Obedience

Many of you may already know that I am the Curriculum Coordinator for the children of my Mother's of Preschoolers (MOPS) group. It's something that I enjoy doing. It's rewarding for me. But this school year, I made the mistake of over-committing myself. Not only am I the Curriculum Coordinator for MOPS, I am also Avery's Girl Scout Daisy Troop Leader, and I serve on the PTA as the Yearbook Coordinator. Plus, up until a couple of weeks ago, I was also tutoring a child every day after school. All this, while TRYING to maintain my home, take care of my 3 children and 3 animals, and spend time with my husband too. So you might be able to see how, when and where things in my life started falling apart for me when it came to spending time and keeping up with my friends, extended family, and, oh yeah, taking care of myself as well. This seems to be a problem for me... Saying no. The problem with saying yes to everything is that something has to give, and eventually what tends to happen is that you (meaning me, really!) wind up saying no to other, much more important things. I've had to say no a lot lately to some of the MOST important "things" in my life...

Not now, Isaac... Mommy can't do that right now, Avery... Sorry Samuel, Mommy's busy... I just don't have the time to do that right now, Hector... Sorry it's been so long since I've called... I just can't seem to find the time anymore to get together with you ladies... It seems like forever since we've talked... I can't exercise because I don't have the time and I'm just too tired...

Today at my MOPS meeting, the moms discussed becoming more disciplined in 4 areas of our lives: Physical, Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual. And funny enough, the lesson that I had prepared for the children to learn about today was about Samuel and Eli. Samuel was obedient to God, and as a result, he grew in his faith and knowledge of God. In the letter that I wrote to all of the mothers letting them know what their child had learned today, I wrote, "Obedience means doing what you are told with a happy spirit." I read that over and over again to myself this morning. Obedience means doing what you are told to do (and what you know you should do) with a happy (and willing, I might add) spirit.

New goal for myself as of today... Start being more obedient! There are areas of my life that I have been "rebelling" against for a while now. I need to learn how to say no to the things that aren't so important, and start saying yes to the much more important aspects of my life. I need to spend more time with the people I love (emotional), spend more time reading the Bible (spiritual), start exercising and eating healthier foods (physical), and just take better care of myself in general by doing the things I love, like sitting down and reading a good book (intellectual). These are the areas of my life that I know in my heart I need to be more obedient/disciplined about. Because it is only when I truly start showing obedience to God for what HE wants for me in my life, that I will truly have a happy spirit.