BE INTENTIONAL:  CHOOSE, COMMUNE, BE STILL

In my parenting role, I elected to set boundaries in place to create a balance in the roles of womanhood. I compartmentalized my life into three areas:  home/family, work, self.

• Each day, I elected to wake my children with a kiss, a smile, and a hug. I either fed them a decent breakfast at home, or used the school’s breakfast program. Junk food not allowed.

• Each day, I elected to go to a job with people I enjoyed working with. I chose a field I enjoyed so that work was more of an extension of me than it was work.

• Each evening, I elected to leave my job where I found it—in a building of wood, brick or stone. Occasionally, by choice and not by requirement, I brought work home.

• Each evening, I elected to greet my children with a kiss or hug, ask about their day, and check that chores and homework were done. I cooked a full meal, and allowed them to sip from their cups only after eating at least half of their plate.

• Each night, I elected to spend time after dinner talking, laughing, reading or watching movies with them. They took baths, said prayers, and I kissed them goodnight.

• Each night, once they were in bed, I elected time for myself. I read a book, listened to music, or wrote my thoughts in a book. I was normally in bed by 10:00 P.M.

I Choose, therefore, no one is blamed. When a person practices looking outwardly at issues in their life, they form a habit of personal deception. They turn the mirror in the opposite direction, and attempting to dodge blame, they set the stage to be repeat offenders in the repetitive messiness of their lives; victims by their own choosing.

Unfortunately, God also gets the blame. When their plans fail to produce the fruit they desired it becomes a charge against God–why would a loving God allow hurt or harm to his children, they ask. They live by their own rules with the expectation that God should get with their program (Isaiah 55:8-9). But error is housed in darkness, where the light of knowledge shines not.  “O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing (a lie, untruth, falsehood, deceptive thing)? Selah.” 

The lesson is to learn how to CHOOSE wisely. Commune with your own heart says the author of Psalm 4. Contemplate, Meditate, Study the course of your choices. Learning to pray and be still, as you consider your past, your present and the future you desire is a must. It is considering the outcomes of each road you contemplate, and examining it under a microscope! It takes practice, quieting your flesh and your emotions, until you see the true light of the matter.

It is then that we learn to CHOOSE his way.

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Psalm 4 (v.4)