Hearts at Home was this past weekend. I left the conference refreshed, encouraged, and wanting to be a better mom!
This year I got to attend Susie Larson's workshop,"Living the Promised Life" with my mom! Susie's words blessed and challenged me. "God is good. His promises are true and He will make a way for me."
One thought from the workshop especially challenged me. "The only thing comparison does is produce pride because we have more or discontentment and jealousy because we have less." There are so many times when I compare myself to others or make decisions based on what others may be thinking of me. I was reminded that I was created by God to be me. He loves me just the way I am. He has a plan for my life. He will make a way for me.
When I compare myself to others, when I wish I was more like someone else, I cheapen the work my Father did when he created me. When thoughts of comparison start to creep in, I am trying to cast them out with the thought, "I was created to be me. My Father does not make mistakes."
This line of thinking can be a little dangerous if I start to think too highly of myself. One of the songs Cheri Keaggy sang this weekend contained the line, "We love because He first loved us." Any good in me comes from Him and His work in my life. All glory goes to Him.
How about you? What do you do to combat the comparison trap? And, if you were at Hearts at Home what was your take away? How were you encouraged as a wife, mom and child of God?
I want to close this post with Zephaniah 3:17. (This verse was shared in two of my workshops!) I hope it blesses you and reminds you how loved you are by our Father.
"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."
2 comments:
Great post Megan! I wasn't as overwhelmed this year as I was last. I really enjoyed Julie Barnhill's Worn Out Moms. And I picked up some additional ideas for organizing to my overly organized life. But the thing that occured to me is, that there is no cure for you or your child, except that we just remain with our eyes on Christ - He is our ultimate resource for answers!
I too compare myself to others, I get sad because I didn't grow up in a Christian home and I don't have the resources to draw on in teaching my child about Christ, I have my dad's body - my tummy is forever determined to be larger than I feel comfortable with, I suffer from depression and wish that my mind could be more "normal," I wish my husband was a believer and what that might be like to have, on and on I go. I try to just sit back, relax, and realize that this is where Satan wants me, not Jesus and then try to take one day at a time and refocus my eyes to Him.
Megan,
Thanks for this post. If we are honest, I think all women struggle with this in one form or another. My husband Nathan and I are on a short-term missions trip in Kenya and I am reading blogs to pass the time during naps and thought I would post a quote I've been thinking about lately that refers
to this subject. I find myself analyzing the missionary families here wondering if I can ever survive in this role long-term. I haven't come to a conclusion on that :) but these quotes from the Girltalk blog have been super-encouraging to me...
From John Owen...
“Yet the duties God requires of us are not in proportion to the strength we possess in ourselves. Rather, they are proportional to the resources available to us in Christ. We do not have the ability in ourselves to accomplish the least of God’s tasks. This is a law of grace. When we recognize it is impossible for us to perform a duty in our own strength, we will discover the secret of its accomplishment. But alas, this is a secret we often fail to discover.”
And another one in reference to comparing ourselves with others whom we perceive as better or more talented than us at a particular thing...
“There’s always going to be someone better than you at what you do...And you know what? These people have been strategically placed in our lives to expose our pride and help us serve with humility."
Hope that makes sense...I enjoy checking your blog every now and then! God bless, Sara Huber
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