DON'T NEED ANYONE TO TELL ME

     Each snowflake that falls to the ground is unique in its design -- that boggles my mind every winter!  Yet we don't look at individual snowflakes and think God made a mistake; we celebrate His creativity.  So, why are we so quick to look at others around us and make ourselves feel inadequate?

     I've learned I don't need anyone to tell me what I'm not good at!  It glares at me, sometimes all day long.  As moms, we're so good at reminding ourselves of what we DON'T do well, aren't we?

     Why is that?  How can we be exactly who God has created us to be and yet be so dissatisfied with our strengths and abilities we possess?

     Often skills that come easily don't seem to hold any true value in our minds.  And yet, the irony lies in the fact that it can be those same skills in us that will stare someone else in the face and make them feel so incapable.

     Are you tracking with me?

     YOU are talented.

     YOU are gifted.

     YOU are skilled.

     When you focus your discouraged eyes on the person who does well with that which you can't, you lose appreciation for what God's placed within you.

     DON'T beat yourself up about what you can't do!.  Stop!  Realize that what you do well is what God has gifted you to do.  What they do well is what God has gifted them to do.

     In I Corinthians, Paul shares the comparison of the physical body with gifts and abilities.  He asks how foolish it would be if all of us wanted to the eye, because then we wouldn't hear.  Or in the case of the ear, then we couldn't smell.  Likewise, we must recognize our value as we have been created.

     Some are created to make music, while some are created to make cookies; some are created to bring order, while some are created to bring excitement.

     None of us are irreplaceable -- not one!  Only the lies that pound on the back door of our hearts will whisper that message.  God has fashioned each of us with a specific plan and purpose; find out what that is for you and embrace it, celebrate it...but whatever you do, DON'T COMPARE IT!      

"God has placed the parts

in the body, EVERY one of them,

just as He wanted them to be.
If they were all one part,

where would the body be?"

I Corinthians 12:18&19

Dust Bunny Friendships

     Some days my house reminds me of a hot, dry desert, complete with tumbleweeds rolling by . . . but the problem is that I live in a cold climate and the tumbleweeds are really rolling dust balls.   As hard as I try, our house produces more dust bunnies than I can keep up with - - and I have come to accept that this as part of life, especially at this stage with kids.  

     There was a time that these lifeless critters kept me from friendships that God had called me to embrace, but no more.  I have grown to accept that friendships are more important than clean houses.  And it is not my friendships that have changed, or my house that has changed, but it is me that has changed.

     I have learned to love my dust bunny friendships.

     These are the friendships that weave in and out of our daily lives -- a place where I can pour out and be poured into, like a well-watered garden that flourishes in the warm summer sun.  A place where I choose not to let the state of things around me rob me of the sweet visits or the sumptuous conversations.

     I don't want to become what Rudyard Kipling thought of, when he said, "You sometimes see a woman who would have made a Joan of Arc in another century and climate, threshing herself to pieces over all the mean worry of housekeeping."  

     Life is too short and people are too precious to waste that much time.  My desire is to keep a house that is clean enough to always welcome someone in, but never so clean that it means I won't have time to enjoy my guests.  

     Now go smile at your dust bunnies, and then invite over a friend! 

"Open your homes to each

other without complaining."

I Peter 4:9    

Best Friends

Best Friends...Siblings...is it possible the two can mean the same thing? I believe with all my heart it is, but many days I am walking by faith and not by sight on that one. There are many squabbles to grow through before the fruit can really be enjoyed.

I am sure you can relate to the joys of helping children understand that they are each other's best friend, if you have more than one child. In fact, that is a statement we repeat to each of them, over and over, trying to lay the foundation of the value of their siblings - you are each other's best friend.

There are so many truths that the Word provides us that we need to share with our children. I think back to when our oldest two children were about five and three, and we were discussing Proverbs 17:17, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." I was sharing this with our then five year old son, with the goal of helping him see the importance of recognizing his sister was his best friend. Without missing a beat, he looked at me and said, "But mom, it says brothers are for adversity." We looked together more closely to see that it means they are they for hard times to lean on...I think he was a little disappointed.

The heart of what I want to share is this - children will fight. It is a fact that is accepted for every family BUT it is not to end there. It is the pathway that we are given as parents, to guide our children in the ways of godly, loving relationships. When I think of our five children and how many arguments I have to judge in, I feel like a leader of old that used to have to sit on his throne all day and listen to both sides of stories. Helping our children work through their disagreements in a calm way is not an easy task, but it is one of the most important tasks that they must have our help in. And when we can model for them a calm heart and quiet spirit (and I am not saying I have arrived, I am sharing my aim), we are equipping them for life.

The scripture that blesses me over and over as a priceless reminder to my training with our children, is Proverbs 15:1, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." May God fill our mommy mouths with gentle words so that we don't stir up anger in our children's hearts and our homes.