6.23.2007 - Tomato Staking Mommy
I've been thinking a lot lately about the things I've gleaned from www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com. More specifically about how I can have this wealth of knowledge available to me, much of it stored in my head, the rest easily accessable, and yet still fail to apply much of it day after day after failing day.
I was rereading the "Before You Start" page again today, and got to lingering over this phrase-
"Your goal should be godly children. That means training their hearts to think like God thinks and their bodies to do what God would do."
I got to thinking, well sure, that's my goal. Now how do I get there? How do I get there? Me? Myself? and I? Wow, I just get so convicted at times- it's a good thing, I know, but it's hard to go through. I got to thinking about the obvious- I cannot raise godly children if I am not striving to be a godly mother. And that means more than just thinking about being a godly mother. Striving is work. Hard work. And that's just what it takes to be a godly mother- hard work.
Unfortunately for me, I'm not accustomed to hard work. It goes against my nature. My sinful, self-centered nature. And well, I just got to thinking that maybe it's time for another decision, or resolution, if you will- I am hereby resolving to do better, to try harder, to strive more, to put action to all the 'right' things I know to do, but have not been faithful in doing. I've let too many things slide. I've become too inconsistent in too many areas to list, and I've been doing a lot of thinking about improving... but thinking about, even meditating on, is a far cry short of striving to do...
My goal is to raise godly children, and my goal is to BE a godly mother. I've realized (yet again) the importance of getting into the Word- the Bible, and my thinking about that has changed just a bit. I sat down to read the other day, thinking I would just read the proverb for the day as I figured I would only have a minute or two before all my children woke up. I sometimes do just that- and only that- sometimes that's all I squeeze in a day. Proverbs is my favorite book- so much wisdom- and I need wisdom.
I got to thinking about how even my Bible reading had become self-centered... it was all about me. I wanted to glean something from Proverbs to help me to be a better person, a better wife, a better mother- and I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that, not at all, those are all very good reasons to be reading Proverbs. But what I realized is that I had left off some time ago reading the Bible to get to know my Lord better, and that's what I needed to change. I still spend a lot of time in Proverbs, but I also started back at the beginning of the New Testament to spend some time going through all the stories of Jesus and His time here on earth- yes, I've read them all before- and I hope to read them all again, and again, and again. And also the great and marvelous works of God in the Old Testament. There is just so much there- I know you all know that. I'm just seeing it in a different way this week- a way I hope to keep in mind, perhaps that's why I felt compelled to write about it.
You're probably all better at all this than me (preaching to the choir...) but if your Bible reading has grown cold, for one reason or another, I would encourage you to go at it again with new direction. Start reading the Bible to get to know your Lord and Saviour- I believe it's the only way we can know how to think like God and how to know what He would do, and only then can we hope to teach that to our children!
Enjoying them,
because of Him,
ali
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