Springing off Sylvia’s Homekeeper’s Journal entry of yesterday.
What one thing can I lay down, one thing that will cost me something to lay it down and serve God? Is my time being spent wisely, spiritually? Do I dread laying down my life? Why? What am I afraid of? Is my fear legitimate or is there scripture that assures me of God’s love and care for me when I obey Him?
Can I say first of all that say this feels very personal to write about these things on my blog? In the interest of keeping comfortable with what I share, I will keep my answer short and general.
I do not spent all my time wisely or spiritually.
Some things have already changed in this regard, prior to reading Sylvia’s writing prompts. I felt the Lord asking me to lay aside my projects in order to spend more time with my kids. We have played more games together, laughed more, been together more. I have spent less time on the computer. Not that I have done less on it, but I’m not sitting here waiting for pages to load. This has all translated into the house staying in better shape and in me having more time to be close to my children. Praise the Lord for all that!
What do I yet need to lay down? Reading too many books. They are my let-down. It’s not bad that I read books, but many times I read when I should be doing something else. I will let messes pile up in the kitchen or elsewhere because I get involved in a book.
A couple months ago, Jeff and I decided to obey God’s command to “pray without ceasing.” We did really well for a time. Our family prayed together often and we prayed in smaller groups and as individuals. Since then, we have slipped into saying fewer prayers. To pray, to keep a conversation with our Creator is something that doesn’t take much time, but it takes discipline and the establishment of good habits. I am asking the Lord to help me lay down my bad habits (of forgetting to talk to Him) and my lack of discipline (not feeling like it).
Oh, my sister in Christ, I SO hear you on this. It really is like decluttering your life… keeping what is important and getting rid of the none important. ….. I have to say that last week, I was having a bad moment at work and to be honest was not happy about some things and was complaining … (nice, huh?) …. anyway… afterwards, I looked at my Grace for the Moment devotional that is on my desk.. and thought to myself, I need to take a break and see what God had to say to me… Oh, yes, I did, because He hit me right between the eyes….. This was the Scripture: “Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people.” Col 3:23……. do you think that humbled me? yep….
Pray without ceasing… I remember trying to teach my children that… every moment is a time to pray to God… as we drink in the beauty of His gift, the earth around us, we can praise Him. Praise for eyes to see, nose to smell, lips to taste, ears to hear… Praying as we are driving or walking or just working around the house or whereever we may be.. Every opportunity … to talk to Him, petitioning, praising, thanking, letting Him know our feelings, being real to Him. I used to be better than I am now. You have reminded me how important this is .. and the example that it is to my children and grandchildren….
Yes. I have done the same today. And DD I have had a blast. We’ve read books, had a teddy bear picnic, did an art project with glue, and I went through and organized my magazines and cut out fav. articles, AND the house is clean….
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful post.
Sometimes it’s hard to bare one’s soul to people we don’t really know. But then it can be equally hard to do so to people we do know as well. That is why I have a private blog that is just for me, no one else can see it. There I can truly bare my soul – it helps me so much to actually write/type out my thoughts vs just think them in my head – and it is just for God and me.
As far as spending more time w/family and God….you’re not alone in that by far. I really would love to have our family sit down and spend time in prayer together, this would help my kids to feel more comfortable praying – though there have been times when one of my kids has just spoken up and reminded me that maybe we should turn to God with what ever is going on.