I cried all day yesterday because I was so overwhelmed and exhausted. Yes —pressure and deadlines, but also wrong thinking/believing:
1) Defeat is for the condemned. We are the forgiven in Christ, so wallowing is really a personal form of self-righteousness, focusing on my feelings when He’s given me His grace to behold.
2) It takes more energy to harden your heart than to soften and forgive. Despite wanting to normalize repentance and forgiveness in our home, I wasn’t quick to let go this week of a hurt, and it wore me out.
3) Our best work will always flow out of real living. I’m not talking travel or dreams realized; I mean: Making time to go on a walk, space enough to cuddle your kids, look your spouse in the eye, cook a giant meal for a houseful, burn the toast but enjoy it anyway with a thick coat of butter. To read your Bible as a love letter from your Good Father. To take in beauty for life —not likes.
So setting aside work for a spell, leaving the dishes to wait, saying no to more obligations, and yes to tedious convos with littles. Breaking up the hard ground of a self-protecting heart and tilling the soil by way of rehearsing the truth of the gospel. To not measure yourself by what you do but who you are in Christ. These are what dry tears and free us from the burden of “not-enough.” This is what I’d tell you over coffee today, friend.
Appeared first on Instagram on April 10, 2018
Because of grace,
