May this day be lived for God alone - for his glory not mine!
It's so easy to want glory for myself, to long for others' approval, to want to be "somebody". It's easy to see life from my perspective and not God's. Oh to love the Lord and his ways first and not desire my own things, but God's.
I was struggling the other day with problems with my parents and not feeling like they think I'm doing a good job with the kids. I was feeling like a failure as a parent. Instead of letting it get me down that I'm not getting full approval from them, I need to use it to bring me to God's feet and admit that I can't parent my kids perfectly, I can't make them be who they should be, I can't do anything on my own. Only God can through my prayers and his grace, work in their lives and transform the.
I was also struggling with dh's and some issues there. I was feeling very different from them and feeling like our different choices are keeping us from being included with the rest of them. But the Bible says that we will face persecution from our family if we follow him. Instead I should rejoice, not worry if I'm accepted by them, and pray for them.
SO, may this day be lived for God's glory, not mine. May I need judge my parenting by my children's behavior and consider myself a failure if they aren't perfect. May I rest in God and lean on him for his strength today and every day and give up trying to look good to everyone and have others look at me as something special. May God be given any glory for any good seen. To his glory alone.
Your post spoke to my heart.... I have the same issues at times with my own dear parents.......my husband and I have chosen a less travelled road to walk down and it's hard for them to understand.... in the past I have felt hurt by this, but like you said I need to let go and realize it doesn't matter...... the only one I need to please is the Lord and if I am alright with HIM - then this is what truly counts!
I too wish someone would 'approve' of me., what I do, how I teach my children. But it is truly the Lords job to do so and we must allow Him that. He will comfort us in our time of need and carry us when we feel down. I will be praying for peace for you my friend. Hold your chin up and KNOW that what you are doing with your children and how you are doing it is just what the Lord had planned for this very season.
I can so relate to this post.... I married the son with the 4yr degree who had so much potential. Now, thanks to me, of course, he wants to live in the country and have a large family. What a hard, difficult life, when he could have it so easy!
Sometimes I ask dh, just to make sure that we prayerfully came to these choices TOGETHER and it wasn't just me! He has to remind me that there is no better place to be than in the middle of God's will, no matter how much 'better off' we could be outside it!
I just wish they believed we were doing the right thing . . . . . even if it is different from any path they would choose!
It never ceases to suprise me, how much "heat" we get for desiring a large family (we have no idea if that is God's plan for us!) - but the persecution must mean we are doing something right???
Blessings,
Ashley
God Bless You
Posted by momma25js on Tue 3 Jul 2007 at 11:42 - Link
My parents make me feel as though I am failure in all areas, but the past few days I have decided that God knows I am doing my very best and I consult Him with my choices in life. I also know that they have issuse and sometimes it is easier to pick on someone else or try to clean their backyard instead of dealing with the issuses in your own backyard. Keep the Faith God knows your heart...
I struggle with the exact same thing.. I was feeling like a failure the same day you were! It's very hard; only by His grace can we survive.. keeping our eyes up is very hard when all eyes seem to be right on us at times. I was reading Eph 4 yesterday and was encouraged to strive for Him..
Blessings, Theresa
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk