How is that for a catchy title!! Who doesn't want to live a better life right?! I lead a Mom's support group/fellowship group at my church. I felt called to start it in the Spring of 2005. With my knees knocking and my toes shakin' in my boots...I started it. God has blessed me with the group ever since. There are many woman that come each week. They are from different backgrounds in every sense of the word. The church is a Catholic church but the group is made up of so many different denominations. It is wonderful!! Wonderful! Each week we get together and have some coffee, some treats of some kind, and I "do" a lesson of some sort. Often I feel lead to speak about a book I just read. Recently we have been going through a book that moved me in such wonderful ways... Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyers. For anyone reading this, if you have not read this book, I urge you to give it a try. It's good stuff! Anywho, we are on Chapter 15 which is basically about having the mind of Christ. What is that about?! Well, in order to live out the wonders that God has promised us, a Christian needs to be aware of HOW she is living. What does she think about? What comes out of her mouth? What is in her heart? (for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks Matt 12:34) It is easy to get caught up in daily life. The world is a powerful place. Does it have power over you? Well, if you are a Christian, it should not. The reality is.....whether a girl is a believer or not, the world sometimes grabs a hold of us and doesn't let go. For me, I need to be reminded of what the Word says, what God promises me... in order to shake free of the "world" and live the life of abundance that is promised me. (see John 10:10) In Chapter 15 of this book, here are two things that really helped me to THINK about what I was doing.....also it gave me something that I could have major control over....and DO....with the result of actually living happier....be happier. I dare you to read on and then try it!!
1. Practice exhortation!! (oooo...that is a big word...give me a dictionary = 0 I )
This basically means (yes, I had to look it up too!) be an encouraging person. Some people are very gifted in this area. Some people, not so much. Do you encourage people in your life? We all have our own circle of people. Each person needs encouragement in some form or another. As a mom, encouraging my kids is serious business. I can't say I was very encouraged as a child but I know for sure that I MUST encourage my children. This is something that not only feels good to the receiver, it also feels good to the giver. Not only that....we are called to do this as a Believer. Yep...we are. Ephesians 4:29 talks about building others up according to what THEY need. Key word...THEY. This does not say, according to what we think they need. Doing this requires paying attention to what another person really needs at any given moment. For example...you see a mom who is really struggling in the store with her two year old. Now, I know that being on the edge of freaking out on our kids is something WE have never done, but I have heard stories of OTHER mom's doin' this....(wink, wink) What can we do at this moment? We can give her a quick touch and maybe say...."don't worry mom, it gets better" or maybe say something crazy like..."hand in there mom". She probably will feel some comfort cause at that moment, she will not feel like she is the worst mom on the planet, or that she is not alone. Maybe don't even address the child issue...keep an eye on the situation and when a quiet moment comes, maybe comment on how she looks. (please keep in mind, if she looks like she has not showered yet, her clothes have spit-up on them and her hair is somewhere under a ball cap...maybe not the way to go) Does she have cute shoes on? Are her nails pretty? Something!! You get my drift right? Try to think back to a similar moment in your life...how would you have felt if someone noticed you in some positive way. There is so much more to the "EXHORTATION" thing that God tells us about but that is a bit of it.
2. Develop a thankful mind
Back to Matt 12:34. If our hearts are truly thankful....then so will our mouths. The question is, are we thankful? R u?? If we are complaining often, nagging about something, getting feisty about something...chances are we are not thankful. Now, you might be saying....yes, yes I am thankful but....when my husband does this .......or yes, but when my kids........ Hold on!!! I used to be a person who said just that. What I realized was happening (praise God!) was deep down I was thankful but I was letting the yuck of the complaining steal my joy. LETTING my joy be taken right away from me. Good grief! It takes practice but when I actually thought about all the things in my life that I needed to be thankful for, it was so hard to be grumbling and complaining. Here is a small list of what I am thankful for.....I have three healthy children, I have a husband that comes home after work, I have a husband that has a job!, I have a dog, I have a car that turns on when I turn the key, I have money to pay for my car, I have a closet full of clothes, I have a frig full of food,....the list goes on and on. I have been at a place in my life (after a horrible car accident)when I could not walk, I could not lift a spoon to feed myself, I could not wipe myself..... Now, I ask you, don't wait till something that drastic happens to cause you to be thankful for the small and probably the big things in your life. Scripture often talks about how God wants us to be thankful. He asks us to practice being thankful. I love Hebrews 13:15 which talks about "offering up a sacrifice of praise to God". God knows us sooooo well!! A sacrifice of praise? What is that all about? Well, as Joyce Meyers talks about in the above mentioned book, God knows that often in our lives, being thankful is hard. Sometimes very hard. When things are going peachy, it is easy to be thankful. When things are going horrible....not so easy. Right? God challenges us to offer up praise, sacrificially praise, during the not so great times. How does this do any good? This is what I think....by giving praise to God, even when things are not great, His power is unleashed. God is able to do a work in our hearts. He is able to lighten our load spiritually. When He hears the praise from us, scripture tells us WE bless God!!! We bless HIM!! How cool is that. Our Lord is delighted with us and our devotion to Him. Delighted with our understanding that He is in charge. Once we die to this, He can then do a work in our hearts that is like no other. Here is another thing to think about when it comes to being thankful. Do we actually thank others in our lives when they do something nice for us? When was the last time you thanked your husband for something? Anything? Well???? You will be amazed at how wonderful a quick little thank you makes your husband feel. It may take a while for it to sink in cause I am going to guess not many of us say thank you very often. Also, thanking our kids is something that we really need to do!!!!! How are our children suppose to learn HOW to show appreciation if they never see it acted out in! Think about that for a minute. Being thankful is not something that just happens in a child. If we show them some appreciation, they will learn how it is done. They just might show some appreciation back to us when we least expect it. I guess the bottom line question I need you to ask yourself is two fold. 1. Are you a wife/mom who feels unappreciated? (i will guess yes...or atleast sometimes yes) 2. How much appreciation do YOU show others in your life? This goes back to the principle of reaping and sowing. If we sow seeds of appreciation, God promises us we will reap those rewards. Now, the harvest is never reaped in the same season it is sewn...ask any farmer. BUT if the seeds are sewn, the reaping will follow. Think about it!
I am challenging you to try doing these two things and see if your heart is any different. See if your joy comes back....in the midst of some yuck that might be huge or really small, see if you can get some joy back.
It so hard to remember that we need to appreciate others (namely kids and husband!) instead of hoping they appreciate us all the time! I think sometimes I THINK that I tell them I appreciate them but maybe it's just more my thinking that I do. I need to remember to not just think it, but to say it.
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