Monday Morning Ramble

Emery is back to work.  He is feeling stronger all the time and better now that he is off the strong antibiotics.   Medicine is good when needed, but so often there are so many side effects to them.  We are hoping that in time he can transition to a natural medicine for his acid reflux due to his hernia.  Our Doctor believes this will happen in a month or so.

It was a lazy weekend for us.  Sunday found us just enjoying the coolness after the rain, which amounted to over 7 inches for us.  We happen to be in a pocket where more rain fell on us than in surrounding towns.  Good for the garden, this morning I discovered all the lettuce seed I planted had sprouted.  Quackers and Cheese, our ducks, were most happy for all the mud around the pasture.  They were enjoying a breakfast of mud with their seed. 

The hens however were trying hard to avoid any puddles.  
Over the weekend I had some time to think about life in general and measure the progress made on becoming more of what I want to be as a person.  My goal has been for the last few years to be gentler with my words, kinder in my inner thoughts, more compassionate, less judgemental,  more accepting of where people are in life and accepting them just as they are.  I may not agree with their lifestyle, but that is not all they are.  God sees more in them, so if I want to have the mind of Christ, then I too should see all their value as He does.  If I was to look back and view myself 40 or even 30  years ago, not knowing who it was,  through my eyes now, well I might just be a bit surprised and tempted to judge.  We have potential to change right up until the moment before we die, just as the thief on the cross did.  Hard to judge a person thinking of it that way.   At any rate I read something this weekend that really made me think.   Even though we have no children at home, we have finished the work of raising children, I decided to read a beloved book, "Building Christian Character" once again, this time with me in mind as the one needing to have the "work" done.  In the preface to the parents. I wondered, do I judge others for the very thing I need work on...here is what I read, "Building Christian Character has been designed to help you in the task of disciplining your children. But as you prayerfully study this book and use it in your ministry to your children, you will inevitably see how it applies to your own life. Do not throw off the convictions you feel as you work through these pages, but let God use His Word to change your life and so make you into more effective agents for the discipleship of your children and even others. 

In fact, as you work with this book, you should deliberately measure yourself against the plumb line of His word.  (Amos 7:7-8). You should particularly examine yourself to see if you are in the same relationship of submission to those in authority over you as you require (or should require) that your children be to you.  Wives, do you submit to your husbands as God's revealed Word requires your children to submit to you ?  Husbands, do you submit to God-ordained authority in the church and on the job as you desire your wife and children to listen and obey you ? You parents should constantly ask these questions of yourselves, and if you find yourself falling short, the solution is not to say, "Yes, I am a hypocrite asking of my children what I refuse to give myself. So I'll stop requiring this submission of my children." The answer is to repent and bring your own life into line with God's word."  

Our entire life we should see areas that need improving, humbly refining our hearts.  It is all part of our growth.