I am a wife and mother who works outside the home. Half of my time is spent working at a job to earn money for our household and the other half of my time is spent making our house a home. What I mean by that is I cook, clean, do laundry, pay bills, run errands, taxi my kids around, and grocery shop. I am no different from millions of other moms out there as far as responsibilities go and yet I am set-apart because of my faith.
Set apart by my faith…yet at times struggling with a not so gentle approach to life.
From time to time bad days would happen and I felt as if I was caught up in a whirlwind full of life’s demands. Pressure would mount up and frustration would get the best of me and I would react and not in the way the Lord would want me to. The aftermath usually consisted of me shaming myself by repeating in my mind what a failure I was. I knew what the word said about how I should handle these situations but my flesh would kick in and all was lost.
Where did I go wrong? I read my word and I prayed for strength. So what was wrong with this picture? Why couldn’t I get a “handle” on my reactions?
Did you catch it in the verse above? I am to be my new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator. “Being renewed” means it’s a process and it will take time. The word “knowledge” got me thinking about my mind-set and how it was nothing like that of my Creator.Life’s frustrating moments weren’t the problem They were always going to be there. The problem was my mind-set. Instead of focusing on the Lord and His truth in the situation, I was letting my fear, frustrations, or insecurities wreak havoc on my emotions causing a reaction. The world says worry about you, look out for yourself, your happiness is what matters. If life doesn’t line up with this world view we have been spoon-fed then we get frustrated. Then comes the blaming and then the shaming.
So there it was, my thought life needed to coincide with my faith life. It’s so simple to get lost in your own thoughts. We feel like we are the only ones in our own minds. Truth be told, God knows our thoughts.
This was a great post! Your writing makes me want to sit and have a cup of coffee with you and just talk about the Lord! I love how you wrote, what comes out is what is in our hearts. It's true!
Your site is beautiful and refreshing!
Thank you so much for stopping by Carmen! I'm truly delighted 🙂
I appreciate your compliments and feel just the same about you! God bless you and can't wait to know you better! I'm subscribed 🙂
Such a pleasure to visit your site today Natalie. I came over via Holly's site. I must say you thoughts on keeping calm hit the nail on the head! I am thankful that God continues to work on my heart . I want to be more like Him every day in my thoughts and actions. Thank you for sharing these insights; they are going to be extremely helpful to all who read. Have a wonderful week and may God bless you and yours!
Thank you so much Horace for stopping in and saying hello! You have no idea how much it means to me. I'm so glad you were blessed by my post, to God be the glory! He is so amazing and he is such a good good Father! I'll be hopping over to your blog later today!
I so love this, Natalie: "my thought life needed to coincide with my faith life." I really need to make this shift as well. Honestly, keeping calm is not something I'm very good at :). Thanks for your beautiful encouragement and all of these wonderful verses to focus on. Many blessings!
Thank you Candace for stopping in! Thought life is oh so hard. Sometimes I truly question how I think the things I do…then I stop and pray it away. Flee the enemy and the thoughts he brings with him.
Wow, this was so spot on for what I'm walking through today. Thank you for your thoughts and piecing this scripture together!
Amen Sarah! God is always right on time. I'm so glad you were blessed and I hope you stop by again soon 🙂
Wow! You have an excellent writing style, I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit while reading your post, and I know he has inspired your writing! Blessings sister! (And your site is beautiful)
Thank you Blessed mama! You are so very sweet and you are absolutely right, it isn't me it is the Holy Spirit. God gets all the glory! I'm popping on over to your page now 🙂