What’s up?

Several notes of interest…

1. The Book Discussion is postponed until further notice. I only had one person express interest in doing an online discussion and she would like to wait a while also. If you are interested in this discussion beginning soon, please leave me a comment and we’ll start next week.
2. I’m looking for ideas of what you all would like to read about. Some topics of interest are Frugal Housekeeping, Shopping on a Shoestring Budget, Raising you children to be Biblically sound, Online Scrapbooking challenges, Serving God by Loving your Husband…or anything along these lines. I’m at a stand still for post ideas so your input is greatly appreciated.
3. I would like to start having one guest post a month. If you are interested please leave a comment with your email and I will contact you. All comments are moderated, so I won’t be publishing your email address.
4. Starting today, every Monday I will have a new post under My Peace. These will be biblical insights and encouragement, prayer and praise and other thoughts I have that give me Peace. If there is something you are interested in having more insight on, please let me know and I will do my best to post something for you. It may take a few weeks, depending on the topic and the amount of research that will go into it.

I think that’s it for now! As you can see…I’m stepping it up a notch and hope you will be along for the ride!

Have a Blessed Day!

True Identity

The focus of our small group Bible Study this week is about letting down you guard to show your true self. Too often we put on a mask and only let people see what we think they want to see.

Do you have lots of friends or just a few? Do you at least have one good friend that you can confide in? How often do you take off that mask with your friend? Do your friends know the real you or only the you that hides behind your mask?

Paul writes in Galatians 2:6 :

“But from those who seemed to be something-whatever they were, it makes no difference to me, God shows personal favoritism to no man-for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.”

Reflection for the week: What are you? Who are you? Are you putting on a mask to make people think you are more righteous? Do you hide your fears, temptations and faults to make your friends like you? Are your being a true friend by hiding behind your mask? God knows you…He numbered you days before you were even a sparkle in your mother’s eye!

As you ponder these questions with me, think of one person you could start to build a relationship, built on your True Identity. Find a friend and start to build up a trust with them. Start by sharing a few details about your fears, sins or temptations with them and see how they react. By sharing a little at a time, you’ll begin to see if you can take off your mask with this friend. If they don’t respond in a loving God-honoring way, then find another Christian friend to confide in. I’m by no means saying we can only have one friend! But, you don’t have to share every detail of your past or present life will all your friends all of the time!

Dear friends…fill your life with Christian friends that can pray for you, talk with you and help you grow in Christ! I’ll pray for you as we start these baby steps to finding our True Identity!

Blessings!

Righteous Anger? Maybe not…

Recently, I almost lost a very teachable moment with my daughter. Thankfully, through some tugging from the Lord and gentle words from my Dad, I turned my own negative thoughts to teachable ones. Here’s the story:

We had been attending a birthday party at a local state park and the kids wanted to go swimming at the pool. At about 6:20, someone pointed out that we only had about 30 minutes left for the pool. So~ go into Mom gear~ grab the kids, suits and towels and truck it to the changing room for a quick change and then to the pool. We did manage to get into the pool area at about 6:30 and I told the kids that we had about 25 minutes to swim…not a long time, but enough for a cool down and a little fun. Here’s where the trouble started.

At 6:40, the lifeguards told the kids they had 5 more minutes. HUH?? I pointedly looked at the lifeguard, looked at the sign behind me that said in big bold letters “SWIMMING HOURS 11-7”, looked at my watch and looked back at the lifeguard. Now, keep in mind…myself, along with several other parents and grandparents had rushed over so the kids could get a half hour in the pool. We had 8 kids…ranging from 18 months to 10 years old…and there were only 2 other people in the pool. Not so many that it would take 15 minutes to clear everyone out.

So, what’s a parent to do? My first reaction was not God-honoring…I was all but ready to tell that lifeguard what was on my mind! They had watched us come in, heard me tell the kids we had 25 minutes to swim and didn’t correct me! And who were they to tell us to be done early??!! The pool is a free pool funded through the State Park…so, essentially, the taxpayers are paying those “teeny-bopper” lifeguards to watch us swim during the posted Swimming Hours! Just another of those “there are our tax dollars hard at work” issues. Righteous Anger? ABSOLUTELY…or so I tried to tell myself!

Well, I did start to spout off out of hearing of the kids, when my Dad…ever the wise one…calmly and in very few words, made me realize that it wasn’t that big of a deal and the “teeny-boppers” probably had somewhere fun to go. And, they probably only were getting paid until 7, so they wanted to be closed up and out of there. Ok…he’s right, I needed to cool down and handle this situation with a totally different attitude.

Back to 5 minutes left…my daughter is 10 and can tell time, so when she heard this she was not at all happy. I told her to just enjoy her 5 minutes and leave it at that. Well…five minutes was up and I told her it was time to get out of the pool. She, very loudly said…”The sign says we can swim until 7”! My response was simply “Well, I guess the Lifeguard want to close early tonight”…and yes…it was all in hearing of said Lifeguard. I was giving them a chance to at least explain to us why we had to get out early. We got all the kids out of the pool, dried off and out of the gate by about 6:50 and the gates closed behind us. On the way back to “Party Central” I had a chance to remind my daughter that we might not always like the rules that are set before us, but, God always wants to obey those in authority [as long as we are not sinning in doing so].

On the way home, I was surprise at how much the whole situation bothered me! I can usually let go of things that I see as “unfair” as long as no one was hurt. But, this just ate at me the entire way home…and it was a 1 ½ hour drive! Later that night, I realized that my Christian walk is a lot like the “Pool Situation”… God being the lifeguard of my life. I may not always understand the rules or situations that He bring before me…I may think life is unfair…but He is in control and I have to obey. God alone knows the rhyme and reason for our daily trials. He may or may not choose to let us know those reasons. But, by trusting in Him…knowing “…that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.”(Romans 8:28), I know that I can “Float and not Sink” while I swim in this “Pool” called life!

A Minute for Mom

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
(Proverbs 15:1 NKJV)

This verse should be plastered on the walls, windows, mirrors and doors of my house…and I’m sure some of your houses as well! How many times do we instantly “snap” at our children or husband when things start going crazy? In our house it starts about 4:30. It’s time to start supper, finish homework, clean up the playroom and try to get things calm down before Daddy gets home. It never fails, the kids start fighting about who has to put what away, the phone is ringing again (no I do not want to change my phone plan!) and supper is starting to burn. That’s my breaking point! I march into the playroom and yell “Stop that yelling and fighting and clean up this mess!”. Notice anything wrong with that? I sure do!

I know I’m not the alone in this dilemma. We’re human , therefore, we’re sinful and we’re women! Just as being a submissive wife doesn’t come naturally, neither does patience at a stressful moment. Even so, God calls us to have “the law of kindness” on our tongues;

She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
(Proverbs 31:26 NKJV)

When we are faced with these moments, we need to remember God’s Will for us. Paul does a good job reminding us in his letter to the Philippians;

…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

(Phil. 2:13 NKJV).

Think about that for a minute. God’s will for us as wives and mothers is to be an example of love and kindness. When we are following God’s will for our lives , it will bring God pleasure! How awesome is that?! And not only will God bless us for living His will, the blessings will overflow to our husbands and children. We will be able to submit to our husbands with a more Christ-like attitude and our children will learn how to handle stress and difficulties in a Godly way!

As I work on having “soft answers” and the “law of kindness” in my everyday life, I want to encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 13 and think of ways you can become a more Godly wife and mother.

Blessings~ Cherity