Category: Series

His Word, Kids/Parenting, Series

Day 12 – Rest

Michelle

In my quest to get ‘caught up’ on this blogging adventure, I decided it was time to write another post.

The day 12 prompt is: Rest.

Matthew 11:28-30 tells us, “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

You know the book I featured in my post yesterday? The one about being a raging perfectionist? Yeah, that one…ok, let me tell you this…IT’S GOOD! I mean, it’s SERIOUSLY good. Amanda challenges my way of thinking and my views…and she does it in such a way that makes her totally able to relate to.

Well, I read this passage from her book this morning, that goes with this theme of ‘rest. She says,

“Because while we can choose to rest our bodies, soul rest only happens at the feet of Jesus. When we lay down our agendas, our focus shifts to His agenda. And in my experience, His agenda usually includes the reminder that I’m loved already. That he accepts me as I am, without title or accomplishment. That I don’t need to seek approval from other people, because I’m worthy in the eyes of the only one who matters.”**

Ok, I can’t speak for you all, but I need, and I mean, DESPERATELY NEED that kind of rest. Where I don’t have to perform or be ‘on’ for anyone…where I can just be. ME. The me that is broken. The me that seeks love and acceptance – and can find it in the most reliable of places. The me that doesn’t have to hold the world up on her shoulders.

I can tell you all this much, God is taking me on a true journey during this month. Between this writing/blogging challenge, and the online 6-week Bible study I’m participating in {we are reading the book of Matthew, by the way. And if you need some serious meat to chew on, start here!}, He is taking me to some uncharted territory and it’s kind of uncomfortable. But I know that I’ll be better and stronger and more dependent on Him when I come out on the other side. But until I get there, I need His grace and His embrace to get me through this. Cause I’m surely not strong enough to do this on my own.

**{taken from ‘Chapter 3 – Recognition’ in “Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist” by Amanda Jenkins}

 

His Word, Series

Day 11 – Teach

Michelle

Well, I feel like I’m slowly getting ‘caught up’ here. I probably wouldn’t worry about that if I didn’t have that ‘perfectionist’ disorder going on…

The prompt for day 11 is: Teach.

For whatever reason, there is a song that comes to mind…perhaps you’ve heard it…

“I’d like to teach the world to sing; in perfect harmony…”

I think you have to have been raised in the 80’s to recognize that song as a commercial for Coke products.

I’m thinking of all of the things I want to teach my kids…

I want to teach my daughter to be compassionate when it’s not abundantly present.

I want to teach my son to be respectful of women…especially their emotions. Because they’re not always a bad thing.

I want to teach my daughter to submit to her husband as authority over the household. I want her to submit to him as he submits to Christ as Lord over his life.

I want to teach my son that women are not to be treated as subservient or as less than him.

I want to teach both of my children to stand up for what is wrong, even if it’s not the popular thing to do.

I want to teach my children to be kind to those who they feel can’t do anything for them. For that’s when kindness is truly a character trait.

I want to teach my children to address people by their names. Nothing is sweeter to someone than the sound of their own name.

I want to teach my children that family is not always about blood, but rather those who would stand beside you and fight to the end…of whatever battle you’re facing.

I want to teach my children that chivalry is not dead.

I want to teach my children to give without expectations.

I want to teach my children what it means to live a life of abandon to Jesus.

These are all things that I want to teach my children by living them. To do this, I know I must lean into Jesus and His strength. I need to rely on His sovereign nature and His goodness.

His Word, Random, Series

Day 10 – Care

Michelle

image

Today’s post is the first Five Minute Friday prompt in the 31 Day writing challenge. Yes, I realize it’s not Friday…that it’s actually Tuesday, but hey, folks, I’m a work in progress.

Which is actually a good segue into the actual post. Today’s prompt is: Care.

There are days when I ask why I care. Why do I care how I’m viewed? Why do I care what other people think? The only One who really matters doesn’t even judge the same way as people.

See, I have a problem. There’s even a word to describe it…

per·fec·tion·ism noun \-shə-ˌni-zəm\

Definition of PERFECTIONISM

: a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable
— per·fec·tion·ist noun or adjective
— per·fec·tion·is·tic adjective

And this is why I am embarking upon this book, “confessions of a raging perfectionist” by Amanda Jenkins. Perhaps this book, in conjunction with His Word will cure me of this deadly disease.

I was having a conversation with a fellow perfectionist just yesterday. We both remarked that we wanted things to be, {ahem} perfect in our relationships. Then we chuckled and began to feel badly for these men who have a tremendous amount of pressure placed upon them to join us in our quest for perfection. And they may not even realize it themselves.

I will tell you this much: I’m exhausted from caring so much about how others perceive me. And the thing is that it’s just that…their perception. And perceptions can be twisted by our life experiences, so it’s not factual and it’s different for everyone.

Does anyone else want to join me in this journey? Is anyone else thinking it might be time to focus on The One whose opinion matters the most? Is anyone else tired of trying to be ‘just so’?

If you’re thinking that maybe it’s time, let me leave you with this snippet from the Introduction to Amanda’s book:

“My problem, I’ve recently realized, is the significance I attach to the list–that if I lose five pounds and spend twenty minutes reading my Bible, I’ll be a better, more spiritual, more loving, more lovable person. When I fail to live up to my own expectations, I feel inadequate. Or more specifically (and as my stats frequently read), overweight, lazy, disorganized, and unworthy of the approval I seek.”

Kids/Parenting, My 'Farm', Random, Series

Day 9 – Join

Michelle

I have to say that this writing challenge has truly challenged me in some really great ways. I’ve stretched myself to a place I’ve not been before. To a place where I’m forcing myself to write just for the sake of writing.

The prompt for day 9 is: Join.

It catches me by surprise this morning when I step outside that fall has joined us. As I make the trek to the chicken coop, I traipse through damp leaves that have fallen softly from the trees.

I feel the cool, crisp air tenderly touch my cheeks, and as I exhale, I can see my warm breath.

Where has the year gone that fall has made it’s arrival so silently? Like a thief in the night steals, summer has been snatched from our grasp.

And just as the days and the years quickly tick by, the fall of my children’s lives joins me.

How one day, I open the door to my life and it shocks my system to find I have a 9-year old and a 7-year old. She has less than 2 years left in her elementary school days.

Less than 2 years and she will join the ranks of middle-schoolers where life takes on a new level of complexity.

And him…my baby…is not a baby any more. He has joined the thousands of boys that have gone before him into the land of no more hugs and kisses for their mamas.

Oh dear, sweet children…how can I slow time down? How can I learn to join you in this moment?

Help me to appreciate the cool, crisp air of the fall now; before the cold, sharp air of the winter blasts me in the face and chills me to the bone. Because it will be here all too soon.

His Word, Series

Day 8 – Say

Michelle

Today’s post covers the prompt: Say.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the words that I say…and those I don’t.

Do the words I say build up those around me? Do they incite a feeling of being loved? Do they encourage and lift up?

While I was searching in Proverbs for a specific scripture, I came across this gem.

“From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.”  Proverbs 12:14

Now since that is not what I was looking for, yet fit the moment, I felt it needed to be shared. Basically, the things you say, and those you don’t, will benefit you just as much as the work you do with your hands.

John Mayer once crooned, “say what you need to say…”

This brings me to the words I don’t say.

While I know it’s important to use kindness and love in our interactions with others, there are times when I don’t have the ‘tough’ conversations because I’m afraid of the outcome. I’m afraid of what may happen. I’m afraid of how they will take it.

I will admit to you that this post has taken me longer than the 5 minutes ‘allowed’ because I want to say just the right words.  I want to convey the right meaning behind what I’m saying.

Is it time for me to ‘say what I need to say’?

Is it time to have that tough conversation?

When do you finally say, “Enough is enough”? And mean it…and say the hard words. The words that need to be expressed. The words that you’re just tired of holding onto. The words that must be spoken in order to be freed from the dark cage that embitters your heart.