The Wall

After 8 years of talking about it, my husband and I finally did it. We leveled the hill in our back yard. The retaining wall is complete and the fence is almost done. We now have a backyard. One evening, my husband and I were on the porch admiring all the work that’s been done over the last few weeks. He turned to me and said, “I’m glad I didn’t try to do this on my own”.

“There is no way I could have built THIS WALL”

The truth is… I’ve been trying to get my husband to build this wall for quite sometime. It seemed easy to me. Get a shovel. Dig a hole. Get some rocks. Fill the hole. Put some bricks around the outside. And there you have it – a leveled back yard with a strong foundation!

The reality is … It took six men, several weeks, large machines that make a lot of noise, piles of rocks and dirt, different kinds of geogrid (nets) and tubes, and a huge financial investment to BUILD THE WALL WITH A STRONG FOUNDATION.

A WALL THAT WILL LAST

In this season of life, God’s been speaking to me about building a strong foundation. One that will last. Investing my most valuable resource – my time– in things that are eternal. Things that have true value. Being wise about the commitments I make and the things I say YES to.

Avoiding shortcuts that can result in a weak foundation. A foundation that won’t last

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus talks about the importance of being a Christian with a strong foundation.

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

 

There are a lot of WALLS to build in life

Family, Husband, Kids, Friends, Job, Career, Calling, Passion, Hobby, School…

Lord, thank you for being my Foundation

Help me to build strong WALLS. WALLS with firm foundations. WALLS that will last

 

We Match

One day Deborah, my four-year-old daughter, came into my bedroom while I was getting ready. She took one look at me and went back into her room. A few minutes later, she came back with a different shirt on. She said, “look mom, now we both have on shirts with owls. WE MATCH”. She was so excited. She was so proud. For the rest of the day, she told everyone that “we were matching. We were the same”.

I remember thinking to myself, “this isn’t good. I don’t want her to be like me. She can’t be like me”

“I don’t want her to have the feelings of insecurity that I had as a young girl growing up. I don’t want her to make the same mistakes I made. There are a lot of people she should try to be like, but I’m definitely not one of them.”

 “No, I don’t want her to be like me”

I immediately recognized (from years of therapy) that the negative tape was playing in my head. It was seeking to discourage me. To hold me hostage in feelings of guilt and shame. To bind me to something that I already broke free from.

To reduce my life to the sum total of all my failures and mistakes

But I’ve been down that road before. The enemy always tries to remind me of my past in an attempt to abort my future. He’ll try anything to prevent me from walking in the fullness of God’s promises for my life. He knows my weakness – the thoughts that run through my head.

I don’t want to be shackled by the secrets of my past. So I face them. And every time I face them, they become less of a secret. And I become a little freer.

I’m so glad that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 8:1)

The truth is…If the SON sets me free,  I AM free indeed (John 8:36)

I’m proud of who I am in Christ Jesus


And I’m CAPABLE of being Deborah’s mom and her role model too

Old Shoes

These are my 4-year-old daughter’s shoes. For the last three months, I’ve been trying to get her to wear her new shoes. But she won’t. She just wants to wear these old ones. Every day she passes over all the new shoes in her closet and wears these. Over the last few weeks I noticed they were falling apart. The front of the shoes tore and you could see her socks. I wanted to tell her that it was time to throw them away and start wearing her new shoes, but then I thought, “who cares if she wants to wear these old shoes, she’s not hurting anyone. She likes the shoes. They are familiar. They are comfortable. She knows how to get them on (for the most part). It’s not a big deal”.
She continued wearing the old shoes
A few days later, we were on our way to the store and my husband said to my daughter, “get your new shoes, you can’t wear these anymore. It’s raining outside. The front part is torn and your feet are not protected. Your toes will get wet. It’s time to throw these old shoes away”. She didn’t argue with him. She went upstairs to her closet and put on her new shoes.
As much as she loved them, she knew it was time to step into a new pair
Later that day, I was reflecting on my husband’s comments and realized there are some “old shoes” in my life that I need to get rid of too. There are some old habits, old routines, old perspectives, and old thoughts that no longer serve me well. Although they are familiar, comfortable, and convenient; they are no longer able to protect me. They are leaving me exposed.
For me to walk in the promises of God, I must step into a new pair of shoes
So today I walk away from the OLD habits, routines, thoughts, and perspectives that are holding me back from being all God calls me to be. I pray for the courage, strength and boldness to embrace the NEW, the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable, and the inconvenient.
And
I let go of the things which are behind and reach for the things which are in front of me. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)