Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Self Talk

Lately, I have been working on what I call my "self talk".  You know what I mean.... the chit chat we do with ourselves as we go about our daily life.  I have found that sometimes my self talk can be pretty darn negative!  Often times I will be picking up my husband's or son's laundry and I complain to myself that there are wrappers in their pockets, or their socks are inside out--again!  I have been complaining about having yet another load of dishes that need to be done, the dog needs to be fed/walked again...  If I keep complaining to myself am I showing God I am grateful for what He has entrusted to me?  How does this negative self talk affect what I speak?
Matthew 12:34 says, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh".  Where is my  heart?  Is it with the Lord or is it wallowing in the flesh?  God has given me a truly wonderful man.  He has blessed me with two healthy children.  I have a lovely home in a safe neighborhood.  My husband is a very hard worker and the sole provider for our family.  He job is very difficult.  He sacrifices himself daily for our family and I'm going to complain about his socks being inside out?
I am re reading Debi Pearl's Created to be his Helpmeet.  I know many people don't love the Pearls for their own reasons, but I am thoroughly enjoying this book once again.  Debi Pearl writes about self talk and how important it is.  I will continue to work on my self talk and pray that God gives me the wisdom to use my words and attitude in a way that honors my husband and teaches my children to be positive and respectful to others.  No one likes to be around a Negative Nelly!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Church Commitments??

Should we commit to helping out at church?  What if the Pastor himself asks us to help out?
Is it wrong not to help out at church?  My husband and I were recently asked to teach preschool Sunday School at our church.  We both have a lot of experience working with children, with me being a former public school teacher and my husband being in social services.  Teaching this class, however, would mean leaving our two children ages 11 and 7 alone upstairs for the service, while my hubby and I are downstairs teaching other people's children Sunday school lessons. 
We REALLY enjoy attending service together as a family.  We have only been saved for 2 1/2 years and are LOVING learning and growing in the Lord TOGETHER, as a family.  My 7 year old still needs help looking things up in her Bible.   She attended the Sunday school for her age once and absolutely hated it.  She colored and watched a video.  Not exactly getting to the meat of the Scripture!
It didn't take more than a second for me to tell my Pastor "NO".  I was not mean, or rude, but politely stated our reasons for not having any desire to teach other people's children at this time.  I quit my job as a public school teacher so I didn't have to teach other people's children once I had my own.  I thank God EVERY single day for giving me the privilege of my family and allowing that to be my first ministry.  I protect that and I protect that fiercely!
I think of my babies upstairs alone in the auditorium and them feeling abandoned, maybe sitting by some weirdo (yes, churches have them....), or not being able to locate the Scripture the Pastor is preaching on fast enough and wondering why their mommy and daddy are downstairs with other people's children.  No thanks.
I told my Pastor that once my children are grown, I would be more than willing to help out by teaching a class (not so much the nursery though).  Thankfully, he totally understood and was very nice about it. 
Maybe it's just me, but I often feel like just because I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom, people think I'm available to help out with everything at any given time.  It's quite the opposite!  I am BUSY these days with my ministry, my family, and I thank God every day for that!