Are You Excelling at THIS though?

From one woman to the other women out there, here are my thoughts today for wives & mothers (please don’t critique run-on sentences & spelling!): If we excel at everything under the sun from reaching our educational goals to going after those great careers to mastering sports to exercising until we reach that awesome fit body, (etc, etc) BUT neglect our most important roles as Godly wives & mothers, we lose in this thing called life.

It is my belief that if those responsibilities do not come first, we will not reach all God has for us here on earth because we have rejected the very gifts He gave us to care for in the first place as HIS number one priority. Can we have it all? Possibly… in time. Is this a salvation thing? No. Will we still receive reward in Heaven for what we did do for the Lord while here on earth. Probably. But that’s not what this is about. There is a place is Scripture where it says ” may we become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” While others may think that becoming mature in your walk with the Lord means taking classes to learn more about the Bible or attending conferences to learn life application or going to retreats to learn your identity in Christ, I personally, do not believe that the maturation process really takes off in those places.

For me, real sanctification has happened within the home. It has happened in suffering, in failing daily as well as being put in situations where had the Lord Himself not shown up- I wouldn’t had been able to go on that day. This is where I feel faith grows, where intimacy with Jesus is front & center, where prayer is not a pretty rendition of some memorized Bible passage but rather more of a screaming out to God in anger.  Or it is just barely being able to whisper the Name Jesus because of mere exhaustion.

I ran from this type of growth. I tried to go back out & “work in the ministry” , get a part-time job, spend a lot of time out with my girlfriends, the list goes on- ALL in order to be away!  To “run away” is more like it. I was trying to outrun the very thing my Divine Creator designed me for in life! My husband even renamed me “Jonette” after Jonah in the Bible! I was too afraid of letting my husband down, letting my children down & most of all, letting God down! Through a series of circumstances that continued to bring me to broken places, humble me and soften my heart toward God & my relationships with others, my Heavenly Father grew me up in Him tremendously. He showed me (& continues to show me) how it’s not possible to “let Him down” if I have accepted His Son Jesus because “He will never leave us nor forsake us”.

The Truth is that in being right where the Father appointed me as wife, mother and homemaker like a foreigner dropped off in the Amazon jungle somewhere, I grew in God-confidence to walk out my calling.  The Holy Spirit guided me through this unknown terrain with every step I took in faith to “embrace this place”.

So here I am. Pleading with the other “Jonettes” out there. If something you are involved in causes you to a) not be an available helpmeet to your husband b) neglect your children in the areas of nurturing & training them up in the Lord and/or c) causes you to run from what God called you to by living contradictory to these verses where women are told we are: “to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God,” (Titus 2) then STOP.  Pray.  Reprioritize.  And finally, set on the True North course the Spirit is leading you towards! Because no amount of good education, times spent with others besides your family or timime serving in church/in service projects will EVER replace the important role of protecting our husband’s hearts & shepherding our children in this world!

Listen, as a woman who has done it all backwards once upon a time- trust me: there are consequences to not doing things God’s way & in God’s timing. You can lose those very ones the Lord entrusted to your care! Been there. Done that. BUT… I have also been given an opportunity now (many an opportunities, actually,) through Christ’s redeeming power and in God’s loving kindness to follow the way that is best for me because it’s my Abba Father’s way!

His plan will 1) ALWAYS work out for our good & 2) ALWAYS turn out for His Glory! I am so thankful for the regeneration process where the Spirit continues to finish His work in me, continues to teach me all I need to know for what I have been called to do, continues to counsel me when I do fail & ALWAYS shows me the Father’s love through it all as I follow Jesus.

So, my prayer Ladies, Daughters of the Most High God, Women after God’s own ♥: Let us be good stewards over the souls we’ve been entrusted with before we takin on any other activity or duty which beckons our time, strength & giftings. I do believe this is Almighty God’s master plan for us as wives & mothers. Scripture makes it clear. My own personal experiences vouch for that as well. But more than those two things, my Daddy has shown me how to respond in love and thankfulness of heart along with obedience because of His amazing love given to me through Jesus.

One question I will leave you with today: Why do we so easily run after all the other distractions which take us away from the very thing we are here for as women in this world? My pleas is for us all to repent today for allowing such minute jobs to drag us away from the major one.  And subsequently, I pray we receive the most high calling a woman can be given in this life as wife & mother with the joy that Jesus died to give us!  This can only happen by trusting in the Holy Spirit for the instruction needed for the mission ahead. In conclusion, let’s embrace God’s love for us so we can then shower our husbands & children with that same love!!!