As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.
Proverbs 27:19
My reflections will be closing (for now).
The blogs in which I’ve reflected on life as of late…
Perceptual Personality – a reflection of personality type. Shares a link for those who want to know theirs.
Sit Still – reflected more on diving into my personality type and creating Boundaries.
Fighting Faith – reflected on when I tried to seek the world vs God.
Define Disorder – reflected on putting order to my disorder.
Reflection – Kind of ties it all together.
Who am I?
I am a child of God.
Created and known before I was in my mother’s womb. ~ Psalm 139:13/16
Fearfully and wonderfully made. ~ Psalm 139:14
The Lord goes before and behind me. ~ Isaiah 52:12
God has created me to be Adventurous, Curious, Creative, and most often Loud with passion.
These characteristics make for a person who has trouble saying no.
Who fills each day so full, I have trouble taking the time to quiet my soul.
I am learning new things about myself.
Taking time to process the way I function.
Then there is the other part of Who I am.
A Wife and Mother of a decade and some change.
These add different roles and responsibilities to who I am.
How does the reflection of me, reflect on those I do life with?
Parenting
Parenting is…
A delicate yet abstract piece of Art. Each piece – is a separate story.
Different brush strokes and colors are applied.
One hopes and prays that they’re capturing the moment(s) and portraying it(them) just right.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
I think the most important word in that verse is should.
We are called to train them in the way that the child should go.
With 4 kids I have to remind myself that they’re all different pieces of art, created by God.
What works for one may not work for the other.
We can give them the tools that they need.
Yet be okay if they use a different way of getting to the final product with the tools given.
Give structure and boundaries.
Yet also remember that each child reflects their own abstract painting.
Therefore they’re bound to go outside of the created lines.
And when they do they’ll be waiting to see how we respond.
Each Kid is their own person, each has their own reflection staring back at them.
We are called as their parents – To keep them safe. To equip them with the Word of God.
The rest we leave up to God and prayer.
Wife Life
I’m not a perfect wife. I’ve spent my fair share of time trying to “fix” my husband’s shortcomings.
Yes, I can say shortcomings, I have them too, my list is probably longer than his.
But it’s much easier to focus on someone else’s list than our own.
If only we could just fix their “fix it list”, our life would, in turn, run much smoother.
My husband is also his own person.
It took me years to learn that the best thing I could do for him, is Pray.
Pray for his heart, mind, and soul.
Pray that the Lord’s purpose for him, creates a desire, a fire.
Let me tell you, for many years I thought there was a disconnect with the Lord.
Like my prayers were getting to him in a mixed-up game of telephone.
They weren’t being answered the way I’d planned/wanted.
He’d had 8 jobs, he was amazing at all of them. Yet, he was still searching.
In hindsight, I can see it was a time in which the Lord already had a plan in place.
That took time, more time than I’d of liked.
Harsh reality check, this life isn’t about me.
I hear when the nagging wife comes out.
I cringe.
Those moments are not pretty.
In owning them, moving on from them, and turning them to prayer…
Wife Life becomes such a calmer place to live.
Reflection
What is the current state of my heart?
The long and short of it – my heart’s too busy, so much so that it’s beating irregularly.
I’ve also learned that sometimes I fill my life up to avoid myself—my emotions and thoughts.
Which is a habit I’d rather not pass along.
It also can hurt my marriage. Filling our lives up so much that we lose time as a unit.
What I want my heart to reflect, is Love and Patience for my children
(reality: They get the anxious and over-committed mom growl and impatience)
I want to have a heart that reflects the Lord.
(reality: I’ve filled my days so full, I work the Lord into my day, vs set my day for the Lord)
I want to have a heart full of the fruits of the spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:22-26
Reality: When life is filled to the brim the fruit gets a little bruised by being constantly transported.
Love turns to angst or anger when something doesn’t go as planned.
Joy turns to anxiety at keeping up the pace.
Peace turns to feelings of an unsettled heart.
You get the picture.
I pray that I am a Mother and a Wife who takes time to daily pour into those relationships.
I pray that I take time to be present and involved in the lives of my friends and community.
That I wake in the morning setting my day for the Lord, which means creating space to allow for interruption.
Lord, I pray my reflection – it shows more of you, and a whole lot less of me!
Bold italic words lead to other blogs!