Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Ranting and Pondering

Hey there,

The past few weeks have been extremely busy for my family. We pulled off a beautiful and meaningful wedding for my dear sister on October 25. Last week was meant to be spent catching up, but nothing went as planned. I had appointments and interruptions that resulted in me having a meltdown on Saturday. The house was a disheveled heap of laundry, bags still sitting half unpacked from the wedding, dirty dishes that I had been trying to get to all week, and clutter that I had no place for in the disheveled heap. When I recovered from the meltdown, I concluded that I just have to manage my time better. You know, you think you're managing things just fine and you get comfortable and start to relax a little and then, suddenly, it all unravels and you have to start all over again. To top off the weekend, Sunday night my husband mentioned the five Bible verses that we needed to have memorized for today, which I completely forgot. I never even thought about it after the night it was assigned three or so weeks ago. So I've been cramming, which is all too reminiscent of high school.

The past couple days I've been deep in thought about how I can do a better job as a homemaker, teacher to my children, and mother. With all this pondering, thankfully, I am reminded that my purpose is not to have the cleanest house or the best cooking skills as a homemaker, it is to love and train my children for the Glory of God. Why do I not put more thought into that? I thank the Lord that He uses these frustrating times to teach me, because I am definitely still in need of His teaching.

After a good Monday spent doing school, laundry, and little cleaning, things are looking up. We were out super early yesterday morning to vote and have breakfast out before going grocery shopping. As I sat at the restaurant writing my grocery list with a crayon, I thought about how much I really love motherhood. Nothing is perfect, but if I keep my eye on what the real purpose is, perfection doesn't seem so important anymore.

Thanks for reading.

5 comments:

nGogo said...

Your post brought tears to my eyes. You are a wise and godly woman and GOD will bless that which you put your energy to. I'm thankful you "have chosen the better part". May you grow in His grace and wisdom and see the fruit of your labor.
Love,
nGogo

gina said...

thanks shelly, i also am teary eyed. might just have to link to this post to encourage some other women I know...and don't know. off to make my list. there's got to be a crayon around here somewhere...

Jessi said...

The past few weeks (months?) have brought me to my knees, as well. Parenting, motherhood, and marriage is a purifying, sanctifying process. I've been reminded so much lately that my life is about sacrifice. It's about living for someone besides me. And I can choose to have a rotten attitude about it, look at all of the imperfections and long lists that I'm not accomplishing, and make everyone else miserable. Or, I can choose to find joy in sacrifice, like you are choosing. Waterdeep (http://www.waterdeep.com/songs/ifyou) has been a huge encouragement to me lately. These lyrics are the truth about my life lately:
"And the bush it was burning on the mountain top
And though the leaves never blackened, the fire didn’t stop
That’s the way that it works in this old life of sin
You gotta let the fire burn you just to get clean within."

Thanks so much for sharing and encouraging. You're a true friend and a great mom.

Holli Davis said...

Very much needed this, thank you for posting this!!!

Unknown said...

Yep. This is me lately. Encouraging to know that I'm not alone. Thanks, Shelly.