We had close friends watch Siena last Friday night and as we were leaving two of us began to talk. She told me that I need to cherish these hard times because they don't last for long and when they are gone there is no getting them back. I went home and wanted the perfect scenario with Siena going down easily and early. After laying her down the first time I could not stop thinking about the passage in Titus 2:3-5.
3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
What did it mean for me to truly love Chris and Siena? I heard the Lord speak directly to my heart about obedience, which I have been processing through my blog lately. He told me that I have the choice, the choice to obey and to go into Siena’s room every time she woke up and to be patient and loving or to choose to be angry and upset with her because she wasn’t sleeping. I also heard him sweetly tell me that each time I went into her room and rocked her quietly back to sleep that I was glorifying him, I was doing what I was created for,. I kept hearing that verse from the song we sing at church, your love is better than my life. Do I believe that? Can I truly say that I would rather glorify my creator in my actions and feel his love than get sleep? That I would rather bask in his presence than have food to eat? That I would rather choose to feel his joy rather than sulk in my crummy situation? I’m not sure that I am there. Honestly, it is fighting my flesh every time. It is truly a choice. I am now a week out from hearing him talking to me and I can tell you that it is so much sweeter to choose to glorify him in the moment of frustration, anxiety, anger, and tiredness than to choose to be upset, self-centered, and impatient.
Galatians 5:16-25
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, [1] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Philippians 1:18b-20
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Philippians 3:12-15
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Pictures from yesterday of sweet Maggie and Siena playing.
Beautiful post, Megan! So true and such good advice from your friend.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was pregnant with Ethan, a dear friend did the devotional at my baby shower. She was the mom of my best friend and had 10 kids, so I knew whatever advice she gave me, would be well worth hearing :)
At one point in her talk she said "Remember that babies are not born on a schedule and our crazy need for routine is not built in their system until they're no longer infants. Some days they will want to be with Mommy all the time, some days, they will sleep all day long, some days, they were fuss all day long and some days, they will act like perfect little angels. Go with each new day and greet each day with joy and anticipation. Don't cling to your ideas and plans for the day to tightly - you will soon learn that this little blessing gets ALL your attention and your life. If something has to be cancelled because baby isn't doing well that day, think of it as more special alone time with your gift from God and not a failed date with a friend."
-Anyway, I wrote it down in my journal and have looked at it and smiled, with each new baby we bring home from the hospital and start this journey with :)
You're learning so much during this phase of life, but praise God that you have a teachable and willing heart!!