right now i'm on a stretch of about 36 straight hours by myself with just my kids. jeff is at the men's retreat (or "boy camp" as my kids are calling it.) Dottie has been a bit under the weather, so i decided that trying to get the whole crew to church by myself would be futile, so here we are. family bonding time.
sometimes i think i'm a little odd in the fact that i can be at home for long stretches and it doesn't seem to bother me too much. of course, i get a little jumpy and short and testy with the kids, but for the most part i seem to be able to entertain myself pretty well. i've got lots of bible study lessons to write, kids that always need something, a pantry full of ideas for cooking and baking, and facebook...what more could a girl need?
actually, i'm starting to realize that maybe its all part of how God made me. maybe in a part of his grand scheme for my life, he equipped me with the temperament i was going to need for the purposes he has for me. i am a teacher and writer - which requires a lot of time by myself studying. i love it. i am a musician and songwriter which requires more time by myself sitting at my piano. love that too. i am a mother of four which means that there are a significant amount of obstacles that i face it trying to get out the door. so i stay home instead... and that's just fine with me.
all i'm saying is that every once and a while you stumble on a part of your personality that seems to be custom fit for the direction God has for your life. Granted, there are times that you feel like the direction God is leading is a huge stretch outside of yourself, but then there are the times when it feels natural and inborn... and i'm thankful for those times. it's comforting to feel purpose in what you naturally gravitate towards.
i am learning more and more to embrace the way i am. i used to feel weird about the fact that i like to stay home all the time... but now i realize that it is part of the grand design of my life. people always ask me how i come up with creative ideas for things. my answer: i think about stuff... alot. i read... alot. i imagine... alot.
so, what little gift did God place in you that custom fits his grand scheme for your life? it can be easy to overlook sometimes. maybe the fact that you to hang out with friends and always have a "coffee" scheduled just seems like habit. but what if that social part of you was designed so that you could be an encouragement and influence in people's lives. maybe that organizational side of you seems to be "just the way you are..." but what if God made you able to administrate all kinds of things so that you could make a difference in the world by helping practically accomplish the dreams God has given you and others. What about you guys that are fantastic in the workplace - you thrive in a business setting and love your careers. I truly believe that God has given you the gifts you have to use for his great plan on the earth.
so - here's to embracing who you are. here's to not comparing yourself to the way other people live and instead embracing who you were designed to be. here's to you... in all your uniqueness.
ok - perhaps i should get out of these sweat pants...
3 comments:
Here's to using all the crayons in the box!!
Thank you! A girlfriend of mine, whom we are in bible study together, sent all of us your link today. She wanted us to read and accept. Well done...I feel like I am a little bit "free'r" then I was.
About a month ago I was very stressed about stuff the kids were doing. The way I relaxed was to reorganize and redesign a spreadsheet I had made a long time ago! So that's either really weird, or that little gift God placed in me...or both!
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