How many times have we all heard the saying, "you will never know love until you look in the eyes of a child?" I think I had heard it a couple times before I had my own children. And you know, those old sayings some times prove to be true! Us mothers and fathers think we love each other, but then we have children and we would do anything for those children. We would give up on our relationships with each other just to ensure our children got all the things they needed. As mothers and fathers we stop meeting our own needs, especially when it comes to our relationships. Well as I was actually taking some much needed quiet time alone this evening, I realized it is the same with the Lord. We start out as children and praise the Lord and then as we grow older sometimes things fade. We tend to give up practices that we were doing. We just tend to forget to build things into our routines, especially as our routines change.
This is my biggest downfall in life! I can't seem to stick to things long enough to build it into a routine. When I was doing a training for work I learned that doing something 7 times makes it learned but doing something 17 times makes it a habit. Now if I could just get myself to exercise 17 straight days in a row or read from my bible 17 straight days in a row then I will be right on track with things. ( I don't see this stuff happening). I give of myself to others around me first! I would rather do things for other people than do something for myself. I simply stress myself out trying to please other people. How many of you do the same thing? We simply can't stress ourselves out anymore. I have to start looking at my day to day routines and cutting something out! I just have to give myself time to do something for me! Whether that is a little reading or crafting or just writing my blog. I have to accept that my children will take up much of my time but if it means waking up earlier or going to bed later then I need to start taking the ten minutes to do something for me to continue to build my relationship with the Lord. With God we can do anything including motherhood and fatherhood. Parenting is the hardest job that God has created. I have not found any easy part to it yet. I find myself praying for strength everyday when I am tired because of lack of sleep, or sore but the kids want to play, or even just annoyed because I have heard the word mommy a gazillion times in the day. God has not failed me yet, but I have failed him. We need to get back into our childhood routines, and make God important. I want my children to see that I value my relationship with the Lord and their father. I want my children to know that it takes a lot of work and dedication, but there is a much bigger payoff in the end. Our payoff is not here on earth but when we move on to be with the Lord.
I think we all should start to challenge ourselves with new routines. I know we are well into 2014 and many of us have already given up on our resolutions, but we still have 10 months left to make good on our "new" routines and our new lifestyles. I know it is going to be hard but like I said before 7 times we have a learned behavior 17 times and we have a habit. So give yourself 17 straight days to build new habits into your routines. Don't forget to ask the Lord for Strength. It says in Psalms 18:1-3 "I love you Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold. I will call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, for he saves me from my enemies. The Lord tells us he is our rock and he is able to support us through anything and keep us safe from all our enemies. Sometimes our enemies are us as we try to sabotage our new routines, but if we just keep praying for strength the Lord will help us when the temptation to sabotage ourselves start. As a final word, Be strong with the Lord's mighty power Ephesians 6:10. Whatever your "New" routines desire to be, make sure you do it all with the Lord and ask him for the strength to get you through 17 straight days of challenges and changes and the many more days after that!
Good luck and God Bless You all,
Amanda
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