| |
Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
|
| |
encouragement in things that matter |
|
| |
Super Teddy
|
|
| |
It’s a stuffed little cubby that I call "Super Teddy." It’s warm and cuddly, as brown as the real ones, and dressed in a dark blue tee shirt with a silver colored emblem sporting a bold "S." It was given to my husband in appreciation for his assistance at a time when life got very complicated for someone else. It expressed that appreciation well. Sitting in the window seat of our bedroom, it reminds me that all too often we attempt to be that "super-person" in response to the people and situations in our lives. Occasionally we succeed, but more often we simply frustrate ourselves and sometimes, even others. I remember attending a ladies brunch many years ago when my children were small, and "Daddy" could be easily overwhelmed. I did that morning as I always did before I left home, and prepared as many things as possible before I left – for breakfast, for getting kids dressed, for assuring a peaceable morning of cartoons and just playing at home. I guess I accomplished more than the other moms who came, because we were asked a long list of who-did-what-before-they-left, and I was pronounced the "Super Mom" for the day. With my children now grown, it would seem that expectations would have lessened, but they haven’t. It seems instead that I wear more "hats" now than I ever have. And those expectations don’t necessarily come from others – many come from my own thinking.
I really believe though that most of us are trying to be "Super Teddy." For today’s Christian woman, work-outside-the-home, work-inside-the-home, children, grandkids, husbands, ministry involvement, friends, exercise, and personal interests all want a part of our commitment. It’s tiring! And try as hard as we want, our twenty-four hour day still only has twenty-four hours! We become frustrated because we are unable to do all things well, and when we listen to the silent pleas of our priorities, we keep juggling, knowing that we are missing something vital and essential.
God does have an answer for us. He has promised to give direction to our lives, if we ask Him. He has a walkable path for each of us that may not be a walk of simplicity, but He promises His discernment, His guidance, and His grace and enablement so we may capably leave our footprints on that path. The key is to listen. I must hear God’s voice – not the voices of others or even my own. God’s. What expectations does He have for me? How does He want me to relate or respond? What choices does He want me to make? How does He want me to expend my time, my energies, my involvement, my outreach? I really don’t need to be a Super Teddy – neither do you. Individually, we each need to be the woman God wants us to be.
|
|
| |
|
— Bev |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
