It ISN'T great to stay up late, in case you have Debbie Reynolds tap-dancing through your skull, now. At least, the joy of the lateness wears off when you have to get up early and deal with everyone else's bathroom issues.
The other day it occurred to me that eventually I will again be responsible for no one's bathroom issues but my own. The concept seemed so bizarre and unattainable that I suddenly understood why so many of the little old ladies I used to see as a nurse felt the need to inform me about their husbands's bathroom issues: habit is strong.
But let's be a little more encouraging than just whining, one more time, about "Ooooooopoooooo", as Buddy texted the Husband via my phone the other day, shall we? We shall.
I was encouraged yesterday when I got out the Bible story book and the only thing all three kids wanted to do was sit with me and read. Granted, Buddy wanted to repeat stories over and over again and we jumped back and forth between the 23rd Psalm, the defeat of Goliath, and the story of Joseph and his brothers, but hey, a lot of adults don't read the Bible chronologically either.
I should put in another plug here for the One Year Bible (New Living Translation). The modern language has a way of hammering home a point that you might not always pick up under more traditional phrasing. I'm in the major prophets at the moment, and Isaiah is always saying "The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will accomplish this." I think we occasionally think of God's will as being kind of an unemotional, almost negative thing--like a computer telling you facts without any feeling behind it.
But "the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies?" God has passions? Oh yes, He does. Where do you think we get ours, if not from being made in His image? The difference, of course, is that God's emotions are always appropriate and He is in no way enslaved to them like we can be to ours. Our emotions are often inappropriate--set off by stuff that shouldn't set them off. However, the overwhelming talk of God's emotions in the prophets (and elsewhere in Scripture) tells me that we don't need to be afraid to feel our emotions, and that there's a purpose for them.
We tend to be suspicious of too much emotion, afraid it will make us irrational or foolish. But emotions and reason don't have to be mutually exclusive. Just as you can train your reason, you can train your emotions to be appropriate. You can decide in advance, believe it or not, that you are not going to get upset by something. or that you're going to be tenderhearted toward someone. Try it.
I'm trying it today, deciding not to get upset by the inevitable spills, scribbles, shouts, and squabbles around my house. I probably won't be entirely successful--my emotions are still getting trained. But think of it like playing the violin. I'll never get them to make great music, serving other people AND me, if I don't practice.
I hope, anyway. I'm telling you about it to keep myself accountable.
Cheers,
Breanna
The other day it occurred to me that eventually I will again be responsible for no one's bathroom issues but my own. The concept seemed so bizarre and unattainable that I suddenly understood why so many of the little old ladies I used to see as a nurse felt the need to inform me about their husbands's bathroom issues: habit is strong.
But let's be a little more encouraging than just whining, one more time, about "Ooooooopoooooo", as Buddy texted the Husband via my phone the other day, shall we? We shall.
I was encouraged yesterday when I got out the Bible story book and the only thing all three kids wanted to do was sit with me and read. Granted, Buddy wanted to repeat stories over and over again and we jumped back and forth between the 23rd Psalm, the defeat of Goliath, and the story of Joseph and his brothers, but hey, a lot of adults don't read the Bible chronologically either.
I should put in another plug here for the One Year Bible (New Living Translation). The modern language has a way of hammering home a point that you might not always pick up under more traditional phrasing. I'm in the major prophets at the moment, and Isaiah is always saying "The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will accomplish this." I think we occasionally think of God's will as being kind of an unemotional, almost negative thing--like a computer telling you facts without any feeling behind it.
But "the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies?" God has passions? Oh yes, He does. Where do you think we get ours, if not from being made in His image? The difference, of course, is that God's emotions are always appropriate and He is in no way enslaved to them like we can be to ours. Our emotions are often inappropriate--set off by stuff that shouldn't set them off. However, the overwhelming talk of God's emotions in the prophets (and elsewhere in Scripture) tells me that we don't need to be afraid to feel our emotions, and that there's a purpose for them.
We tend to be suspicious of too much emotion, afraid it will make us irrational or foolish. But emotions and reason don't have to be mutually exclusive. Just as you can train your reason, you can train your emotions to be appropriate. You can decide in advance, believe it or not, that you are not going to get upset by something. or that you're going to be tenderhearted toward someone. Try it.
I'm trying it today, deciding not to get upset by the inevitable spills, scribbles, shouts, and squabbles around my house. I probably won't be entirely successful--my emotions are still getting trained. But think of it like playing the violin. I'll never get them to make great music, serving other people AND me, if I don't practice.
I hope, anyway. I'm telling you about it to keep myself accountable.
Cheers,
Breanna
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