It’s Wisdom Wednesday, and here’s the good question I try to ask myself at least once a week:
How is Scripture specifically changing me this week?
No good being vague: I’ve been more diligent… I’ve been more patient…
Better to be specific: When I started off angry because I wasn’t getting my way, I remembered what God said in such and such verse and changed my attitude. Or whatever.
I guess I should have waited to post yesterday’s post today, because that’s the biggest thing I can think of. God helped me turn around and make right choices about how I used my time. My day went well, actually. Incidentally, I kind of figure I really was walking in the spirit, because I ended up several times stopping being “productive” to do kid stuff: long talk with David about guilt/ sadness/ salvation, and later in the evening my children asked me to stop cleaning and play the piano for them. Several times I had to decide (deliberately) to serve my children instead of putting them off or asking a sibling to take care of the problem.
God helped me to evaluate the importance of those interruptions (another time, and perhaps the right decision would be different), but I am encouraged since sometimes when I am diligent I know I’m not walking in spirit because I’m irritable! Now that I think of it, those “interruptions” were truly building my house wisely, although at the moment I simply stopped what I was doing to do them. God did answer my prayer for wisdom.
And my last thought of the day was: Now, the wisest thing to do with my time is go to sleep! The sleep of a righteous person is sweet. That’s true. I like going to sleep when I’ve done right and been diligent.
Thanks for the post Michelle
I have been struggling with getting things done vs dealing with the kids.
I know the house isn’t more important than my children, but there are things that seem to need to be done. Things like meals, laundry, and picking up- so we aren’t tripping on things and so my husband can find what he needs.
I realize that can be a pride issue for me. I can be proud of a clean house but reading and playing with the kids aren’t seen as big accomplishments.
I did manage to get a few things done and do “school” with my older son, read to them, and have good talk with them.
Maya! I’ll pray for wisdom for you on this. I do think this is an area where we are quick to dispense advice (your house can wait, read to the kids vs. take care of your responsibilities, etc.). The problem I’ve found is that, because of my personality, walking in the spirit might mean NOT reading to my children and cleaning; whereas for some of my friends NOT cleaning and reading is walking in the spirit. So if my Type A friends encourage me, they’re often saying “read to your children” when that’s not what I need to hear. And my tendency is to say “Clean that house!” when my Type A friends don’t need to hear that! That’s the long way to say… I’m not sure what God wants you to do, but I’m certain as you seek him, he’ll help you make the right choice. That’s what I’ll be praying for you about! I’m glad I’m not the only one who is needing wisdom to make these choices.