Gifts or Burdens?

One of my favorite Ginny Owens songs ever, "Free to Dance," begins with:

Turning molehills into mountains,
Making big deals out of small ones,
Bearing gifts as if they're burdens,
This is how it's been.

The first two lines... yeah. I've been doing that since I was Bethany's age. I think somehow it came with the territory as a teenager, and I carried it right on into my early twenties and now well into momhood. Molehills into mountains and making small deals big ones. But it's that third line that I've really been struggling with the most the past few years:

"Bearing gifts as if they're burdens."

Whoa. Who would do that? It's a gift! Not a burden!

Homeschooling? A gift.
Mounds of clothes overflowing the laundry baskets? A gift.
(A snoring dachshund who loves to snooze in the laundry baskets? Also a gift!)
Too many groceries for such a small pantry and such little freezer space? A gift.
People who need me? A gift.
7th grade Life Science? A gift.
A phone that rings? A gift.
A ministry that requires a lot of work? A gift.
A busy day ahead of me? A gift.
A sink full of dirty dishes? A gift.
Anything that forces me to get to the end of me, and forces me to lean on Him- a gift.

It's all a gift! This song sprang to mind this morning as I was praying and my mind was racing to the day ahead. I could feel myself becoming somewhat burdened by the day ahead... and I could sense the Lord impressing the thought, "Don't bear gifts as if they're burdens, Cyndi!" Pretty timely as we approach this season of thankfulness. And gifts. And stress.

Here's the rest of the song:

Fear of coming out of my shell,
Too many things I can't do too well,
Afraid I'll try real hard and I'll fail -
This is how it's been.
Till the day you pounded on my heart's door,
And you shouted joyfully,
"You're not a slave anymore"

You're free to dance-
Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing-
Even joyful noise is music to me
and you're free to love,
Cause I've given you My love,
and it's made you free
Free

My mind finds hard to believe
That You became humanity
and changed the course of history,
Because You loved me so.
And my heart cannot understand
Why You'd accept me as I am,
But You say You've always had a plan,
And that's all I need to know.
So when I am consumed by what the world will say,
It's then You're singing to me,
As you remove my chains

You're free to dance-
Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing-
Even joyful noise is music to me
and you're free to love,
Cause I've given you My love,
and it's made you free,

Free from worry, free from envy and denial
Free to live, free to give, free to smile

You're free to dance-
Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing-
Even joyful noise is music to me
and you're free to love,
Cause I've given you My love,
and it's made you free
I've given you My love,
and it's made you free
I have set you free

May we all enjoy our many gifts today. And dance!

Have a great Tuesday!