Day by Day

Confession time.

I've been in a rut.

I'll be honest.  Four kids has revealed the cracks in my heart.  

My kids didn't create them... They existed before, but now they are evident to others.  Mostly those I live with and myself!  

The pride and self sufficiency that festered deep beneath the surface has come full force to the top!  I have found myself on my knees everyday asking for help, but everyday feeling like a failure.  Then I had this conversation...

A few ladies were sharing their hearts around a table last week and the subject came up of change.  So many things change after you have kids.

your body changes

your schedule changes

your time for yourself looks different

where your money goes changes

interruptions are more frequent

quietness is hard to find

The list could be a mile long and the list looks different depending on who you are. 

But you know what else changes?  

YOUR HEART!!!

It's getting a makeover!  it's being reconstructed! Outwardly I may not look so put together, but that is because inwardly He's making me more like HIM!  I may not be able to finish a conversation with a friend.  I may have the loudest house on the block.  I may not be able to find time to work out any more.  But I also have God that loves me desperately enough to use the frustrations and disappointments of this season of life to grow me deeper and closer to Him!

2 Corinthians 4:16 says, "Therefore, don't lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eteranal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.   For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!"

I've allowed myself to focus too long on the list of things above. 

No more.

I'm going to keep my eyes on the unseen... the work that He is doing through even my momentary troubles.  what about you?  whether we are talking about parenting or not - do you find yourself frustrated by your current circumstances or grateful that our Savior is at work within you?

Because i'm not as eliquent as others, I'd like to share a quote that is in reference to the woman in Luke 7.  My sins may be different, but no less sinful.  This is from the book Passion Pursuit (which I HIGHLY recommend):
"She was eager, desperate, and probably terrified.  But the shackles of her sin and shame drove her to extreme measures- she risked all, brought her most treasured possession, and threw herself on the mercy of the Redeemer.  You are this woman.  The mask of your independence, accomplishments, and polished presentations can hide the fact that deep in your heart you are no less desperate to be redeemed.  This woman left that house a new creation.  Forgiveness and intimacy with Jesus was her new reality.  Her abandoned pursuit of Jesus was the stake in the ground that marked her life as forever changed."

Happy New YEAR friends! 
Let's go into 2014 the new creations that we are!