I had already said yes to these things, so when an offer of something else came in, there wasn’t room.
No. Author and businessman, Harvey Mackay, has said, "One of the greatest truths in life is that "no" is a complete sentence." I’ve also heard that ‘No’ is simply the opposite of ‘Yes’. No is the word that will protect your self-care.
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What does varnish do?
It adds a protective, glossy coating. It makes an item shine. What makes you shine? When your inner world is restored, what adds that protective, glossy coating for you? These are the practical outer things that restore you. Perhaps you can glean from my story…
Yet there was huge value in enjoying Dear Zoo with each child.
Repairing it meant that it could continue to serve our family and bring us joy. This week we return to the three steps of restoring a masterpiece. We’re on step two: Repair It – Repair rips in the canvas, and fix cracked and peeling paint. If you’ve been around Sanctuary of Home long, then you know that we’re not going to look at issues that need surface repairs, like mending children’s books. Looking deeper, Momma, what needs repairs in your life? What is cracked and peeling?
I know that they would have loved to have me play too. Yet I didn’t ask.
Instead I did what I usually do: I cleaned up. The next day we were ready for a snack. The plan was that I would make it, and then we’d eat while playing a game of Uno together. I asked the children to help with the clean up while I made the food. They did, and finished before I did. What followed was some sort of a wrestling/tackle/get the ball game on the living room floor. Again, I found myself in the kitchen, getting things ready, not a part of the play.
How does that sound to you?
“Give your mind a vacation. No self-help or homeschool material. Bring light-hearted reading.”
Then she listed suggestions for such reading.* “Whatever gives you life and encourages you.” “Make this a quarterly event if possible, but at least two times per year,“ she concluded. My journey of self-care in motherhood has been a slow one, continually building on itself.
We hold our collective breath. Watching what appears to be one foolish decision after another, we silently root for him, desiring (for ourselves) that this tense scene come to completion. And then, he climbs over the top. He has reached the summit! He looks, breathes, takes in the beauty, the wonder… Until a helicopter appears and shoots a capsule into the rock next to him. “Your mission, if you choose to accept it…this message will self-destruct in 5 seconds.” You may not be Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible 2. Yet choosing to accept your mission can feel like hanging on a precipice, tense, unsure how to get to the summit.
Yet the Lord makes it clear: “There is no one righteous, not even one…..There is no one who does good, not even one…..For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:10, 12b, 23)
Then I encountered the Living Jesus. Now my picture has changed.
“Up the hill and down the hill?! Those are our directions?”
“Yes.” Those were our directions. I’m not sure whether or not they got us to our destination. Yet I know we had to know where we were going in order to seek how to get there. Where are you going? Here’s yet another true life story to illustrate:
Over the years Pete and I had talked and dreamed. We desired to put these dreams into action, take steps, make changes.
Yet year after year we instead settled into the routine of daily life. We’d take small steps here and there, yet nothing too impactful. Looking back, we now see that we were living with the mission: “Play it safe”. Boaz changed that. He taught us to live. Through his death, the Lord brought us life. |
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