So I'll spend myself til I'm empty and poor, All for You, You revive me, Lord.

After getting home late last night and then getting to bed even later, all three of my kids ended up awake before 6:00 this morning. Not the way I prefer my day to begin. I pray for the grace to get through the day, with potentially irritable kids and a potentially irritable mommy.

But, guess what. That's part of mommy life. Mommy life is, things not going as planned sometimes. Kids arguing and fighting. Kids whining. Kids that get hungry (really, you need to eat? Again?). Kids whining. There are plenty of wonderful things about mommy life, too, but that's not the point of this post.

The point is that I think there's a mindset in our culture that can totally steal the joy from us, and that is this:

I DESERVE "ME" TIME!

It has certainly caused me a lot of frustration and anger, at times. I'm not saying we don't need rest. We have to rest and a break now and then is a good thing. No doubt.

But, am I called to go to bed well-rested at night? Am I called to die well-rested? I don't think so. There are kids that need me, a husband that needs me. There are relationships to build. Memories to make. Friends to serve and care for. Families in need.

There are other people in this world besides me. Shocking revelation, I know. People that really matter to God. That should really matter to me. And that means I should spend my energy and time on them. I should "spend myself til I'm empty and poor," because, "You revive me, Lord."

This is a long-overdue, huge, shift in thinking for me. I have been blessed to be surrounded by some amazing friends that live their lives for others. For a wife and/or mom it has to start at home. I'm thankful for friends who have taught me so much, who have lived beautiful lives in front of me. I'm not the same.

If we do what we are called to do, I know we can trust Him to revive our tired souls and tired bodies. All of us - mommies, daddies, wives, husbands, friends. We all have a call that sometimes feels like a burden. But, He breathes life back into us and makes us feel alive again. He's pretty good at that.