Y From the Heart Victory!
Wow! Little did I know when I sent my submission for the November newsletter to Sheila last month that I’d have such an incredible amount of feedback. Thank you so much for your emails and phone calls. I love when the Lord places a burden on my heart that is also on the hearts of other moms in DCHEA. I enjoyed speaking with many of you about your struggles and victories with “submission.” What great encouragement we are to each other. What a blessing!
The other topic of “seasons” struck a chord with many of you, as well. A friend reminded me of the biblical account of Mary and Martha. Even though Martha was doing good things, Jesus admonished her. Mary, on the other hand, was doing exactly as Jesus intended. He definitely calls us to certain activities and acts of service. Normally it is pretty clear what needs to be added or cut from our schedule. When our schedule is unsuitable, we feel stressed in nearly every area of our lives. Many times talking to our husband or a friend can help us be more objective as to the reality of the schedule we’re attempting to keep. I pray that all of us will continually strive to be “Mary”-s.
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I was looking at my calendar yesterday and realized that since August 1st, I have been home a total of three and a half weeks. Our family has been traveling for both business and pleasure. We’ve had a few unexpected adventures along the way and Jeff & I have been amazed at the God-incidents that have occurred regarding the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met.
Besides all the extraordinary things of which we’ve been a part, my eyes were most opened to how many times I caught myself inwardly complaining, about all sorts of things. Have you ever noticed the closer your walk with the Lord, the more the enemy attacks?
I felt like a child at times as I was reprimanded again and again. In Georgia, I was in a hotel shower where the water was going from hot to cold and back to hot repeatedly. I was about to yell out and complain to Jeff and then I was reminded some people have no showers…how spoiled you are. Other situations came up frequently for awhile and I was on a mission to conquer them.
The funniest thing happened while we were on our anniversary cruise a couple weeks ago to show me that, although I may never truly conquer these inner complaints, I have made progress. Our cruise began with four days at sea. Jeff and I were looking forward to these beautiful days of relaxation and uninterrupted time to work on our book together.
We relaxed all right – in our cabin – as the largest recorded swells on the Pacific Ocean in twenty years rocked the nine hundred eighty foot Infinity. As the first day came to a close, and the slightest thought of complaint came to my mind (I’d been too sick to think of anything earlier in the day), I immediately thought about the Mayflower crossing. My mind raced to think of the hardships that they endured for weeks:
♦The hunger, the thirst. You have gourmet meals at your beckon call 24-hours a day.
♦The dreary, cold, and smelly cramped quarters. You’re in a beautiful cabin with a cozy down comforter, a balcony and eight orchids on your vanity.
♦The uncertainty of where they were actually going to end up. You are on your way to one of the most beautiful places in the world to be pampered for the next eleven days.
Thanks to a better awareness of what I set my mind on and having recently read about the Mayflower crossing with Tiffani in the previous months, I was able to bypass complaining altogether and be like Paul, content with my circumstances. Victory!
Jeff and I were fine the second day, but the third day was a little rough. On day four, when the ship experienced its highest degree of tilt we were fine. We walked out of our cabin yelling, “Bring it on! Is that all you’ve got?!” Hee hee!! We found out later that even the crew couldn’t remember a rockier crossing. The Pacific normally lives up to its name – meaning “peaceful.” Jeff and I laughed about it. And I thought silently that I’d passed a test. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Paul wrote in II Corinthians 12:9 ~ “But He [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Heavenly Father, please expose to us clearly, our weaknesses. And help us to conquer them through Your strength. Amen.
Have a Joyful & Loving Christmas Celebration, Traci J