Kind of like posting

So, I decided I kind of like posting new blogs. Kind of fun. Kind of interesting. Kind of lets me get my thoughts out. I kind of like that!

So, this weekend was very nice. I love time at home with my boys. Dave has hit a turning point in his struggles with perfectionism and it has been an amazing transformation. There is freedom when we realize we need to persue excellence, not perfection. Thanks to The Birth Order book by Kevin Leman, both Dave and I are in persuit of excellence instead of perfection. Good thing too because we are definintely not perfect.

I was reminded of that this past weekend. We went to visit some friends and Will was all over the place during dinner. He had already eaten and decided that he wanted to bang on the tray instead of just sit there. Honestly, I don't blame him. He was kind of bored. So, I let him down. My hope was that he would just play by himself and for the most part he did. However, I had a hard time enjoying the conversation because I was not comfortable with our friends not being comfortable. I felt like they were looking down on us because Will is not a "perfect" child. Even as I write this I am convicted. I want Will to be perfect at times because I think it is a reflection of what Dave and I are doing with him. STOP!

Truth time. Dave and I are learning as we go but we are doing an okay job. We have a happy little guy that loves us dearly. He loves to explore and loves to test his boundaries. Our job is to make sure those boundaries are in place. We are working with him on training him up instead of waiting for him to need correction. For example, I worked with him a little bit on teaching him to come to me on the first call this weekend. He was on the floor playing and I would say, "Come to mama." When he would come I would praise him. The time that he didn't I went over, picked him up and then took him back to where he was originally sitting so we could try it again. It worked! Will is a pleaser kind of like me. He hates it when he disappoints us.

I kind of think about myself in this light. I too am a pleaser. I hate it when people are not happy with me and even more so when there is nothing I can do about it. As I have prayed about a situation at work this weekend the thought continually comes to mind, pray for your enemies. Pray for those poeple that hurt you. Part of me wants to treat them the same way they are treating me but that is not the right thing to do. So, time for some space. Time for a time out. Time for prayer. Prayer changes things ten fold. Prayer repairs relationships. Prayer restores time lost. Prayer restores my heart and keeps me focused on what is important. Prayer lifts my burdens and replaces them with joy. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are faced with trials because the testing of your faith produces perserverance and that is what will carry me through.

Pure joy. It is not an emotion. It is a state of being. It is the result of choices we make. It is a free gift. It does not mean I will feel happy persay but rather that I know I am doing God's will and that makes all the difference.