A New Perspective

This past Saturday, I went over to a friend's house and watched the Thrive Moms Retreat. The theme was "Warrior" based on Ephesians 6. 

I was excited about some girl time away from my toddler but, I hadn't really had time to prepare my heart and mind for anything more than a casual conversation. 

The week prior had been kind of tough on the home-front. I had been struggling with letting the little things get under my skin and then I would get angry with my sweet boy. I was finding myself getting very upset with him for stepping on my foot and causing me a small amount of pain or getting upset when he would stand near me and say, "Mommy, mommy...etc". I started to realize that I was being very unrealistic and ungrateful with an almost 2 year old. This made me very sad and concerned about my heart. I prayed that God would help me to have the self control that I needed so that I could handle these miniscule frustrations.

This retreat came at a fantastic time....

Heidi Weimer spoke about the "battle" we as moms face. The question she asked was "What is the battle?" She gave a few answers but the one that I knew the Lord wanted me to hear was, "the battle that we face is the one against our sanity (as moms)" She went on to say that "if Satan can get us to blow up and get very angry, he has won the battle." 

DING! DING! DING!  

The light bulb went off and I knew that God was telling me that I need to listen up to what else this awesome woman has to say because, the answer I was praying for just a few days prior was about to be revealed in the next few sentences... Heidi said, "We must choose to let the little things go," because, if we "are wasting our time dealing with and getting frustrated about those small things, we can't deal with and learn through the big things." 

Wow! I needed that. I needed to hear it put so plainly. 

She then went on to give a few examples in her own life about some of the bigger things she was referring to. She has 11, yes ELEVEN, kids. If she focused on all the little things and got irritated because it took 30 minutes to get shoes on one kid, she would go crazy by hour two of her day. Instead, she suggests that we focus on the important battles that have deeper roots, possibly even spiritual ones. 

She went on to say that God is our peace. In rough times, in easy times, He is the only One who can comfort us and give us a peace that passes all understanding. He is in control of our lives and knows the plans He has for us (Jer 29:11)

Heidi also said "God is not calling you to be a perfect mom, He is calling you to point your kids to a perfect Christ." 

Towards the end of her speech, we re-read Ephesians 6:12-13. She then pointed out that God calls us to continually put on the whole armor of God, throughout the day. Pray, repeat scripture and worship so that when you are attacked with the little things, you have the armor to fight it off.

I left my friend's house with a new perspective. I'm not going to tell you that I will NEVER get upset with the little things again but, I can tell you that I am going to try my best to show my child(ren) the love of Christ and that He is the only way I can get through anything. I want them to see Christ in my life. Praise God that He is in control and not me!