When I asked you for help, the lies in my head, and what I made for dinner.

I played a little game on Facebook this past Sunday night. 
I wrote, “Let’s play the game where you tell me what you made for dinner tonight so that I can have some new dinner ideas. Sounds fun, right?!? Ready, go!”

About 6 comments in, and I was inspired …

But then things took a very different turn in my mind. Suddenly, “Please inspire me with what you are cooking tonight!” became “Please tell me how incredibly inept I am in the kitchen!”

One of you said, “Hawaiian chicken, steamed broccoli, baked sweet potato”, but in my head, I heard, “Your poor husband and kids. They never get a balanced meal like that.  You are a pitiful excuse for a stay-at-home wife.”

When I woke up this morning and took one look at the dog hair gathered in the corners of our wood floors, I heard it again.  Three words that have become personal. Fighting words.

“Not good enough.”

Defeat. That’s what I felt.

The barrage of lies kept coming, and I let them in. I quietly nodded my head as the Accuser made his list. It was hard to ague with him. He’s tricky when presenting lies because they sound so very close to the truth. 

{Whew. What a way to start a Monday!}

As I walked around picking up the flip flops and soccer cleats scattered across the hallway floor from of weekend, I tried to give myself a pep talk, but it didn’t really help.  I have been buried under this long list of shoulds before.  {You know the shoulds right?  It’s all the things we should be doing in order to be a good wife/mom.  Just look on Pinterest.  It has a way of jogging the memory.}

In case you’re not familiar with this sort of thing, the battle of the mind is a very real thing.

But then, while stacking paper towel rolls in the laundry room, grace happened. Like a quick flash of light across a dark room, another voice popped in my mind.  “Baby, you’ve come a long way.”

There it was: my life line. 

With all these voices running amuck as thoughts in my head, I had a choice to make. I could grab that God-spoken truth and let it change the course of my day, or stay right where I was and wallow in the lies.

This choice – my thoughts … they are all up to me. 

<<<<<<<

I saw this chart that I think serves as a great cheat sheet when trying to decipher Truth (from God) or a lie (from Satan).  Maybe it will help you with those thoughts running amuck in your mind too.

And for the record: here’s what I made for dinner tonight:

Italian Sausage and Pesto Linguine

1 lb. linguine
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 package Italian sausage, hot
1 jar Pesto
olive oil

Cut sausage into bit sized pieces and cook in skillet until browned.  In separate skillet, sauté veggies in 2 Tbs of olive oil to desired tenderness.  Make pasta according to directions.  Add pesto sauce, sausage and veggies. 

Delicious!

… Something that years ago I would never have even tasted, let alone put on our monthly meal rotation.  So, yep!  I’ve come a long way, baby!