My prayer for today as a mom:
God, give me strength for my tasks. Give me patience with children who are still - always - learning. Give me love for tender hearts. Give me a sense of justice to teach right from wrong, but grace and mercy to forgive as abundantly as I have been forgiven. Give me compassion for hurts, comfort for sadness, and most of all, words to teach them of Your great love for them in Christ. In His holy name I ask this, and for His sake. Amen.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tame the Fingers?
I've always tried to be careful and conscious about what I post online, on this blog, on Facebook, Twitter, and so on. However, this morning I posted about being reprimanded when dropping off the kids for school, as they were taking too long to get out of the van.
The woman in line told me that if they were having trouble getting out of the car, I should pull up and around so the other cars don't have to go around me. No sympathetic smile, (I was already frustrated with the kids for taking so long), no wording that would indicate that make it sound more like a suggestion than a command. So I was a little hurt. Yes, I know I'm too sensitive.
So I posted on Facebook that I'd been reprimanded in the pickup line for the kids being too slow, ending with what I thought was a humorous "Really?"
But then I started to get a lot of comments kinda of ragging on the person who talked to me. With each comment, I started to feel worse and worse. Was this what I'd wanted to happen? No. Was I still the cause of it? Yes. So I removed the post.
James, in his epistle describes how the tongue is impossible to tame. "For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:7-10 ESV)
Even though I didn't speak a word, I was still sinning in that I didn't look at the situation in the best light. Maybe she didn't smile because she was having a rough morning. Maybe someone else had complained against her for parents taking too long in drop-off and she felt she had to react to that. There are a thousand unknown variables that might affect the situation.
A good friend of mine, in teaching youth about the harmful effects of gossip and how you cannot retract what had been said, had the kids squirt toothpaste from a tube. She then asked them to try getting it back into the tube. Have you ever tried? It's impossible! Even if you manage to get some of it back in the tube, you're still left with. A big, sticky mess. So it is with our words.
With the Internet, we must be even more cautious. Words today spread with alarming speed. So what words are we spreading? Words that tear down and hurt others? Or words that build up and encourage?
James' conclusion to chapter three may be applied to the intent behind our words. "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:7-10, 16-18 ESV)
May God grant us the grace and patience to spread words of peace and love, sacrificing our own pride for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.
The woman in line told me that if they were having trouble getting out of the car, I should pull up and around so the other cars don't have to go around me. No sympathetic smile, (I was already frustrated with the kids for taking so long), no wording that would indicate that make it sound more like a suggestion than a command. So I was a little hurt. Yes, I know I'm too sensitive.
So I posted on Facebook that I'd been reprimanded in the pickup line for the kids being too slow, ending with what I thought was a humorous "Really?"
But then I started to get a lot of comments kinda of ragging on the person who talked to me. With each comment, I started to feel worse and worse. Was this what I'd wanted to happen? No. Was I still the cause of it? Yes. So I removed the post.
James, in his epistle describes how the tongue is impossible to tame. "For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:7-10 ESV)
Even though I didn't speak a word, I was still sinning in that I didn't look at the situation in the best light. Maybe she didn't smile because she was having a rough morning. Maybe someone else had complained against her for parents taking too long in drop-off and she felt she had to react to that. There are a thousand unknown variables that might affect the situation.
A good friend of mine, in teaching youth about the harmful effects of gossip and how you cannot retract what had been said, had the kids squirt toothpaste from a tube. She then asked them to try getting it back into the tube. Have you ever tried? It's impossible! Even if you manage to get some of it back in the tube, you're still left with. A big, sticky mess. So it is with our words.
With the Internet, we must be even more cautious. Words today spread with alarming speed. So what words are we spreading? Words that tear down and hurt others? Or words that build up and encourage?
James' conclusion to chapter three may be applied to the intent behind our words. "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:7-10, 16-18 ESV)
May God grant us the grace and patience to spread words of peace and love, sacrificing our own pride for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
All for Christ
Life is stressful. Sometimes more than other times. It is frustrating when things do not go how it seems they should. The demands on our time and energy seem unending. The weight of responsibilities and burdens (even good ones) add up. With all these things constantly picking at us, we can easily come to the conclusion that life is hard.
Let us consider, though, if life were easy. Would we be happy? Sure! Without a care in the world, we would never be tempted to complain, or to be discontented in this life. But comfort can easily lead to complacency. And that is a dangerous place to be. More on that another time.
When we struggle, though, for what purpose? Why not simply give up? Withdraw from the things that stress us? For us as Christians, there is one driving incentive which pushes us to persevere. It is the Gospel of Christ. We continue in this life, despite the difficulties, that we may bring hope to others for the next.
St. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:23 ESV) It would be so easy to never push ourselves from our comfort zones, to not care about other people, to never put ourselves out in the open for our faith to be seen. But then no one will see the hope in which we live, the Gospel which we can share. We who have struggles in this world persevere in hope that others might be touched by the love of Christ and His saving grace.
How do your particular struggles help further the kingdom of God?
Dear Lord, help us to see Your grace in our struggles. Give us strength that only You can impart, that we may persevere to the glory of Your name and the salvation of those around us. Amen.
Let us consider, though, if life were easy. Would we be happy? Sure! Without a care in the world, we would never be tempted to complain, or to be discontented in this life. But comfort can easily lead to complacency. And that is a dangerous place to be. More on that another time.
When we struggle, though, for what purpose? Why not simply give up? Withdraw from the things that stress us? For us as Christians, there is one driving incentive which pushes us to persevere. It is the Gospel of Christ. We continue in this life, despite the difficulties, that we may bring hope to others for the next.
St. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:23 ESV) It would be so easy to never push ourselves from our comfort zones, to not care about other people, to never put ourselves out in the open for our faith to be seen. But then no one will see the hope in which we live, the Gospel which we can share. We who have struggles in this world persevere in hope that others might be touched by the love of Christ and His saving grace.
How do your particular struggles help further the kingdom of God?
Dear Lord, help us to see Your grace in our struggles. Give us strength that only You can impart, that we may persevere to the glory of Your name and the salvation of those around us. Amen.
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