Circle the Wagons

Since I like to go on blog binges... if you haven't noticed... why stop now? Hey, it's only midnight! (Yes, I had coffee after dinner... I have got to stop doing that!)

A good friend of Scott's told him years ago to "embrace every opportunity to be humbled."

What clear, Christ-glorifying advice. It is one of those sayings that we like to throw out there to others and nod our heads when it is mentioned in conversations. Christ, our Savior and redeemer did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but HUMBLED Himself, became a man, and died for our sins. If Christ is truly our pattern, then humility should be one of our ultimate goals.

When these "opportunities" arise, it can be so tempting to forget that they are from our Father for the purpose of conforming us to His image. It is even more difficult to embrace them.

I am thick at times, and it seems that often the Lord will have to show me the same thing in several different ways before I see it...

These past two weeks it has been pride and vanity, particularly in the area of family and parenting. In two very different areas, I have had the option of embracing an opportunity to be humbled or the option of justifying self and claiming my rights. I hope I am choosing to embrace rather than stiff arm what the Lord is showing me.


I will not air all of my laundry on the world wide web, but we want to glorify God in our family. We are not experts, we have never raised children before, and we are dependent upon the mercy of Christ and the mercy of others. It is a humbling journey, and I am seeing how much I care about man's opinion of me, when I should be concerned with Christ's alone.

When I was young, I always assumed that "grown ups" had everything figured out. Of course, I also thought they were ancient and near death's door (My mother is only 20 years older than I)... I feel like I am 32 years old and still trying to figure out who I am in Christ, where do we fit, what is going to work for our family? I know these things will continue to change as we grow and grow older, but it is strange to be in a grown up body and still have those feelings of an insecure teenager, searching to be comfortable in her own skin and seeking the approval of her Father!

Oh, how often do I have to remind myself that His approval is based on Christ, and not my performance. That is so comforting, yet so difficult to believe at times, especially when we see our failures more clearly than anything and feel the condemnation of others for them. It is at these times I must not "bow up," but bow down, confess my need, and remember that Christ IS enough... but I must walk with Him in dependence.