You Are Just Right

I don't know about you, but I constantly battle with feeling not good enough for my family. I want to be more. I want to be better. I want to be that mom that my kids remember from their childhood and smile about. Or want to be like me, to follow my lead.

My mom was not perfect. Not even close. And in many ways she did a much better job than I do. What is ironic is that it isn't those mess-ups or those super-mom accomplishments that I look back on so fondly. I remember mostly her character. I remember never feeling unloved. I remember her giving her all for us all the time. I remember the fun times we shared playing board games, camping, or doing family holiday traditions. I remember when she would make treasure hunts for me while she cleaned the house. I remember her making some of my favorite foods, and her teaching me to make them too. And most of the "bad" things I remember, I recall them being my fault. My mom is my hero. She is my best friends still. She is the type of mom that I strive to be. She was just right for me.

You are just right for your child, for your husband, for your family. I am just right for mine. See, God in his infinite wisdom has molded you and gifted you to be everything that they need! You will mess up. You will succeed. You will have "failure mom" days and you will have "Super-mom" days. But what you do in between and through both of those, the character you display, the love you express, that is what your kids will look back on with a smile; that is who your kids will want to grow up to be like.

Think about what you want them to see, day in and day out, high and low, in a mom...then be that mom. You are just right for the job.

Spring Cleaning Your Spiritual Dwelling Place

Yes, it is that time of year again. Time to open up the windows, clean out the closets, and wash behind every dresser and in every corner! I love it and I hate it! I love the outcome, but hate the process. I know, however, that this is one of those times when I am challenge in my "profession." This is the big week of the year to really put my all into being a work-at-home mom! I am doing it much earlier this year than usual because I want to donate my things to our church's yard sale to support missions...so, it has begun!

As I was scrubbing and rinsing and vacuuming and organizing today, my mind was wandering as usual, and I began to wonder how often we "spring clean" our spiritual homes? Ephesians 2:22 tells us:

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

WE are the dwelling place for God's Spirit! Are we keeping up with our spiritual dwelling place? There are so many ways that we could evaluate and tackle this task. Are we displaying the fruits of the Spirit? (Galatians 5:22-23) Have we rid ourselves of worldly things and clothed ourselves with righteousness? (Colossians 3) Are we being godly woman as lined out in Titus 2?
My challenge to you would be to find a passage of Scripture that lines out what your desire for your spiritual dwelling is, and then focus on ways that you can take those steps to making it that place! Whether it is a change in lifestyle or just an attitude adjustment, it is the time of year for spring cleaning, so let's get the job done! Are you with me?

Just Think

If any of you have (or have had) a little boy living in your house, you probably get a pretty good image when I say, "missing the mark." It doesn't matter how many times I gently coax him to "point at the hole at the bottom," when he is in a hurry to get back outside to play, I get left with yet another toilet seat to clean.
The literally meaning of the word "sin" is "missing the mark," as in an archer missing his target with his arrow. It is not an intentional veering from God's word (transgression), but an accidental mistake - one we make without thinking. That is what I want to talk about today - not thinking. Why aren't we using our brains a little bit more? When we make decisions in our lives, why do we not think about what God would think of that decision?

This image was "borrowed" from Facebook :)

We buy an outfit that is totally in style and accentuates our womanly curves wonderfully...without thinking whether or not it is modest or causing a brother in Christ to stumble.



We strive and wear ourselves out to have great, wonderful homes, cars, furniture, clothes...without thinking where else that money could go or how much time we are missing from our families.

We label things as culturally acceptable without seeking out God's heart in the matter.

I could go on and on. I believe that the majority of sin that Christian women stumble into is completely and utterly accidental, missing the mark. I believe that what happens is we get so caught up in our daily lives and culture that we just don't take the time to really think about it. We don't think about God's word and we don't think about the others out there with less priveledged lives than ours. 

How many of you have a favorite movie, show, or book? I bet you can name every character, remember every scene, and possible even recount specific details of the story or background information on the filming or actors. How much time did it take you to acquire that type of information? Do you spend the same amount of time pouring over Scripture, learning every character, every scene, specific details of the story and background information on the text? If not, why not? If you were to put that effort into learning God's Word inside and out, you would be able to learn the Heart of God. I believe that is one of the reasons the books of the Law are in the Old Testament, so that we can learn God's heart for his people, what he desires of us and how he wants us to live. Now the Old Covenant has passed away and we are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, but that does not mean that God's heart for us has changed at all.

When making choices in our lives we need to consider Scriptures such as:

"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." --Leviticus 20:26

"Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction." --Deuteronomy 7:26

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." --Jeremiah 1:5

I want to encourage you today to do one simple thing - think. Are your choices holy? Have you allowed any detestable thing into your home? Are you living as one set apart? Dear sister, I ask you to just think.

Keep Your Virtue

There continues to be more to glean from Rudyard Kipling's poem If and we will focus on it a couple more days! The portion I would like to look at today screams loudly of one word - Integrity.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much.

Integrity is one of my favorite words.  According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary integrity means:

1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

2: an unimpaired condition : soundness

3: the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

I was always taught that "integrity is who you are when no one is looking." I love the synonyms used: incorruptibility, soundness, completeness. The Bible says

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
But whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Proverbs 10:9

It is a very easy thing to lose one's integrity. As women, we balance so many things on our shoulders, that there are many places that we could lose that incorruptibility. If you are a stay at home wife, then there is even more danger! Who is there during the day to keep you accountable? Remember, who you are at home, is who you should be when you meet for coffee with the mayor's wife and the same you should be when you get together for a girls' night out and the same you should be on Sunday morning at church. Who you are should not change with your surroundings. We are beautifully created women, not chameleons! As Kipling points out, we are to always keep our virtue no matter what crowd we are in; we should never lose the common touch, or our humility, no matter what important people we are with; all people should be equal in our eyes.

Ways to protect your integrity:
1) Find an accountability partner - someone you can call and let it all out with. Make sure she is someone who will also be brutally honest with you when you need it!
2) Monitor what you watch, read, and listen to. You may be an adult, but step back and see if you would allow your children or teens to have the same input that you are having into your own heart. If the answer is no, then ask yourself why? and then should I? The way we view the world is powerfully influenced by these things. Find instead a book that will teach you how to be a better wife or mother. Find a radio station that will play music with a positive message (it is there for all music genres, believe me!). Limit your TV time.
3) Make a To-Do list for the week.
4) Don't be alone with men. There is so much on the line, especially when our husbands are away each day. Remember it is your heart you are guarding, not just your body.
5) If you have kids, remember that what you are demonstrating will be qualities (or lack of) that will most likely reveal themselves in your child's life. Try to live and display the fruit you want to see grow in your child.
6) If you feel that you are not always the same person, sit down and decide who you truly are. Then, go to your closet, jewelry box, or bathroom and discard all the things that belong to "that other woman." Make a conscious effort to be the real you all the time.

My dear sister, I hope that you have an amazing day in Christ, being just who He created you to be!