I know that they would've 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.
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Again, I found myself in the kitchen, getting things ready, not a part of the play.

In retrospect I wonder why I was so bothered by it. Clearly my heart was not focused on his prayer! 

I am often rubbed wrong when the Lord begins to shine light on an area where I need growth.

How about you?

Do you find yourself bristled by observing things you yourself need to grow in?
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That is exactly what happened to me here.
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This beautiful couple joined our small group. I learned from her. 

And about a year later, when the Lord shined the light on my need to grow in honoring my husband, guess who I called?

“You’re right,” I sighed. “I haven’t made an effort. I commit to you now to make a genuine effort, and that I will pray daily for the Lord to help me change. That’s all I can do.”​

Conflict.

It is present in every healthy relationship.

Let me repeat that. Conflict is present in every healthy relationship.

If there isn’t some conflict, then someone’s not being honest. That’s when bitterness and resentment build.
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While conflict is normal and healthy, it is working through and reconciling those conflicts that will keep the relationship healthy.

After over three years of looking for a house, the Lord provided the answer to our prayers. We had moved in only two months earlier. 
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I expected much of myself and I was floundering.

Our kids ran in as they normally do, cheering and excited. It was our then 3-year-old who stopped dead in the silence. “Where are Poppy and Nanny?!” she cried, suddenly quiet, wide-eyed.

The space of a house. The set up. Arrangement. Lighting. Items. They matter in making a space feel like a home. They do matter. Yet it is the spiritual and emotional presence in that space that make it home.
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When coming home to my parent’s house, they greet us with excitement, welcome, love, orderliness, things have been prepared and thought about on our behalf.

The spiritual and emotional presence they provide speak volumes of words unuttered…

“The purpose of places like Starbucks is for people...to make six decisions, just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall…light, dark...caf, decaf...low-fat, nonfat...
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So people...get not just a cup of coffee...but an absolutely defining sense of self.

Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!”

As the BK jingle goes, “have it your way.”

When an intentional Christian woman, then, is approached with the concept of self-care, in a culture that is ‘all-about-me’, she can run up against a lie that halts her in her place.
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The lie: it is sinful and selfish to take time for myself.

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’.
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No is the word that will protect your self-care.

What does varnish do? 
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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.
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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.