It seems that I am constantly dealing with health issues. I have learned (usually the hard way) how important it is to take care of yourself mentally, spiritually and physically.  

​Are you feeling tired?  Overwhelmed?  At the end of your rope?

Mentally- use your brain. Your body tells you what you need, you just need to listen. My body kept telling me that it was tired and needed a break and I told my body “Shut up, I’m too busy.” And now I am paying for that. What I would give to take back the last year and a half of my life and do things differently, but since that isn’t an option I have to change my entire lifestyle to mend the damage that I have done. 

Spiritually- I don’t know about you - but I know I feel all around better about myself and life in general when I am spending time in the Word. My husband understands this as well; sometimes when I am acting irrational my husband sends me to our room and tells me to read my Bible. And just because he is telling me to do it I feel like I need to rebel, but deep down I know that is exactly what I need - I comply and my day goes a whole lot better. 

Physically- as Mom’s we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list. It took me months to go and see a Doctor when I knew that something wasn’t right. Our families need us and we are no good to them when we are falling apart. I am just coming to an understanding about vitamins and minerals and how our bodies need them. I have discovered that I was lacking in a lot of areas and now that I am taking my vitamins I feel so much better physically. And when I feel better physically I can use that energy to feel better mentally and connect better spiritually. 

Mamas, I am just coming to understand on a deeper level how important it is to our children that we are in a secure place. Especially our daughters. If we want what is best for our daughters -- get things together in your life. Our self-esteem and how we deal with circumstances have a direct effect on our daughters. I have been weak and in pain for months and that has definitely had a negative effect on my self-esteem. I have seen changes in my oldest daughter that I know are a direct result of my behaviour.

I have to correct my behaviour and support her as she has to deal with her own issues.  I talk to her about what I am going through and I have apologized for my behaviour and she can now visually see that I am trying to make changes. Our daughters need to see that we are not super humans that we have made mistakes in the past, we make mistakes every day and we will make mistakes in the future - we are continually growing and learning from our mistakes. 

Sometimes I wonder why God has burdened me with all these far out ideas. Why did I feel compelled to write a book? Why do I feel like I have two more books in me that need to be written? I know from mistakes that I have learned from and circumstances in my life that I am here for a purpose, that just like Esther - I was created for such a time as this. I was born to affect the lives of women of all ages at this time and place. 

Right now take time to evaluate yourself Mentally, Spiritually and Physically-- how are you doing? Not one person reading this is doing fine in all three categories. There is always room to grow and learn. What kind of role model are you being to your children? I know, pretty heavy questions, but we (as a society) need to be positive role models (light) to those around us.  I am willing to take the steps to make it happen, are you? 

We spend so much of our life listening to what others are trying to tell us and teach us.  At age 5 we are sitting in class learning the basics, we continue on through grade after grade building on the basics.  Our parents help us to grow in character, our Church feeds into our spiritual life and the media we are constantly surrounded with gives us all kinds of messages.  With all this knowledge and input all around us sometimes it feels like our head may explode.

Over the past few years I have been trying to escape this life craziness and figure out what is important in my life.  I thought about the relationships in my life: my husband, my daughters, my extended family and my friends.  I thought about my Church, my involvement at my daughter’s school and my neighbourhood.  Just like most people, I have a lot going on; where do I put my focus?

The answer is so simple that often times we take it for granted.  The most important thing in our life needs to be our relationship with Christ.  Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it.  Depending how you look at it, it is pretty easy but in today’s society we really complicate it.

Imagine what life could look like if we put our relationship with Christ over everything else.  Life would be easy, not a care or worry in the world.  WRONG!

Once you give control over to Christ you never know what could happen.  He will choose to grow and develop your character when it may not be on your schedule.  Time is required to develop your relationship with your Creator.  Think about relationships in your own life, the people you know the best.  How did that happen?  By investing time to get to know the person.  The same is with Christ, you need to spend time with Him studying His Word, meditating on His Word, journaling about His Word, talking with other followers about His Word and choosing to be silent to hear that still small voice. (1 Kings 19:22)  Sounds pretty easy, right?

I have been listening to an audio version of the book of Acts.  The beginnings of the early church are so exciting for me.  To see the leading of God in people’s lives, the choice to be obedient and the miracles that happened in the lives of believers.  The apostles did not have an easy time but they remained steady in what they were required to do.  Personally, I believe that, that is only possible when you have your priorities right.  Your relationship with Christ is above all else and believe it or not, everything will feel like it is falling into place.  

Things in life may not always turn out the way that we want or how we expect but what is necessary for God’s plan. 
  
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 

Sometimes when I look at our two daughters my heart aches with the potential that I see in them and how little they see in themselves.   This is a picture of a time when my oldest was not having a good moment.  Why did I take a picture to remember this?  Because too often I feel this way as well.

Today at soccer I sat in the stands and shed a few tears as I watched my oldest practicing her drills.  As parents we try to do what we can to give opportunities to our children to try new things and develop different skills.  The footwork that soccer players are capable of blow my mind.  The skills that she has developed over the past two years is incredible.  I am so proud of her.  As I sat in the stands today all I could see is the vastness of everything that she can accomplish and all the possibilities her life holds.  My heart ached with excitement for her.

Then I thought that my understanding is only a portion of what God sees.  Not only for her but for me as well.
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Each morning when I wake up I will choose to live for my potential, as I make this choice I know that my daughters are watching and I pray that they will make the same choice each day as well. 

Maybe you need to make that choice as well?  Don’t let a day pass you by that you are not choosing to live up to your never-ending potential!

Do you remember that song from Sunday School?

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little ears what you hear
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little ears what you hear

O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do

O be careful little feet where you go
O be careful little feet where you go
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little feet where you go

O be careful little mouth what you say
O be careful little mouth what you say
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little mouth what you say

My daughter has the most beautiful color of eyes.  I was sitting staring at her the other day, noticing what a beautiful young lady she is becoming.  As a Mother I am torn between wanting to protect her from the big scary world and letting her go to make her own choices and to be there to applaud or help pick up the pieces through all of life's twists and turns.

I think I have downloaded 5 parenting books to read this summer.  I want to do this parenting thing well.  I want to protect them from the pain of my teen years.

Today we started summer vacation.  I ordered a box of goodies from Christianbook.com and today was the big reveal of what I ordered.  It was so long ago that it was a surprise to me as well!  

It is my desire to have them involved with their Bibles.  Does that sounds strange, involved?  I want them to open their Bibles, to mark them up, to know where everything is.  My prayer is that if they are staying involved with their Bibles then maybe I do not have to be so scared of the world that they live in.

In the box we have devotionals the we can work on through the summer, educational workbooks and Bible highlighters!  

I am so thankful that I am able to be home with the girls this summer.  This is my time to feed into them and watch them grow.  

Lord, give me the wisdom and the strength to be the parent that I long to be.

Here’s Matt:
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When we’re alienated from our primary relationship, the one that we were created for, we’ll take our secondary relationships and try to roll them up to primary, and that makes things go really bad. Like women make horrible gods. Men make horrible gods.  Children make even worse gods. And when you make your children your god, you get what I like to lovingly call the suburbs.

I’m going to say this, and it’s really hard. I’ve debated whether or not to say this, but I’m just going to say it. One of the things that we’ve picked up on in the last year is we’ve had several parents come to us and go, “Oh, I just don’t know what happened to my kid. We raised him right, and now he’s off in college, he doesn’t want anything to do with God, he’s not going to church, he’s hitting the party scene.”

And then here’s the thing that’s just baffling to me.  You trained him that way.  You showed him by your life and by your decisions that church and the pursuit of holy things are secondary to his ability to play whatever sport you drove him all over God’s green earth to play, whatever talent you tried to cultivate in him. 

I’ll give you another example. When you elevate your family and make your family primary, then you are forced to judge your family by other families.  So you have to be further along or at least equal to them.  If your family is ultimate, then you’ve got to protect that.  That way, you’re in a competition with Billy down the street.  God knows he can hit a curve ball and your kid can’t walk and chew gum.  So you’ve got to sign him up for a thousand different camps and drive him all over.  And all of a sudden, raising kids becomes some sort of competitive sport, not for their good but for your good.

Now listen, I don’t have a problem with soccer. Soccer’s a great game. I’m just saying you’re a fool if you think the words out of your mouth are more powerful than the precedent you’re setting with your life.  My three year old already spots my hypocrisy.  So do you really believe that because you tell them with your mouth how important God and the community of faith is but with your life you can live contrary to that, they’re going to do what you say and not what you do?  They’re going to pick up your idolatry. This is what happens. This is what sin does. And then it rolls out. Like if my nation is ultimate. If the USA is ultimate, does that not force me to look down upon other nations, nationalities and cultures?  It absolutely does.  If we’re the best, if we’re ultimate, then that means that everyone else is secondary. And that’s not too far away from racism. If you put anything else as ultimate, things start to break down.  War happens because of sin, genocide happens because of sin, the problem in the Middle East is sin, the problem in the West, what happened to the economy was sin, what happened in a failed marriage is sin. Why everything is breaking down is sin. Greed blew up the economy. It was unabashed, unashamed, wicked greed. And some of you keep waiting for the day of enlightenment.  It’s not coming.

Do you know how many Africans die diarrhea? Hundreds of thousands.  I can go to the 7-11 and pay $1.50 for the medicine that would save them. So why can’t we get it to them?  Because there’s no money involved.  Because if we can’t figure out how to make money off of it, we don’t do it.  So with all of our progression in education, in technology, in research, in medicine, in funding, sin still pervades and wrecks it all.  And the sin predominant in all of us is just absolute indifference. “That’s not my problem. I can go to the store.”

So this is the bad news – you’re broken, I’m broken, everyone’s broken, and this infects every relationship, every interaction and every domain of society. And then here’s the bad news on top of the bad news. We can’t do anything to fix it.  Even if you try to be a better person, you’re just perpetuating the actual problem. “So what are you saying, Chandler? That we’re all doomed to hell?” That’s exactly what I’m saying. . .unless God somehow intervenes.  But it’s complicated, because He can’t just forgive us because 

then He wouldn’t be just.  So look here back in Ephesians 2.  We’ll pick it up in verse 3 “...among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

© 2009 The Village Church