Choosing Good

I was reading in James last night and I read James 4:17, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." It made me think of all of the times when, even inadvertently, I might know a good thing to do but just let it pass me by. I compared the verse in James to Luke 12:47, "The servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows."

I know that God will not literally have us beaten, but how great our reward in heaven will be if we can obey God and follow his commands. Even if we don't realize that we have passed up an opportunity to do good John 9:41 tells us "Jesus said, 'If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains." The Message version translates it this way, "... but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."

I do not claim to see everything, but I claim to be a Christian and thus to know and understand the commands of Christ. God tells us to take care of the widows and orphans and to love others as we do ourselves. In order to do that I must be aware of the needs around me so that God can use me to serve others. I get distracted in my busy life and focus entirely on what I need to do and where I need to go, what chores I need to get done. When I am so focused on myself I am less aware of what people around me are in need of. I am going to make it my goal to be more aware of people around me. I will pray for God to help me to see what people need the way that He does so that I may be aware of their needs and how He can use me to help fill them.

Body Image in Little Girls

My seven year old came up to me the other day and told me, "Mommy, I'm fat." I was struck speechless for a moment. She is so tiny and cute that it took me a few minutes to realize that she was serious. After assuring her that she is absolutely perfect I began to wonder when I first started to have issues with my body image. I don't remember being so young. In fact, I think I was in high school before I was even somewhat concerned with my appearance. Since when do 7 year olds look at themselves in the mirror and declare themselves overweight? I would like to believe that we have taught our daughter's that their value is in their relationship with Christ and not in their physical appearance. Something in her life though is making her question her beauty.

The Bible tells us that we are wonderfully made and that God made us in our mother's wombs. I tell my girls every day how much I love them and how beautiful they are. Then they sit down to watch a t.v show or a cartoon, and they are flooded with images of near perfect women. The girls that don't fit the movie perfect image are made fun of and looked down on. How did it take me by such surprise that my little second grader is beginning to question her looks? I can look everywhere and find advice on how to help a teenager understand her beauty, but what about a 7 year old? What about my 5 year olds? How do I assure them that they are wonderful just the way they are and that what they see on t.v and on the magazine covers in the grocery store is just not realistic? How do I teach them to find their worth in Christ and not in wordly appearance, while at the same time teaching them to be healthy and take good care of their bodies? I am wrestling with these questions now, and looking forward to sharing what answers I come up with.

Feeling Sorry For Myself

I woke up depressed this morning. My husband headed out to help a friend move and I sat down on the couch while my three daughters went outside to enjoy the sunshine. I began to think about how lonely I was and how I was becoming tired of sitting at home all the time with just the kids for company. I allowed myself to lay on the couch for about 20 minutes, then realized that I was not going to shake my slump while laying there feeling down. So, I got up, got dressed and booted up my computer thinking I would look around for someone to talk to. I realized that I have a friend always available to talk to, to spend time with, and to love. That friend is Jesus. He wouldn't want me laying around feeling sorry for myself when He blessed me with another beautiful day on this earth with my wonderful children. While I was sitting there thinking that I needed more interaction than a seven year old and two four year olds, those very children were outside laughing at how the wind made the trees dance and how bubbles float away carelessly on the breeze. So I went out in the yard with them. They were quick to show me the house they had built in the dirt for thier make believe friends. They helped their baby dolls go down the slide and giggled when they landed in the dirt. I found myself smiling. The slump that I had woken up in began to fall off of my shoulders. Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." The Lord has made every day that I am blessed to be upon this earth. He wants me to rejoice and be glad in every day. He has given me three beautiful examples of this rejoicing. Things that I take for granted, those precious young souls delight in. So now that they have decided to come inside and explore how much their dolls like to play a matching card game, I am turning on some praise music and enjoying another day that the Lord has loved me enough to give me.

Random Acts of Kindness

On Thursday night we were the recipients of a random act of kindness. We went to get some ice cream after doing some grocery shopping. When we ordered we were told that our total was about $18.00. When we pulled up to pay she said that it was only $14.00. When we asked what the difference was we were told that the person in front of us had donated her change for us. We continued the pattern and donated ours to the person behind us. It was such a simple thing but it made me think about the command to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our daily life. I often fall into the habit of trying to think of how I can feed starving children, provide wells in foreign countries, or somehow make an impact globally. I forget that I need to serve people in my home neighborhood as well. I am blessed to live in an area where I do not see the effects of poverty around me every day, but that does not mean that there are not people who need help. Just because there is not a homeless family down the street does not mean that there is not a family at my daughter's school that could use some extra groceries or even just help cleaning up their yard. I want to make it my goal to see the need around me, and if it is not evident, to look a little deeper to find it. Jesus asks us to serve others all the time, even if I don't feel like I am making a difference. God knows the needs the needs that I can fill, and when I help someone in need I am actually helping Jesus.

Forgiveness

Lately I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness. Having recently reconciled with my husband after a 3 month separation, forgiveness has become a very important topic around my house. We are working through forgiving each other for the things that brought us to the brink of divorce as well as discovering where unforgiveness has tainted our relationships with God. Something that struck me was when it says in the Bible that God will forgive us as much as we forgive other people. I want God to forgive me for every sin that I commit, whether willingly or subconsciously. I don't want anything to jeopardize my relationship with God or the eternity that I have to look forward to worshipping Him in Heaven. Think about it, if God will pour out the same measure of forgiveness to us that we give to other people, shouldn't that motivate us to forgive others regardless of the seriousness of their crime?
This train of thought led me to remember the Amish community whom so willingly offered forgiveness to the man who entered their school and murdered some of their children a few years back. Not only did they verbally profess their forgiveness publicly, but they demonstrated it by taking care of his wife and children in their time of need. Now that is God honoring forgiveness! How do I incorporate that into my life?
An interesting fact to ponder; when Jesus told us that we are to forgive "seventy times seven", that number means to forgive 490 times in one 24 hour period, the same person, for the same offense. That is mind boggling to me. How can I forgive someone that many times in one day if they keep committing the same sin against me? Wouldn't I want God to forgive me in that way?
I am searching my heart for people that I am harboring unforgiveness against, and am surprised by what I am finding. I thought that I had forgiven everyone in my life, but on further soul searching I am finding that their are people that I am still bitter towards. I wonder if I will ever fully overcome that tendency to be angry and bitter to other people. The only way to do that is to go to God in prayer every time it comes to my attention that I am being unforgiving.
I think I am going to be spending a lot of time on my knees.

Is God Your Savior or Your Judge

I was in Bible study this morning and the speaker asked the question, "Is God your Savior or your judge?" I have spent most of the morning thinking about this question. God is my savior because he provided his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins. It is only through Jesus that I know I will have eternal life in heaven. But the Bible also says that we will sit before the judgement seat of Christ and he will measure out the works that we have done in this life to determine our reward in heaven. Doesn't that make God both my savior and my judge?
I know that I already have been given the gift of eternity because I accepted the amazing gift of the blood of Jesus. There is nothing that I can do that can earn my salvation, but I can do good works here on earth to bring glory to God. That is, after all, what he has asked us all to do. Every time I serve the poor, help the hungry, or visit someone who is ill, I am spreading the love of Christ and storing up treasures in heaven. I love my savior, I have an amazing respect for my judge and what he has asked me to do. Thank you God for being my savior and for allowing me to know that you will be my judge, so that I can do good works for you now and celebrate them later in heaven.

Feeling Beautiful

Today I got my nails done. It is such a silly little thing but I really enjoy it. I was feeling guilty about indulging in this pleasure since I am recently out of work. My husband did the budget last night and tole me to go ahead and have them done. He told me, "I love doing things for you that make you happy."

As I left the salon this morning I noticed how different I felt. I have a beautiful new french manicure and I see that I hold my hands differently when they feel beautiful. I toss my hair back differently. I even carry my purse differently. I was able to spend an hour at the salon with a friend and talk about things that did not involve baby talk. It was a little bit of time where I was just able to be a woman instead of mommy, wife, house cleaner, and taxi.

I am so grateful that my husband understands that I enjoy things that make me feel beautiful and that it is important. He understands that when I feel good about myself I feel better about what I do every day. He wants me to feel good about myself and I love that it makes me feel spoiled.

I have a goal to do one thing every day that makes me feel good about myself. Granted it won't be a manicure every day, but maybe once a week I can give myself a facial. I can spend just a little bit of time when my children have gone to bed reading a book just for fun. I feel better about myself and better about my goals as a mother, a writer, and a Scentsy consultant. This is going to be a good day!