Winning the race....

Do you ever feel that your life is a constant race? I remember when I was younger watching the movie "Rat Race" with my family. And that line Mr. Bean says "It's a Race, It's a Race!" always stuck in my head as something funny.



Did you see that? They contemplated joining as a team to win the race, the one guy in the elevator wasn't in a hurry to win the race, but then when the group got passed up by someone suddenly all bets were off and it was on like donkey kong again! That's how life is, it's as if we've all been entered in this battle to win at life, much like those in Rat Race were entered to win the race. Somehow we've deluded ourselves into thinking that whoever has the most, the best, the most expensive or the newest is "winning" this game we call life, while those of us trying to be content feel left out like losers. This is a subject I've been thinking and praying a lot about the last few years, as it seems that more and more this life has become a struggle to win.

I often find myself getting into that game of besting another, whether it's cleaning my house, or the deranged delusion that whoever gets the LEAST sleep is actually the best... I wish I could figure that one out. Because truthfully getting less sleep is scientifically proven to make you the least productive, yet in today's day and age not sleeping is worn like a badge of honor. and those who do sleep in on occasion are labeled lazy, when in reality they are likely to be getting more done during waking hours because they are rested. I wish someone would explain that to me, because I will be honest.... I LOVE SLEEP!!!!! And I don't see myself as a lazy person, my family may disagree but I feel that I work hard day in and day out. And I have to confess, I love going to bed at night and sleeping, I love getting a rare nap to recharge my batteries. So I guess I am a loser in some eyes now, but oh well. I'm rested.... Some of the time anyway... haha! ;-)

Some days I sit down and wonder how we got so twisted up in the game of "winning", is it some desire we all have to be liked or wanted? Is it a human desire to feel complete or whole? I can't say as I will ever fully understand or have an answer but I have an opinion. And that is this:

We are all equal in the sight of God.

Yup, that right there is kinda humbling isn't it? You see God looks at us and sees sinners. Yes we are His creation and He loves us, but that doesn't change the fact that deep down we are all the same and what we have in common is we are sinners. I don't think God loves you more than someone else because you have a bigger house, or a nicer car, or more money in your bank account. Rather I think He cares what we do with those things. Are we using them for His glory and honor or to look better amongst our peers? One of my favorite chapters of the bible as you will come to learn is Romans, and just like my last post I'm using another of my favorite passages from Romans here.

Romans 3:23-24 New Living Translation (NLT) ^" For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins."

Did you see that? We ALL fall short, every single one of us. I know I do every day, when my temper gets the better of me, or when an ungracious thought or unkind word leaves my mouth. I'm not perfect, no where near it and I never will be. But because of God's great love for us I get to have His love, and grace and mercies in my life and with that I can try harder to be more like Him and less like me.

My goal in life is to be content with not only who I am, but my situation in life. It's not easy, and there are often times when I have felt very justified in my feeling of discontent. When God saw fit to let us get pregnant and then suddenly lose the baby, I didn't understand it. I was mad, hurt and extremely discontent with where my life was. When one of my littles has a meltdown in the middle of the grocery store, I feel very discontent with my life and job as a Mom. I wonder, why me? Why do I have the kid screaming in the middle of Walmart? I told myself I'd never be that Mom.... HA! God really likes to humble us doesn't He? But you see He still loves me, He still loves my child because He created us this way. To be sinners so that we would need His saving grace and love. He's not surprised when my kids throw a fit or I get mad, He's not shocked when they say something I'd rather they kept to themselves, He loves us no matter what we do, or what we have.

So my urging to you is this (and to myself because let's be honest I'm just as bad at this as every one else), let's try to find contentment in this life. To stop playing the game, because we are all equal losers in it, and to focus on becoming more like Christ. I believe with all my heart that if we show this example to our kids, that they can become adults who strive to find the contentment in their lives.


Love and prayers,

Kim

Back to Pooh Corner...

I remember when I was little and my Mom would sing to me when I was sick, afraid, couldn't sleep or just because I asked her to. Those were special memories for me. Time that was just her and I laying in bed, me snuggling my Mommy and her enjoying those priceless moments you just can't get back. As a Mom myself I understand now more than ever those precious moments with my kids, how time flies so fast and you have to take every opportunity you can to enjoy those littles. 

Tonight was one such night, Little Mermaid playing in the background I had high hopes for a great night as a family and as things happen in life I ended up feeling like I had failed. I gave my husband and son haircuts and all was going well until that fateful moment when the 2 year old daughter decides to throw a fit, get mad when I tell her no and juice ends up on my clean floor and she is now in bed. I hate myself for getting mad, but I'm human and I fail. Yes I said it out loud. I fail. 

Of course my daughter doesn't see that part. She sees not being able to finish her movie, not getting snuggles because she's in trouble and is crying for me. Because she wants my comfort even though I'm the one who punished her. And it hit me like a punch in the gut... I'm being harder on myself than she is upset with me. I then went in and she snuggled up with me, and wanted me to sing her favorite lullaby "Return to Pooh Corner" and as I lay there singing I remember my Mom singing that to me. And I realize what I remember is the love and the comfort of my Mom, not the situation that was behind the snuggling (bedtime, sickness, being scared etc.) all I remember is the love. And as I lay there holding my baby girl I pray that what she remembers is the love I feel for her, the snuggles and the singing. Not my temper or her getting in trouble (not that I don't want her to learn not to throw her juice on the floor in protest but you get my point), I hope she remembers that I love her, and that even in the worst of times nothing she can ever do will change my love for her, same goes for my son. Just like my heavenly Fathers love for me, and while I screw up and make a mess sometimes His love for me never changes. His desire for me to learn and grow from these experiences and earthly decisions doesn't change. Just as He is shaping me, and teaching me everyday, so am I to shape and teach my kids. And that was a humbling thought. The greatest gift I can give this world is 2 more believers who strive to live for Christ.  

I'm still learning how to be a good Mom, and even when they're grown and gone I'll still be learning. I think for us Mom's that's a hard lesson to learn. We are so quick to judge each other and not only does that make our jobs as Momma's harder, but it's drawing away from how Christ calls us to act. Just like it says in Romans: 
Romans 12:1-2 "So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." (the Message)

Did you see that? Where it says "Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings out the best of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." We Mom's need to pay heed to that verse, instead of dragging each other down, and putting each other down, we should strive to help each other in love. Strive to hold back unwanted advice and listen instead, sometimes we just need to cry for a minute, I know though most of mine is in private. When you see that Mom at the store struggling, exhausted and on the edge of tears herself the last thing she wants to hear is "You've got your hands full there!" no, she wants a sympathetic glance, she wants to know she's not alone or a failure, that someone else understands how hard it is to be a Mom. I urge you, next time you see a Mom struggling, offer up a prayer for her instead of thinking down on her. We all have bad days, yes us Mom's too and so do our littles. Bad days don't make for bad kids, or bad parenting. It simply means we're human and still learning and growing. 

My prayer as a Mom is to be their example of Christ, to teach them His love and to show that love to others too. That is my prayer for you too!

Kim