Called to be a Keeper

I've started an new Bible study at church. I missed last week so I am doing a bit of catch up. It's called Called To Be a Keeper. It's by Lori Merrill. I am not very familiar with the study, but there were several things that caught my attention.

Last week's lesson was about making God your # 1 priority. I completely, honestly admit, I do not always do this. One of the examples given was the story about Jesus visiting Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus and his disciples visited Mary and Martha. Martha was very, very busy with all the preparations that had to be made, while Mary just sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to him talk. Martha complained to Jesus, asking him to tell Mary to help her. Jesus told her to not worry about all the preparations. He told her Mary was doing the right thing. As one of the women in my class said, many times the preparations are done with good intentions. However, we get so distracted by them, we are unable to just sit and listen to what Jesus is trying to teach us.

I think it is very easy at mothers to do this. We have homework to help with, laundry to be folded and put away, diapers to change, meals to cook, dishes to do, papers to sign, and the list goes on and on. Less often than we should, we do not take the time to just be with God and listen to him. I know that when I get wrapped up in the day to day things, they sometimes become a drudgery. I don't realize the blessings many of day to day things are. They are in a good disguise sometimes though. A lot of laundry means, I don't have to worry about my kids having clean clothes to wear. A lot of dishes means, we ate a good meal. A house that needs to be picked up, well at least we have a house and things inside it that have to be picked up.

Isaiah 58:11

"The Lord will guide you always;
He will satisfy your needs in the sun scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail."

The lesson tonight also talked about journaling as a way to grow spiritually. I thought that was interesting. Any of you who are reading this knows I like to journal. Two quotes that stood out to me tonight about journaling.

"Journaling memorializes the blessings of God."

Satan wants to trap us in today by making us forget what God has done for us yesterday."

I know I can look back, and hopefully one day my children can look back and see all the ways God has blessed our family. It's unending. It's amazing.

So all of you ladies out there. Be encouraged. There are others who are going through the same things you are going through. There are other mothers who let their children eat cereal for dinner. There are other mothers who yelled at their children out of frustration and then immediately regretted it. There are other mothers sat for an hour on Pinterest instead of reading their kids a book. Gasp! :)

The one thing that will never change is we serve a God who's love never fails us. He longs to spend time with us. He longs for us to get to know Him. He has more patience, grace, and mercy than I know I can ever show my kids.

So....

Hebrews 10:24, 25

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another...."