Costume of Grace

Today I put in a costume of grace. Returning to school from a three day break after this past weekend some of my kids were less than excited to get out of bed this morning. While I feel the exact same way every morning I do understand that in order for me to make it to work to my hourly paid job each morning I have to stick to a time schedule.

My six year old is known for awakening with whining and crying. Normal but not yet acceptable. The oldest decided that although her choices led to an extended Christmas break of about a month in a half she still deserved a week off for Mardi Gras break. That’s a different post entirely.

Normally I would be screaming promises and threats. But today. The lord graced me with thought and patience to calmly explain why things are what they are.

When I realized I’d kept my cool, I immediately thanked God for grace. And then night fell. Sad to say an incident occurred following my two year old going about life as if we have an enmeshed relationship. Needlessly to say I went off, on ev-ry-one except the husband 🤦🏽‍♀️.

One of my greatest desires is to love like Christ and I don’t feel like I can do that if I’m constantly yelling at my little people. I’m sure many mommies can relate. While this used to get me down, I basked today in the victory of Christ this morning as I navigated through the emotions of this thing called family. I guess I can say I’m learning to give myself grace and believing that He who started a good thing in me this morning is faithful to complete it in His time, even if His time is not tonight.

 

Phil 1:6

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

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Bonnie & Clyde

I don’t understand why it’s so intense

I don’t remember when it attached to me

Accompanying me sometimes daily

Today it’s different

Today it’s like never before

As it to over stay it’s welcome

But really I have welcomed it

I am holding onto it

I have become it

For some reason I’m demanding it

Using it as bait, revenge, hate

It’s my favorite little passenger

it’s like we’re joy riding but how can the two co-exist

How can they look so similar

How can they both feel rewarding

we’re the only two in the car

riding so fast I can barely see the scenery

just vague colors rapidly past my eyes

Anger’s my Clyde, and I’m it’s Bonnie

 

via Daily Prompt: Passenger

The Subconscious Influence

As a society our view of freedom is very skewed.  We want freedom to mean no one gets to tell me what to do or I do as I please but in actuality freedom simply means we have a choice.  We are free to make choices that shape our world daily.  Even with all this “freedom” we still feel trapped.  That is because our choices in freedom are usually attached to the expectations of “society”, our family, or our closest friends.  Our freedom is shackled from our ankles to the ankles of those we desire to spend time with.  We desire the freedom to be like others.  That lifestyle plays right into the entertainment industry.  We adapt our dress from the era, our vernacular, and our views.

As technology and “times” advance, the provocations are less than subtle as they once were.  There are hints of sex, sexuality, and other forms of vulgarity laced in music, television, and even cartoons.  Even shows deemed as “family shows” are sketchy.  Cartoons are created with messages that go over children’s heads gearing towards the intellect of adults.  My question is why is such humor needed in a show that is geared towards children.

I truly believe that even these hints of ideas plant seeds into our children.  As a selective parent I often feel stifled because there are limited newly introduced “kid” movies that I can safely allow my kids to see.  Even Disney movies have to be closely monitored these days.  Over the past year there have only been approximately 2 movies I have felt comfortable taking my children to see at the movies.  Even so when those shows are turned into series I sometimes have to restrict their view of them as well.

So often we deem TV and music as just entertainment; a skewed illusion.  However, both create a “moment”.   A moment is all it takes to arouse an emotion in our fleshly human nature.  A certain feel of the sun can evoke a moment/sensation/arousal that stirs up an urge in me to want to go shopping.  A moment in time, a thought, a memory can evoke in me the desire to go to a specific time in my past. A smell, a look, a “hurt”.   We are people of feelings and emotions and entertainment is meant to evoke a certain feeling or emotion. Often times we are unaware of our vulnerabilities that are stroked by these very instances of entertainment.

Our desire to be loved and belong lends quickly to conformation.  Our human nature is so inept to the core of our need for acceptance that we do not even notice the impressions these forms of art play into our lives.  We want so deeply to believe that we can control the influences the outside world has on us.  We want to believe we are stronger than the seeds that are planted in our minds.  But how can a plant grow into anything other than the seed that is nurtured in it’s roots? How can we grow into anything other than the “ideas” we feed ourselves on a daily basis.  If our bodies produce an outward appearance based on the food we eat, we can conclude that the same is true of our character.  It can only produce outward behaviors based on the elements (books, tv, music) we use to nurture it as well.

So while we are free to choose what we feed into our psych, we don’t necessarily get to choose how much influence that particular medium will hold on our thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.