God Alone.

Hello! Sorry it has been awhile, I have been away at my mama's house for 2 weeks and I am just back in for a week before I travel again up north to visit more family...

Here are some random thoughts I am having right now...

1. I love the blogs that I read and I was realizing that most of them are an everyday kind of "the day in the life of" type blogs and that is why I like them. Although they are also challenging in ways which I appreciate, because I love when something makes me think, question, or try something new.

2. My blog is not really a "day in the life of" kind of blog, but I also love that! I have sometimes thought about posting everyday kind of stuff, but usually end of erasing it~ although I haven't pinned down the reason why, except that I really think my life is quite ordinary. (Which I am VERY happy with, by the way...)

This leads me to thinking about an ordinary life... does mine really fall into this category? Here is my life in a nutshell:

I am a stay at home mom with 2 children.

I am fiercely devoted to my husband.

I love to be home, doing homey kind of things. Or sometimes...shhh! Nothing at all! Oh my!

I don't watch tv and could not tell you who the biggest loser was or is.

I don't ever shop, except for household stuff, which I would just as soon order on-line and have sent to me!

I love the Lord and really try to set about doing that which matters to Him, most of the time. (I do fail, but I know that faithfulness counts with God, so honestly making the effort matters!) As you know, this sometimes happens at personal cost, but it is most definitely worth it!

I love to learn from older women.

I miss all of my family and would really love to live within 10 miles of them all!

I really do not have "tons" of friends and I have never really had "tons" of friends. I like it this way.

I am not out in the world much but when I am, I often feel a bit mis-placed. But not to my discouragement.

I hate to do dishes and usually forget one load of clothes in the washer each week.

I am still trying to perfect making home-made bread.

I sometimes let my boys eat popsicles for breakfast!

I love that God has wired me to be ministry-minded and the world makes most the most sense to me this way.

I try not to seem like it can only be my way, I just often come equipped with a vision and it is hard for me to let go of that sometimes.

At least once a week one of my boys climbs into bed in the middle of the night and I leave them there becasue I like having them close.

I often feel like I talk too much, but sometimes have nothing to say.

So, I wonder...is this an ordinary life? Yes, because it is so different than everyone elses or no because it doesn't look at all like most of the 30 something SAH moms around me. What do you think? How do you view your life? Are you content with the view you see? Why or why not?

Most often I am found discontent because God is at work and He is causing me to be aware that something vital is missing. Does that happen to you? I really want to live an ordinary life if it means leaving out all the stuff that gets in the way of living sold-out for God. Even some of the things I might aspire to do seem ordinary to me, because I am ordinary. What makes my life extraordinary? God alone.

Is "good" the very "best?"

Tonight my husband and I were talking about the loss of kindness in today's world. We had been out and about and I simply asked him, "Is being friendly really that hard?" I don't mean it as a judgement against others, but rather as a realization of something I feel we as a people in general have lost.

It made me think of my time spent living in Mexico and Honduras. My heart was remembering how genuinely kind everyone was to us. At the markets, in the streets, at the church, in their homes and in their care of us. It was important to them that they make every effort to extend a hand of kindness to us at any given opportunity.

Now, let us gain some perspective~ When the precious people of these two places were asked what it meant to be rich or have plenty of what you needed. They most often responded with "having a two day supply of food ready," "having at least $300.00," "having good shoes to walk to and from work and the markets," "school for your children," and the most honest being "good with what you have." Meaning contentment, of course.

The other thing I said to my husband was that the children were happy, content and well-behaved. Why? I think it is because families stay together for work, for play, for worship.... The children know their role in the family and work each day to help the family survive and run smoothly. There are also no distractions for these children because they have very little. One child I had the privilege of spending a week with received a lollipop when we first arrived. On the day we left, he still had it in his pocket, because he only ate a small amount each day, so it would last.

Sadly, I am certain this is not a strong character quality I have developed in my own children. We certainly do go with less than some people I know and in some cases more than others, but somewhere we have missed the mark at really cultivating in our children a sense of "pure contentment." Which of course, led us to discussing what more we can do to help strengthen this character quality in our children. I do know that it is definately a choice they can make in being happy and content. It is certainly biblical, "If you have food and shelter, with these you shall be content." (1 Timothy 6:8) So, how have we ended up off the path of contentment?

Distractions. We do many things that are good for our children and beneficial is some ways. Now, why do I choose the things I choose for them? Many different reasons, but the most important should be to honor God and teach them what it means to live a life set apart for His purposes. So many times the "rules of society" get in the way of solid truth-based thinking. We, as the family, need to be training our children in righteousness. This process must start in the home! The job of parenting actually belongs to parents! (I know, what an ironic thought!!)

My husband and I are working in the trenches with our children, because we desire them to grow in their understanding of what it means to live by the way of righteousness. But there are always sneaky forks in the road we sometimes haphazardly end up pursuing. So begins a new journey in this house of aligning ourselves to the path of "pure contentment." I will be sharing thoughts and ways of the process as we journey along, so stay tuned!

Here is my challenge to you! Stop and look at an average day in your child's life and see what might be distracting them. Look for the value in what you are doing and evaluate as necessary. I'm sure that we can all use some time to balance the scales of what our children are doing that is good for them with what is actually best for them!
Let me know how your process is going, I would love to hear from you~