Some explanations

In my last post I really wasn't trying to be a pain in the rear to any body. I wasn't trying to undermine or minimize the problems that women encounter on a daily bases. It really wasn't supposed to be that kind of a post....

What it was supposed to be was simply thought provoking and since i am not the worlds best writer and i have very few readers because my writing is hard to follow at time...i don't blame anyone if they mis-interpreted any of it....so let me explain....or try to.

I guess my real question is...

How would our lives as Christian women look different if we were completely focused on the task given to us as Christians? To love our neighbors as we really loved ourselves. To love the Lord our God with ALL of our heart, ALL of our strength and ALL of our mind. To serve HIM...to literally LIVE for the Things of a world to come and not for the things of this world.

Would we be happier? More Joyful? More fullfilled? More Satisfied? More Content? More at Peace? Less Stressed? If we truly lived "not on bread alone." IF we did as Jesus tells us in Mathew ..."To seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness..."

Trust me I am not perfect at any of these things in fact i have had thoughts run through my head that have told me to find any way to get those new clothes, that new house, or that better car or that best peice of meat....

Notice that I am not saying to not get anything that you may need, I'm trying to point out what society tells us..."Spagettie and meatballs for dinner isn't good enough you'll have to come up with a flamigne yan. Those clothes you have aren't In style you better get with it....You're too fat, not sexy enough...you better slim up and get those abs...."

And we get pulled into the world that makes life about us and not about God and our service to him.

What would change in us if we really trusted and believed what Jesus said in Mathew "Seek First the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you."

I don't think that Jesus is simply pointing out that God will give his people clothing and shelter etc....because we can all think of examples of missionaries, martyrs and poor christians that have gone hungry, have been without proper clothing, and have been without money....

but maybe Jesus is trying to get us to look at more than just those things...Maybe he is trying to get us to look at the heavenly things, the things that don't perish and maybe if we set our focus on those things....even in the midst of hard, and torcherous trials a family can find peace. A mother could teach her children how to see God... A woman could find strength knowing that she runs for " a prize that is not of this world."

And all of those things would produce a hope....and Romans says that Hope produces perseverance, and perseverance prodcuces character....

Maybe God is more concerned about our character than he is our comfort...?

Maybe God is more concerned about your childrens character than he is their comfort...?

Maybe God is teaching us that there is more to life...Maybe he wants to teach your children that....Maybe he wants to teach my children that....(when I have them...?)

Women especially can get very consumed in a world of 'consumerism' and Christian women are not extempt from that temptation......

What i'm thinking is what if we stopped...if we stopped comparing....if we stopped complaining....if we stopped trying so hard to please everyone around us?

What if we stopped and we REFOCUSED are thoughts on those heavenly things....the things of Jesus....God and His righteousness....

Seriously......how would are lives looked? How would people begin to see us?

I think of missionary wives like Elizabeth Elliot who CHOSE...to marry a man that would CHOOSE to lead his family far beyond the comforts of america....and then have a family....and have children that would be without those comforts....

Not to many mothers to be now days would say...'Oh sure lets raise our kids far away from toilets and showers everyday...' or ' Let's take our kids to a diesese infested country'...or the missionaries that i know in Ghana who have chosen to live in one of the poorest villages so they could learn and their children could learn the language....ALL because they are seeking his kingdom...

Now understand that I'm not saying a woman needs to leave everything in order to prove that she is "Seeking His kingdom"....As paul says god calls some to do some things and others to do others....

But what if as Women in America we opened our eyes more to our neighbors...we lend ourselves out...What if we looked for ways to serve....ways to give...even if we don't have much to give...

What if we looked for ways to teach our children to serve...to teach our children to give to do as God does and focused more on their character instead of what they don't have enough of...

What if we found ourselves praying more for HIS strength...more for HIS peace...more for HIS love to show us that HE will give us...our children...our family....what they need.

What would it look like if we lived for something truly worth living for?