Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day. I have spent most of the day being catered to by my wonderful family and have been asked repeatedly what I want to do. How nice would it be if every day was like this one? Or would that just get really old?
There is a line in a song that says "We're all caught up in pretending that what we're seeking is the Truth- but we're all looking for a happy ending"... I think this is painfully true, especially in our culture. We sit in our churches and say we are Truth-seekers-We tell God we want more of Him, we want His purpose in our lives and then things don't go our way and we cry like a petulant child and call His character and His very affection for us in to question. We want things to go well for us and that is more important to us than Truth most of the time.
Somewhere I think our theology has mixed with our American culture and we believe God's will for us IS the American dream. Successful careers, happy families, all our physical needs not only met but met in excess with most of our wants fulfilled as well- then we will be a shining light to our community, His hands and feet to those in need. Living life as Christ would have us is the icing on the cake of our lives. And if it's not happening that way for us- if success eludes us, or our kids are struggling, or our health is failing- what happens to our theology? We either decide that none of these things are God's will or we are doing something to screw it up and keeping God from blessing us like He surely wants to.
Both lines of thought are dangerous and poor attempts to interpret Christ through our circumstances instead of intrepeting our circumstances through who we know Christ to be. If His will for us is merely for us to be happy and live pleasant lives- things would have gone much better for His disciples, I would think. I believe He has something much deeper and much more fulfilling for us than just a nice life. I do not pretend to be an expert here- just someone who has had their foundation shaken to the point that some of these externals have had to fall away and the only thing left in places is Him. I can no longer measure my worth based on the results of my parenting, the amount of savings in the bank, or how well I take care of myself (health-wise). Over the last few years I have seen how easily these things can be gone and I have run the gamut between guilt and anger many times over and where I have ultimately landed is, fortunately, the only place that matters- His arms. Have I made mistakes? Oh my gosh, yes. Have I caused all this stuff to happen? No way. Has God? I wager again to say, no way.
So if this is not God's doing and I didn't screw it all up- what is the answer? I say with full confidence, I don't exactly know. I know life happens to everyone. We don't know what ours will hold and most of it is completely out of our control- we can pray, we can fight, but most importantly, we have to trust. Trust the One who made us, who loves us, who knows us. And know that His will and our idea of His will may be worlds apart. The American dream is alive and well, but may not be His best for our lives. It most definitely sounds the most appealing- but will it make the biggest difference to those around us? Not every season of our lives will be a difficult one but when it is-Maybe we get something that is bigger than the American dream- maybe we get His vision, His dream.. Maybe we live for Him through pain and trials and difficulty- and the beauty He brings out of our lives is the icing on the cake.