Legacy

I stumbled across this blog post this morning. What an eternal perspective of the mundane daily tasks and frustrations we face. It reminded me of this song. We have such an opportunity to bless our families and leave an eternal legacy, based on the decisions we make every single day.

I want my legacy to be one of love and laughter. I want my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to remember me as a loving, caring servant, who loved my husband and children with all my heart, and who leaned on the Lord in every situation. I want the Word of God present and tangible in our home. I want those who enter our home or are around our family to experience the peace and grace that the Lord daily gives to us.

the battle that rages

I feel that right now, our little family is under attack. We have been getting more involved at our church lately, and God has been doing some big things in our marriage and each of us individually. The enemy is trying so many different ways to knock us off-track. We've had financial problems, car trouble, job stresses, and each of us have faced a different health problem.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4

When I was growing up, my mother did an excellent job of surrounding us with the Word of God. There were Scriptures posted on walls, mirrors, and over every person's bed. We listened to Scripture memory songs, wrote verses out until they were memorized, and recited verses every night before bed. She was fighting battles for her own family; my brother had a rare and life-threatening genetic respiratory disease until he was healed at the age of 7. I will never forget a Scripture memory cassette tape that literally lived in the stereo in our living room. This particular cassette had a song that was this Scripture set to music, and I can remember the tune to this day.

I will not wage war as the world does - with bitterness, selfishness, or sarcasm. I will pick up the weapons that have divine power to demolish strongholds - every promise in the Word of God - and cultivate the fruit of the spirit in my life and household. I will not believe the lies of the enemy, or allow his attacks to cause confusion, strife, or anger in our home. I will surround my husband, son, and self with the promises that the Lord has given us for these particular circumstances.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Proverbs 31:25-26

So, since my post on Sunday, lots of "bad" things have happened in our lives. I commuted to work like I always do with Jackson, worked all day Monday. He had been having a cough and congestion, but nothing major. While I was at work Monday, he seemed to get worse. I had to make a decision about whether or not to take him to the doctor. Tyler and I made the call for me to take him back to Conway and to the doctor. So, I did a four-hour round trip commute yesterday, with a sick baby in tow. We got up this morning, went to the doctor to find out that he just had a nasty cold and was teething. As soon as we got done, we got back on the interstate and headed back to my mom's... another two hours in the car. I got there before lunch, so I headed back to work. On my way to work, I got a call from Tyler telling me that our SUV, which is what I usually drive but switched yesterday for better gas mileage, was acting very weird and he was taking it to the shop. Turns out our alternator went out, and it cost us $500 to fix it. Throw that in with the crazy amounts of time in the car, little sleep, and sick child... this mama is exhausted.

As soon as I got done with work, I went for a mani-pedi.

And then I made a conscious decision to stand firm on God's promises through these circumstances. Circumstance does not determine my joy. Joy comes from the Lord, and my walk with Him alone. I am tired, emotional, and cranky. He is faithful, loving, and cares about EVERY one of the things that is going on in my life.

I don't have to fear bad news.
Good will come.

Psalm 112

This morning at church, our pastor set aside his sermon notes and spoke very briefly, but from the heart. His message was based in Psalm 112.

"Praise the Lord.

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house; his righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him to is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end, he will look in triumph on his foes. He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor. The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing."

I love this Psalm. My favorite verse is verse 7 - "he will have no fear of bad news..."
What a thought in which to wrap myself! I don't have to fear bad news. While it may come (and most certainly will in our broken world), when it does I have a security and safety in my Lord.

The past week or two, my prayers have been filled with lots of questions directed at God. When, Lord? Why, Lord? I have been caught up in the whens, and hows, and whys of my future, instead of going with God's flow in my life and rejoicing along the way. I am walking with God. I have trusted Him with my life; I try to take my decisions to Him; I am striving with all I have to be a righteous woman. Why, then, do I worry and fret when the Lord makes it clear here (and in many other passages) that the righteous are BLESSED?

Lord, thank you for your blessings in my life. Thank you that you promised wealth, riches, goodness, security, light for those who trust You! Help me to continue trusting You, instead of attempting to work out all the details of my life myself. Remind me to walk in peace and joy instead of worry and anxiety.

Love

Okay, so maybe I'm a little sappy and romantic. Maybe I over-romanticize every day life. But I just want to say how much I love my husband.

I love him for taking out the trash at 10:30 pm because it's trash day tomorrow and we forgot trash day last week, and the week before.

I love him for teasing me out of my bad moods instead of clamming up and getting mad at me.

I love him for working so hard at work, even when it's sometimes a crappy situation.

I love him for coming home from work and setting everything aside to play with our Babylove before he goes to bed.

I love him for helping me do the dishes after dinner while we're still talking about our days.

I love him for the way he sings Frank Sinatra songs to me at random moments.

I love him for the way he looks so handsome in dress clothes (sorry, that may be a little shallow.)

I love him for the way he falls asleep in the recliner most nights while I'm getting ready for bed, and I have to wake him up and make him go to bed.

In the three-plus years we've been married, my husband has taught me that love isn't about grand gestures or huge bouquets of roses. It's about the day-in, day-out sacrifices you make for the person you love. Love is truly a choice - a choice to react to the other's moodiness with love and laughter, a choice to serve the other by doing the mundane together, a choice to spend time together and make each other a priority.

TylerMac, Thank you for being such a wonderful husband and daddy. I love you more each day.