Keeping on keeping on

Last night and this morning I came across some convicting and practical wisdom in a couple books I've been reading. Though it is nothing new, nothing I haven't heard from my own mother, seeing the words on a page and having the luxury of reading and rereading them stirred my heart and exposed to me my habits and motives for what they really are.

"As you deal with your children, deal with yourself always and first. This is what it looks like and feels like to walk with God, as a mother...our children sin against us, annoy us, and mess up our stuff. We want to hold it against them, complain about them (if only to ourselves), and feel put upon by their sin. We have a much harder time accepting that every failure from them is a wonderful opportunity for repentance and growth and not an opportunity for us to exact penance.

It is no abstract thing--the state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender. You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys. And perhaps most importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you." --Rachel Jankovic (Loving the Little Years)

"He said not, 'Thou shalt not be troubled, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be distressed,' but He said, 'Thou shalt not be overcome.' It is God's will that we take heed these words, that we may be ever mighty in faithful trust to weal and woe." --Lady Julian of Norwich (from Madeleine L'Engle's Two-Part Invention)