Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Choosing Joy
I want to share a post with you from a blogging friend of mine. She has been an inspiration to me since I first read her blog last year. She is a proud and blessed mother of 14. Everytime I visit her blog I am encouraged or uplifted in some way. Her blog is Large Family Mothering.
The following is an excerpt from one of her recent posts:
Go here to read the rest.
And please leave her a kind comment!
Thank you so much!
The following is an excerpt from one of her recent posts:
~Resentment~
It's an insidious enemy. It creeps up on you, especially on those days that you have the flu, or you really want to get a project done, or you are having fun talking with an old friend on the phone. The interruptions, complaints and demands of a our lives can create a crinkled, cold and even spikey heart if we don't keep a safe distance from.....
RESENTMENT!
Back when I had so many little ones underfoot, so much to do, so few hands to do it, I had a revelation. I was washing dishes one day when I felt a tug on my skirt. A little face beamed up at me and asked for a drink of water. I had a choice to either huff and brush the child off, or put my agenda second and take care of the need of my baby. Just then the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jesus' words, "If you give just a cup of water to the least of these my brethren, you give it unto Me." I knew then what my priorities would be if I was to serve Jesus as a mother.
Interruptions, fatigue, deprivation, heartache; these are part of a Christian's life. It doesn't matter where you serve Him, whether in Uganda or China or in your own home. We need to make the choice daily, even hourly; will we lay our lives down, or will we count ourselves dear and allow resentment to build up, resulting in a bitter, ugly life?
I choose joy. I choose forgiveness. I choose laying it down so that I can gain it. Yes, there are times when my tired self would rather sleep than comfort the one scared by a nightmare, or wait up for the young person out with friends, or love and cuddle with a husband who's had a hard day. I read about other women who take all day to clothes shop just for fun, or who have unlimited time to write or sculpt or vacation in the Bahamas. I know that somewhere someone is eating a warm dinner, in quiet, hearing nothing more than the melodic sounds of Chopin or Mozart, but these things are all of this life, of this earth that is passing away.....
Go here to read the rest.
And please leave her a kind comment!
Thank you so much!
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4 Comments:
Maybe it's because each of my children was so hard to come by, but I can honestly say that I've never resented their "intrusion" in my daily life. :)
Now, I have harbored some resentment against my husband at times... but God did a work in me and now I'm pretty content with our life. The Lord is faithful!!
This is beautiful. And true, we only feel stressed when we think those things (dishes, etc) really matter in the grand scheme.
Children are so beautiful & unaffected. Let's not be the ones to affect them.
Children are a blessing. Thanks for sharing this.
I enjoyed this. Looks like a blog I'd like to visit too.
Warmly,
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