We're a busy family of six, but we have always tried to make time to eat dinner all together in the dining room, where we can joke, talk about our day, and care for one another. We each have our assigned place at the table during dinner, but if you want to eat breakfast or lunch at the table and we're not all eating together, than your welcome to sit where ever you like. Some times as the kids are setting the table for dinner, they'll ask if we can change seats and sit in someone else's place. They love doing this! Well, that is everyone but our oldest. She says it makes her feel uncomfortable to be in a different spot. How odd is that? A place she knows so well, where we share life and meals with those we know and love in a very secure environment, yet she can feel uncomfortable there. Sounds a little like my life at times.
Every morning I sit at the dining room table at my place with my breakfast, my Bible, and my journal, but today was different. When I came to the table I saw that my oldest son was sitting in my place working diligently on his school work. I hated to ask him to move, so I sat in the chair just to the right of him. As I sat there looking out the windows, at the table I sit at daily, things looked different. I have to admit that I felt uncomfortable. And I started to think about how when we step out of our comfort zones, even if it's something small, we become uncomfortable.
Lately God has been calling us all to step out. This year our oldest daughter started public High School after 4 years of homeschooling, my husband has stepped away from his own company and taken a job an hour away, and we have made up our minds to adopt again this year. Needless to say things are uncomfortable at our house, even though it's the house we feel so at home in. The bright side is that Kaitlyn is loving High School and it has caused me to get up earlier to start our day. My husband is bringing home a paycheck every two weeks, instead of going 11 months without pay. And we are excited to welcome a new one (or two) into our loving home. Our days aren't all rosy, but we continue to focus on Christ and we go forward in His strength, knowing He has called us out of our comfort zones!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
You've got me thinking...
I was reading on Some Girls website the other day about being "good enough" and how so many of us try to reach perfectionism. She (like so many other times) has got me to thinking.
Have you noticed that we not only strive for perfectionism in ourselves but we also look for it and expect it in others. Women are the worst. We strive to have the perfect body, the perfect children, the perfect family, and the perfect home. We allow voices inside our heads, as well as other women, to tear us down. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others. I know personally that I have asked my husband or my oldest daughter "do I look that big from behind?" or "do my legs look like hers?" and countless other critiquing questions. Where we are, never seems to be good enough...we need more...we need better...we need perfect. This has also affected the way I receive compliments and give compliments...I myself have a very hard time receiving them from others, because I never feel good enough. I, like my friend, am resolving to repeat God's truth when I hear voices inside my head tell me that I'm not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough, smart enough, or that I'm not anything enough.
Here are just a few verses that are speaking to me:
Jeremiah 1:5 says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Our frames were formed by God himself and He has set us apart. To be different, to be who He created us to be.
In 1 Timothy it says, "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." When I read this passage the words "everything is good" and "with thanksgiving" sticks out. Am I thankful for how God created me? Do I see that all God has created in me is good? Do I strive for better than what He has given me?
Romans 8:1 say "Therefor, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If you are a dear sister in Christ my friend, then the condemning mean voice you hear inside your head is not the voice of God, it is the voice of the enemy. Trade that voice for the truth of God. Sisters, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." Philippians 4:8
This week I will listen for the voice that tells me that I'm not good enough or that what I have been given is not good enough and I'll replace it with God's truth that tells me that He thinks I am good enough and that He is ready and able to us me...just as I am.
Have you noticed that we not only strive for perfectionism in ourselves but we also look for it and expect it in others. Women are the worst. We strive to have the perfect body, the perfect children, the perfect family, and the perfect home. We allow voices inside our heads, as well as other women, to tear us down. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others. I know personally that I have asked my husband or my oldest daughter "do I look that big from behind?" or "do my legs look like hers?" and countless other critiquing questions. Where we are, never seems to be good enough...we need more...we need better...we need perfect. This has also affected the way I receive compliments and give compliments...I myself have a very hard time receiving them from others, because I never feel good enough. I, like my friend, am resolving to repeat God's truth when I hear voices inside my head tell me that I'm not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough, smart enough, or that I'm not anything enough.
Here are just a few verses that are speaking to me:
Jeremiah 1:5 says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Our frames were formed by God himself and He has set us apart. To be different, to be who He created us to be.
In 1 Timothy it says, "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." When I read this passage the words "everything is good" and "with thanksgiving" sticks out. Am I thankful for how God created me? Do I see that all God has created in me is good? Do I strive for better than what He has given me?
Romans 8:1 say "Therefor, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If you are a dear sister in Christ my friend, then the condemning mean voice you hear inside your head is not the voice of God, it is the voice of the enemy. Trade that voice for the truth of God. Sisters, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." Philippians 4:8
This week I will listen for the voice that tells me that I'm not good enough or that what I have been given is not good enough and I'll replace it with God's truth that tells me that He thinks I am good enough and that He is ready and able to us me...just as I am.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)