The Joy of Being Wifely and the Honor of Motherhood

This is decidedly NOT how I planned to begin talking about the Joy of Being Wifely and the Honor of Motherhood.  But this is fresh on my heart. 

"I can't stand to be around your children."  These words were spoken to me on a recent trip to visit family.  Those words burned me to the core of my being and left a festering wound of discouragement on my spirit.

Granted, these words were spoken to me in the heat of frustration, during a tense discussion of frustrations.  5 adults and 10 children (under the age of 9) had been sharing a home for the past 5 days.  No one had slept well and my youngest  had spent the first three days of our visit with a fever.

I do not want to dwell on this conversation, but I do want to focus on a few super important lessons I learned from this conversation. (This is me, speaking to myself, in inner monologue...)

1. You cannot, no matter how much you want to, you cannot judge your own family against another family.  If you want:  observe, take notes, make a mental list of "what not to do" or "things to try".  But don't judge.  If we lived in a vacuum and were without fault, then judge away.  If another family asks for your observations, then share them as God leads.  Otherwise, keep your thoughts to yourself.  If the children of another family make you crazy, love on them, because it's the right thing to do.

2.  If someone criticizes your family or children, take it in stride.  Most people are not with your family 24/7.  So they only get a glimpse into your daily life.  Perhaps the criticism is unfounded, shrug it off.  Perhaps there is a nugget of truth in the criticism.  We all have blind spots, so check your mirrors and blind spots.  Then make changes if need be.

3.  Definitions are relative.  Although my siblings, peers and I have read a similar spectrum of books on marriage and family, our application of philosophy is vastly varied.  On many levels, this is really hard for me to remember. 

4.  If you are not walking deeply with the Lord and not praying fervently for your family, then this inner monologue is pointless.  I am speaking to me, here.

p.s. I LOVE my family <3

Efficacy of God's Word

Recently, my sister-in-law, sent me a Bible reading plan.  It's officially called Professor Horner's Bible-Reading System.  Check it out on this random Jesus-lover's bog I just found.

Right now, I am certainly NOT keeping up with the 10 chapters a day.  Some days, I get it all in and then some. Other days, I get going only to be interrupted.

In the end, I have been so blessed to read the Bible this way.  I am seeing things, a unity of the Word, I never noticed before.

Sometimes, when I read, I have no idea what I just read.  I am learning to be ok with this.  I have to trust that God's Word does not return void and I trust that the Holy Spirit is teaching my heart.

So then, I am off to read...

Loving to Read

I love to read. I love, love, love to read. This love for reading was undoubtedly cultivated by my sweet parents.  They are avid readers and for as long as I can remember, they encouraged me to read.

Each summer, I participated in our local library's summer reading program, reading my way to free Cincinnati Red's tickets.  Granted my seats were always in the nosebleed section, but it was a thrill to know I had earned those tickets.

 

Now, I am trying to instill this same love for reading into my children. It's not going so well. I have some very stiff competition in the form of technology. But I will persevere!

For now, I will continue to read and read to my little ones. What have you been reading?

Serving Others

Two years ago, this summer, our little family traveled to Colorado State University for the biennial all staff training with Campus Crusade for Christ.  Yes, we were commissioned missionaries!  We were so ready to hit the field as full time Christian workers.

Awe! Aren't we the cutest missionaries you've ever seen?

Sadly, this did not last.  To make a long story short, God actually used our time at CSU to reveal to us His heart for the Gospel, His last frontier (if you will), and that our role in that missions was not via Campus Crusade for Christ.  After several months, we yielded to God's leading and left staff with Crusade.  Phew.

This has left both Ian and I a bit jaded.  Raising the funds for missions was really challenging. As in, it did not go well at all.  A pastor once told us that Christians in the U.S. spend more money on their pets then on giving to missions.  (Frowny face).  So we did what any jaded former missionaries would do.  Gave more to missions.  Yay, us!  Aren't we awesome?

Um, no. GOD is awesome.  We took an amazing class on the state of global missions called Perspectives.  This completely confirmed all that God was already teaching us. Bonus! And we were exposed to so many other people and organizations fulfilling the Great Commission.

So now, we are waiting in NorCal.  Waiting for God to call us elsewhere or to keep us here.  Waiting for any opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And wouldn't you know it, God has kept us here so far and is daily giving us the opportunity to be His hands and feet.  Yay, God is awesome!