Angry chewing: excess, quick grinding of chewing gum until the point one’s jaw tires.
It’s a real thing, or at least it is now.
Confession: I’m an angry chewer. Not angry as in I’m having some inner turmoil eruption. Angry as in focused, determined.
When it’s time to get serious, tackle the job in front of me, I pop in a piece of gum, and go into warrior mode, winning all life’s battles.
Laundry piled high and needs folding? Not a problem. Angry chew.
Forty-two individually wrapped snacks for the kids’ classroom, gluten-free meal plan to create, groceries to buy, and five errands to run across town? Nod my head and angry chew.
Ten thousand words to write in one day? Heavy sigh, wipe the brow, then angry chew.
This Army wife gets a lot done when she angry chews. Chomping my way to success—or at least trying to.
Trying—that’s the key word.
For whatever reason, there’s a roll-up-my-sleeves-get-to-work-and-make-things-happen attitude engrained within me, and I’d argue that it exists inside a great majority of us. It’s not a bad thing on its own, but that’s the problem—we often go at these mountains and molehills of life on our own. I frequently try without first consulting The One who will and who can. Why must I learn this lesson over and over? It seems I’m forgetful regarding the source of my strength.
There came a day, like many before, when the gum chomping no longer helped me focus, make it through, and overcome. My husband was gearing up to deploy, again. We’d been through them before. I knew what to expect, but no matter how often he left, it never got easier to watch him go. Biting my lip, forcing tears back into my eyes, I watched him leave, and kept strong for our children. I held them while they cried, and sobbed alone later that evening.
Gum didn’t help. Chocolate didn’t console (Oh, but it tried in all its deliciousness.) Even coffee couldn’t give me back that get-up-and-make-things-happen attitude. My strength failed. Life crashed over me. Too many things were out of my control.
My husband was thousands of miles away in a battle of his own, and I fought to maintain the Homefront.
Exhausting.
It didn’t take long to remember who I needed to call for help.
This gum chomping Army wife went back to her knees, opened her Bible, and remembered the source of her strength. I needed God to protect my husband and his men. To lead them. To help me get through rearing children, meet writing deadlines, and accomplish day to day tasks. And He did. He helped. He helped me prioritize, and gave me the rest I needed, the support to surround me, the strength to go on, and not just go on, but thrive.
No amount of gum chewing, intense focus, or will power will ever be enough to get us through life the way God intends. We’re meant to flourish, not get by.
Yes, perhaps for a season our strength will be enough, but we all grow weary. However, when we hand our life, its joys, and trials over to God, give it over to The One who never tires. Now, that’s some great news, and saves my jaw muscles!
Many blessings to you and your family, and Happy Veterans’ Day! Thank you to those who serve, and to their families who serve as well. In honor of Veterans’ and their families— active duty, reserve, and retired, I’d like to honor you with a prize give-away through the month of November. Stop on by, check it out, and enter to win.
BIO:
Hannah Conway is a Kentucky native, Army Wife, Mother, Speaker, and Author with Olivia Kimbrell Press. She holds a BA in History from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, is an active member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, and resides with her family in Tennessee.
BOOK:
The Wounded Warrior’s Wife
Battles Raging Within Are Ones You Must Fight To Win
Army wife, Whitleigh Cromwell, struggles after an unexpected deployment during the height of the Iraqi war sends her husband, Collier Cromwell, away for another year. Their lives tumble down a path marked with strife, and fatalities, crippling their faith when Collier brings home a war of another kind leaving Whitleigh wondering if some wounds are beyond God’s ability to restore.
Purchase The Wounded Warrior’s Wife @ any of these sites:
A / IBook / BN / K / ChristianBooks
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