Late at night before I close my eyes and go to sleep I really enjoy a good Instagram and Pintrest Fest! I scroll through the photos of the day and it is like bad candy for my eyes- almost the equivalent to sneakily eating a whole bag of chips in bed with out the discomfort of crumbs on the sheets. I look at all the perfectly captured moments of my friends and strangers life’s and I subconsciously make a list and compare what they have to what I don’t have or what I would like to add to my “board” of wants. “Oooo; that mom has abs- I don’t have abs- I want abs- I am going to quit eating gluten and dairy like that skinny friend I have then I will have abs- oh man, but I love cheese, and I love pretty much everything that has gluten in it- maybe I will just only eat dairy and gluten for some meals, you know kinda half quit eating gluten and dairy- maybe just eat more vegetables- that’s what I will do, I will only eat vegetables and drink infused water- coffee counts as infused water right?- Joanne your crazy you love food and that is ok, now go to bed!. . . maybe I should cut out sugar”.
Yes it sounds nuts, but seriously every night.
I was talking to one of my lovely dance moms this week and she told me about how a song we played a couple weeks ago (“Priceless” by for King and Country) moved her and how she was convicted this summer about the negative thoughts she was had about herself. We spoke about how we often reflect so much on how we could be better (stronger, smarter, sexier, skinnier, more loveable, eat perfectly, grow all your own food, bake everything from scratch and have an Etsy shop, home school, never again be seen at Costco wearing sweat pants and no makeup. You get the picture) if we just tried harder to fill up those voids we see in ourselves. All the while we miss the fact that God made us the way we are for His perfect plan and we push off the skills and abilities we do posses to the side and just don’t use them because we want what He has given to someone else.
This week in my Worship Dance classes we discussed some of the different spiritual gifts God has given each of us. We have some who are wonderful “Administrative” types who enjoy the task of keeping the family running on time, some who are most generous with their “Encouraging” words and actions, and many others who “Serve”, “Teach”, are “Hospitable” and “Helpful” in many ways. We also spoke briefly about why God has given us each our own individual blend of special abilities. I must confess that this was a good lesson for me as well.
I pray that this week we would be able to see those talents and abilities that we have been given and actually use them- and recognize the things that you don’t possess and be content with not having that ability or talent right this second. (if God has taught me anything it would be that His plans for our lives are active and constantly changing us and different to what we ever could have imagined, so if you can’t really bake like a French pastry chef now it is because He does not require you to be able to for His plan, you never know how a couple years will shape and shift your abilities). AMEN!
Love you all
Mrs Joanne