Come What May

They say that renovating your house ranks equally as high as moving house, when looking at life's most stressful events, and this Friday I embark on both!! The first stage of the renovations is that our kitchen will be removed, which means that we will have no electricity or running water in the kitchen and will have to wash up in the bathtub for around a month if everything goes to plan (fingers and toes crossed that it does!). 

The absence of a kitchen is quickly followed by removal of the floor tiles and carpets throughout the house and the installation of wooden flooring, which all sounds very exciting, and it will be, once it’s finished. In the meantime, we have to move all our furniture out of the house for about a week and essentially camp inside the house until the flooring is completed – fun times!!!

The closer we get to renovation the more I realise that what I’m least looking forward to is losing my regular routines and rhythms, the usual calm of the house and control in general. I know that ultimately, I’m not in control, God is, but this knowledge doesn’t stop me from trying to take hold of the reins regularly, which usually leaves me feeling overwhelmed.

A couple of years ago when I was feeling overwhelmed with all the many things that I couldn’t control but wanted to be able to (hello COVID, lockdowns and food shortages). I came across the “Serenity prayer” by Reinhold Niebuhr. I loved the simplicity and honesty of the prayer that encapsulated all that I was feeling, and I found myself repeating it many times a day during those early months of COVID and I often find myself coming back to it when life feels out of my control.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with the day-to-day of life or becoming frustrated that you can’t control what’s happening to you, I find that this abridged version of Niebuhr’s is a good prayer to turn to.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”