A "Peaceful" house

http://raisinghomemakers.com/2010/peace/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+RaisingHomemakers+(Raising+Homemakers)&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

(I hope you will take the time to read what Rhonda has written so eloquently. My post will make much more sense if you do!)

I received this post in my email inbox this morning. Let me assure you, it was just what I needed to hear!! Isn't it amazing how God does that? I've been working so hard at getting my house in "perfect" working order that I've lost sight of many things in the past few weeks. Now don't get me wrong, God appreciates that I want to be organized and clean, but NOT if it interferes with my time with Him or my children (which He has entrusted to me). This post was almost a relief to read! I just needed someone to remind me that "perfect" isn't what God wants. He wants our BEST, but that doesn't always mean "perfect." God is a gracious, loving & forgiving God. But, if we continually put Him on the back-burner to get our life in order, we will lose sight of what's important VERY quickly!!

Our life has been very hectic & crazy these past few weeks. Let me explain briefly (as briefly as I can anyway...). At Thanksgiving I made some fudge for our family gathering. Everyone commented on how good it was (which shocked me, cause it was my first time making it & fudge can be finicky). Some even told me I should sell it. I just laughed and kept going. Then, I took some to our small group get together & they said the same thing. That's when I thought, maybe God is trying to tell me something. You see, I have been praying for a LONG time that God would show me something I could do at home to bring in some extra money. So, I started spreading the word by mouth. My mom got orders from work & some family friends ordered. All in all, I got about 30 orders in a matter of 2 weeks time! I was thrilled!!! Then, life happened! Just when I had planned out when I would make each batch & fill the orders - LIFE HAPPENED!! My grandparents (who have been in relatively good health) were both given stress tests & arteriograms (within a week of each other). THEN, my mom was admitted into the hospital with left arm pain and severe nausea. They did a stress test on her (I've never in my life known of so many people getting stress tests!), but thankfully nothing was found so she was released the next day. BUT, those activities took a toll on my housekeeping, chores, organizing (which was my main goal this month), candy-making schedule and overall family time. I was NOT at peace when I came home. My house was in a complete disarray and I felt like my life was spinning out of control - because I couldn't get done what I thought needed to be done. These past few days my husband and I have both been ill. (Not fun with 3 young kids in the house.) I realized that maybe I wasn't getting things done because I needed to rest in God and I wasn't. So this post really hit home for me this morning. I realized that I'm not called to be the "perfect mom" or the "perfect wife" or even the "perfect housekeeper." I'm called to be a Mom and wife, but I'm also called to REST in Him - daily!!!!

So, today (and everyday from now on) I'm going to ask for God to "give [me] His perfect peace, regardless of what the day holds because whatever He has in store for [me] is His perfect plan and if [I] rest in that~[I] will have a peace that passes all understanding."