Humility & Rest

     My man works 6 days a week and volunteers at the fire department on top of that.  We have started going to a Saturday night service for church.  It makes for a long Saturday but a glorious one whole day with no commitments. Maybe other stay at home Mom's have run into this.  Hubby just wants to do nothing on his day off and Wife just wants to go do something on the day off. Now my man is amazing  at going on adventures and making them so fun. Every once in a while he asks, "can we just not do anything on Sunday this week."  Just the question sends me spinning with disappointment and dread of the day off.  Its not that he is asking can I keep to myself and not spend time with the family.  He just doesn't want to go on some grand adventure.  He's rather play legos or tea party at home. Not something I should be upset about.  It came to my attention last weekend when the request was made and we stayed home and I acted like a toddler who wasn't getting what she wanted.....I DON'T know how to REST!  Oh man!  That's kind of a big deal and I have always chalked it up to "personality" or "Mom cabin fever."  The truth is I have my own car I can and do get out quite enough (maybe to much).  I struggle with down time.  Feeling like time is always better spent being productive.  On down days I always end up getting a jump on chores for the next week thinking of my self better than my husband who is playing video games for the first time in 6 days or playing with our kids and just being with them!  EEK!!!  Gross!!!  So there is the problem.  A little long winded but I wanted to paint a proper picture of the situation.  The need for rest is build in me weather I like it or not.  Even the God of all rested on the 7 day.  How arrogant for me to think I don't need to or just to not do it because its uncomfortable to just stop.  Since that weekend I have been asking the Lord to show me how to rest.  Of course He has been faithful to do it.  What I didn't expect is that He would show me there are times to rest all through out every day, not just the day off.  Not only that, rest is totally connected to and impossible without humility 

Matthew 11:28-30 AMP

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

³⁰ For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

     What! I totally know this verse by heart because I knew it had to be important but I didn't know how important!  This affects every second of our day!  It takes humility to "come to Him" and not just try to get it done our own way.  He lays it out.  Come to Him and he causes us to rest!  Oh, Lord that coming to You would be more reflexive for us!  I fight the simplest act of submission and humility.  The word Yoke means "beam of balance!"  Don't we all long for balance in our lives?  It starts with a simple act of going to Him.  I believe that this is what God is talking about when He tells us to, do justly love mercy and walk humbly with Him.  One step at a time, one moment at a time though out our day.  Going to him in all things.  This going of course doesn't mean having a quiet time for 4 hours while you ignore your kids.  It's more like in the midst of trying get 3 kids strapped into a tiny car, that you know you should be thankful you even have but its so stinkin hard to strap them in because the car seats are so tight. Everyone is talking or crying at once in your face because the car is so small you have to bend over all of them to strap the middle kid, one is pulling on your necklace that you have already fix 3 times because each child has broken it but you still want to wear it because even though you didn't get a chance to put make up on that morning you feel a little pretty with your favorite necklace on....in that moment in our heart/mind go to Jesus.  Some times all you say is keep me calm and you enjoy the rest He gives to help you address each need one at a time with our yelling at and shaming your kids for being kids. 

Wish I had a better picture, notice the over
lapping of the car seats.  Ps. I really am thankful for my car! 

     That is the kind of rest I have experienced so far.  Rest between me and Jesus, lest frustration with my kids and more power to handle the duties of the day. Cleaning the house is nothing compared to the duty of training up children.  Yet both need to get done in a fairly consistent manner.  There is rest to be had even in the craziest moments and the hardest circumstance.  We need grace for those times.  God gives grace to the humble.  As we go to Him in humility He will give us grace for the need and rest. Yay! 

Side note we have a 3 day weekend coming up and I am excited to put skin in the game on this rest thing. We will see how it goes! 

MODESTY

1 Peter 5:5

Likewise, you who are younger and of lesser rank, be subject to the elders (the ministers and spiritual guides of the church)—[giving them due respect and yielding to their counsel]. Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility [as the garb of a servant, so that its covering cannot possibly be stripped from you, with freedom from pride and arrogance] toward one another. For God sets Himself against the proud (the insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful)—[and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them], but gives grace (favor, blessing) to the humble.

     ^{When I hear the word modesty I usually think back to my young teenage years when my Mom, would make me do the bend over test to make sure the shorts we were about to buy weren't to short.  I never really thought about modesty beyond the outward.  Just as we dress our bodies each day we dress our hearts/minds.  We can cloth them with different attributes that bless our Jesus and make for a much more enjoyable life.  In 1 Peter 5:5 we are told to clothe ourselves with humility.  In looking closer at the fibers of the garment of humility I found that it is made of modesty. (Literally the Greek translation of humility is modesty) I looked up modesty in our English dictionary and man was I blessed by the definition. 
Modesty: Freedom form conceit or vanity
Conceit: A result of mental activity, favorable opinion;    especially excessive appreciation of one's own worth or value. 
Vanity: something that is vain, empty, or valueless.
     As I shared in the last post the Lord had been drawing my heart to study humility and I didn't want to because I didn't feel like denying myself about something else.  This is classic because in our flesh we think denying ourselves brings bondage but in reality if we are denying self for the purpose of worshiping Jesus more fully then the result will always be more FREEDOM!  Who doesn't love to be more free!  To not humble yourself before God is to choose bondage to conceit and vanity. Conceit and vanity will always put strain on our relationship with Jesus and others. ALWAYS! I know. 
     We are to clothe ourselves with modesty.  A right thinking about ourselves in relation to God and others.  That relationship is defined well in scripture.  I think that is a whole other study though. Blessings to you who are reading. Lets choose freedom today from vanity and conceit.} 

Troy did his Sister's hair! Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder!

Jazz Hands!

     While I was in SD this summer I had a friend comment that Face Book can be so distracting to doing what God has called us to in our own families.  There is the tendency to become a show off Mom.  The more I thought about her words the more the Spirit said to my heart, "that is you."   Oh man!  Dang it!  It totally was me.  I would put pictures on my FB or Instagram of the "amazing" things I was doing as a Mom because I was worshiping the approval of people!  The moment I realized I was a show off Mom, it almost made me sick.  I asked God to forgive me,why do I do this, and were did it come from.  He comforted me with Phil. 2:3-4, "Don't be selfish, don't try to impress other's, be humble. Think of others as better than yourself."  The kids and I had been memorizing this scripture for a few weeks...you know with hand motions and everything.  It was so rad that the truth was already in my heart with some great elementary visuals.  As the kids and I say, "don't try to impress others" we throw our jazz hands in the air.  That's what I had done with my social media outlets.  I was being a "Jazz hands" Mom.  This scripture was encouraging because if its in Scripture not to do it, you can rest assure your not the only one struggling with it.  For me the motive to Jazz or impress came from a fear of not being good enough, this way of thinking was recently challenge by all that I learned about grace, so showing off wasn't doing it for me any more.  The timing of teaching Phil. 2:3-4 to my kids, my friend's comment and the work of the Spirit in it all culminated in to powerful conviction.  There were several other areas in my life that I started noticing myself get out my jazz hands.  (Side note, growing  up in theater you would use jazz hands in dancing. Arms out, fingers out and give them a good shake and you have jazz hands.)  So as I could no longer get away with such a sad little show, I felt God's leading to study humility.  I went on a pushed it to the back of my heart cause lets face it there is nothing more unnatural to our flesh than humility.  Finally a month later God has graciously shown me my need for humility once again.   Humility affects all of your relationships.
     With out humility I don't abide in Christ, without humility I  make my plans but don't bother to ask God to direct my steps.  With out humility I am offended easily, with out humility I think highly of myself and not of others as better than myself.  Humility affects even the most basic of foundations. Salvation comes by receiving. Before humility we might think its a big deal that we received Christ and it is. In Humility we realize its a bigger deal that He received us.
     I recently learned much about GRACE.  Now that I know and have experienced just how liberating grace is I am motivated to begin to understand why and how to put on this garment of humility because "God resist the proud, but give grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5
If i want to continue to enjoy the grace that if so freely given I think I'm gong to need to wrap my heart around this concept of humility and put my jazz hands away for good.  I am looking forward to what God will reveal to me though His word and life experience on becoming more like His Son in this area. As I learn I will share.
Ps. not every post about our family life has been tainted with pride, just some :)

Me and my family, we never get a good shot on the first try.