{"id":572,"date":"2012-09-05T22:41:47","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T03:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/?p=572"},"modified":"2016-11-02T22:43:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T03:43:06","slug":"the-overwhelming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/2012\/09\/05\/the-overwhelming\/","title":{"rendered":"The Overwhelming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overwhelming. Big word. Dictionary meaning:\u00a0 The act of covering over completely, to destroy, crush, bury under a mass of something, submerge, to load, heap, treat or address with an overpowering amount of anything, to overthrow. From the middle English\u00a0over+whelm<\/em>\u00a0where the meaning is to engulf completely.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had moments, days, weeks, and months, sometimes years, where I\u2019ve been overwhelmed. During those times, I have learned, I put on blinders and tucked my shoulder in to the wind and soldiered on because there\u00a0was<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0nothing else for it. At least here on earth. I have been close to inconsolable many times, yet not totally submerged for long enough that I became totally unresponsive.\u00a0 Close but\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a feeling if you are still reading- you understand. You get what I mean by what I\u2019ve said above; and you get it still more when I say just putting one foot in front of the other is just about all I can do when I\u2019m overwhelmed. And that\u2019s only when the Overwhelming has abated a bit-like the tide receding.<\/span><\/p>\n

You know the reason for the Overwhelming is really immaterial. It\u2019s the response that matters. I have found myself curled up on the bed, covers over my head, in a fetal position for hours; I have found myself ranting and raving in defiance over it; I have found myself pressing on through it by working long hours; and I have found myself awakening to relief that it is over-for now. And after I’ve done one of the above, I’ve given thanks to God for getting me through it once again. \u00a0But I have never been overwhelmed by Joy- except once. Well, maybe more than once. But, never to the point where I\u2019ve been speechless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Happiness, sure I\u2019ve had happiness, but such a fleeting flirt it is. Here today. Gone tomorrow. True, deep, abiding (living within) joy-not so much. The hallmark moments- marriage, children, home, work, all have had caveats and sorrows attached.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be able to wake each morning with \u201ca song in my heart\u201d \u2013 as I envision true Joy- has long been absent from my life. I think I\u2019ve gone for such long periods of time without noticing that I lost the ability to realize its presence in the midst of the Overwhelming. That even when I\u2019m not buried under the Overwhelming (read: trials, oppression, pressure, stress, etc.) I have mostly been unable to recognize that Joy within that fills the cup with its name on it; that has been shaken and is pressed down to where it overflows in song. That\u2019s how\u00a0I would like<\/em>\u00a0my joy to be represented. The Joy has always been here; I\u2019ve just failed to notice it.\u00a0I would like<\/em>\u00a0to be able to say daily, as David did:\u00a0\u201cThe whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;\u00a0where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u201d Psalm 65:8<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What does your response to Overwhelming look like? Dear Friend, how long has it been since you sang for Joy? Thinking about it?\u00a0Next time: What about Joy?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0linking up with:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overwhelming. Big word. Dictionary meaning:\u00a0 The act of covering over completely, to destroy, crush, bury under a mass of something, submerge, to load, heap, treat or address with an overpowering amount of anything, to overthrow. From the middle English\u00a0over+whelm\u00a0where the meaning is to engulf completely. I\u2019ve had moments, days, weeks, and months, sometimes years, where … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,301],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-holy-spirit","tag-overwhelm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}