Suck it Up, Buttercup... Or not

My husband is, well, a man.

And stereotypically speaking, he is a man with minimal amount of emotions.

Especially when it comes to the deep heart stuff.

Honestly, there are a few very good reasons for this:

He is in the infantry—so really, low-scale emotions and level-headedness are hugely helpful in high-pressure situations.
He has the spiritual gift of faith. Which means he doesn’t really struggle with anxiety or worry or fretting over things he can’t control (unlike his darling wife…)
Testosterone. And lots of it.

But really… When we share emotional moments or talk out our individual problems, he once told me that I should most often respond to him with the following:

“Suck it up, Buttercup.”

(Directly after he gave me those instructions, I clarified that responding to ME like that would not be one of his better ideas.)

See, I like encouragement. I want folks to empathize. Sometimes, I just need a hearty dose of compassion (which is interesting, since mercy/compassion is literally on the bottom of my spiritual gift list.)

But you know, sometimes I really do need to tell myself to “Suck it up, Buttercup.”

In addition to being a recovering worry wart, I am also a weird mix of optimist/pessimistic/realist. On any given day, any one of the three can dominate.

So when I am facing a hard moment or task and am complaining, God (lovingly) tugs on my heart and whispers for me to put on my big girl pants/pull up my bootstrap/other puns and/or analogies here…

And just suck it up.

Because sometimes in this faith journey, getting started is the hardest part.

When I am dreading a run, sometimes I need to get out of my head, strap on my shoes and get out the door. (I don’t think I have ever legitimately regretted going for a run, even if it ended up to only be a quarter-mile.)

In the moments that I am getting bent out of shape about a looming task, I just need to suck it up, slam it out and move on with life.

You get my drift.

However. There is a caveat here. (Isn’t there ALWAYS?)

Sometimes, God wants us to suck it up and make it happen.

Other times He wants us to back off and let His grace fill the gaps.

And friends, when our flesh and the enemy jump in there, those lines can blur like nobody’s business.

It is a very delicate balance between “Suck it up, Buttercup” or not so much.

Like each night, I have to ask God, based on my physical energy level, if he wants me to set an alarm to get up extra early (5:30am) to spend time with him before my kiddo wakes, or if time with Him when she is in my Kool-aid is acceptable.

It really does depend on the day/week/current season.

On the days when I am trying to decide if I should work out, it is a battle to determine if I need to grab my shoes and get to the gym, or seriously take a day just to rest.

So what’s the solution?

We must stay in touch with the Holy Spirit at all times.

If I could print out my thoughts everyday, a majority of them would probably be discussions with the Holy Spirit of what to do—or not to do.

Dear readers, where in your life does that line between “Suck it up” or not blur the most? I would love to hear from you. Jump in and leave a comment below.

Take some time to really dig deep and connect with the Holy Spirit on all the things, from how you parent, what your quiet time looks like and even what you cook for supper.

Sometimes we need to stop complaining and just suck it up… And sometimes? Not so much.

Connected with Christ,