My parents listened to the Bangles song of a similar title as the lead image. My parents used to sing karaoke and my father would dance. But as we mothers know so well, manic Mondays are not uncommon but seem to be the norm now that our kids are not allowed outside to play.
Monday, Monday
So good to see that I made it to another day, though I could do without all the assorted mania. I woke up motivated, as usual. But four hours of sleep makes for a long day, especially with a two-year-old hyped up on orange juice. Not to mention having to deal with the neighborhood curmudgeon.
Our neighbor is a foreigner from the UK who is 79. He cannot stand what he considers to be loud noises: dogs barking (welcome to the Philippines!), jeepney's honking their horn, and vendors plying their trades along the street. And though he professes to enjoy children, he expects them to remain quiet. Not going to happen.
My son enjoys going out in the morning before breakfast, so when it is not raining, I happily oblige him. Sadly, the ill-tempered resident, who does the crossword puzzle on his porch each morning, does not like the happy yips and yells of my son.
As a long-time resident of the area, I do not feel I have to move, but I respect his privacy and go out of my way to accommodate his grumpiness. Nevertheless, it should be noted he and his spouse move every few months in an attempt to find his desired utopia of peace. Good luck with that.
Icing on the proverbial cake
To top it off, my Monday has been anything less than peaceful. I nearly burned our breakfast attending to a customer of my small sari sari store. Then there was the call from my hometown in Maguindanao from my ill sister. Last night she swore she had the China Covid, but today she is 100% back to normal. Drama.
My mother also called. Like everyone in my family, they call me for advice, money or other support. This was all before the cuckoo clock hit 8 a.m.
Then the curmudgeon's wife and I both received a package from #Lazada. I quickly unwrapped my son's die cast school bus, then helped the Filipina assemble her metal rack. Breakfast was cold when I passed by it on my way to get a bottle of cold water for myself.
Breakfast was still waiting and getting cooler. Sensing my growing frustration, I took some moments to pray.
The power of prayer
Many people do not pray or they simple grab a rosary and mumble some repetitive prayers. Not me (not that I am better than anyone, mind you). But I follow the example of Jesus regarding how we should pray.
That prayer comes from Matthew 6:9-13 in the New Testament.
How to pray
We don't need to pray in the 16th century language, but rather God understands all tongues. But we need to follow His pattern He gave to us.
The effectual prayer person believes when praising and asking God.
James writes: "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16, ESV).
Relief
My petition before the Lord was effective. I gained a peaceful state of mind. Thankfully, too, as a client emailed me to write some content for him by tonight. I'll have to wait until I put the wild one down for an afternoon nap.
Things are going to be fine because Jesus is in control. My desire is that you too
will allow Jesus to be in full control of your thoughts and life.
What i love here is the way you expressively appreciated the fact that you made it to yet another monday which is very thoughtful of you and also making an attempt to teach us the meaning of the six letter word called prayer. Good morning and hope you had a very lovely night rest?