Are you "full"?

Two nights ago we ate at a  local restaurant and I ordered a hamburger, not knowing what I was getting.  What arrived at my table was a massive burger too large for my mouth to bite into.  But...I found a way...and devoured the burger and was left thinking, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"  I was "full".

I recently sat in a  church service where someone said some really nice things about me. I was uncomfortable--even embarrassed--but in that moment I felt "full" of thanksgiving to God for the opportunities He has provided me in the ministry to serve others.

Last week I was processing bad news about two special friends--both diagnosed with progressing cancer--and for a moment I was "full" of despair--even fear--about my own suddenly-exposed mortality.  I was filled with sadness and even depressed for several hours that afternoon.

What are you "full" of?  It can be that are lives are filled with things we consider necessary--work obligations, household chores, parenting responsibilities, mounting financial debt, other's expectations...and the list goes on.  We can be so "full" of these things that the very zeal for life has diminished because we are stuffed "full" of things that drain us of our energy.

We can feel inundated by emotional things--a personal illness, an ongoing struggle, a broken relationship, a job-related frustration, a painful failure--and these things can so overwhelm us that we are filled with a sense of dread in facing each day.

Or, we can choose what we want to "fill" our lives.

We can't ignore our obligations but we can set healthy boundaries.  We can't dismiss our pain but we can determine where we set our focus.  We can't  skip life, but we can intentionally seek for enjoyment and fulfillment even in life's most perfunctory tasks.

I'm headed home to clean the garage.  This is not a task I relish.  But i have set time aside for it because it matters to my wife.  And I find enjoyment in doing the things that make her happy.  So I am determined to take the 2-3 hours (or more) it will take to straighten it up so that I can "fill" the rest of the day with the positive things that make me "full" of thanks for all God has given me.