Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the LORD. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22-24)
Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
I didn’t play with Mr. Potato Head when I was picking up the toys the other day and make Officer Potato Head arrest Santa Potato head. I also wouldn’t have actually spent several minutes looking for a potato nose in the toy basket so they would look just right. And there is no way that I would have then taken a picture of said spectacle.
I didn’t abandon my family on Friday night to go out with a friend. Justin didn’t spend an extra hour and a half getting the girls in bed because I was of course home to help—and he decided to take them out for ice cream. I didn’t laugh at some high school kids’ funny skit or the fact that one of the guys forgot his lines. I also did not stay at my friend’s house chatting until after I’m normally in bed.
I didn’t stay home from church on Sunday when I was a little under the weather, even though I probably could have managed to go. I also didn’t enjoy the first day that none of us had to go anywhere since December so much that I didn’t want to step outside the house all day. We didn’t let the girls stay into their PJs until after lunch and I didn’t enjoy cuddling with a sleepy baby.
I didn’t laugh out loud when my three year old declared the rocks from the David and Goliath story in her children's Bible, “look like poop.” I didn’t laugh even harder when the baby grabbed her diaper in a very lady-like manner and yelled, “Poop! Poop!”
I also didn't take this picture when the baby fed herself chili spaghetti and skipped out on her spinach.
As a child, I remember my little sister being upset because I had an entire photo album to myself (from before she was born)—it did have other people in it, but it was mostly me. From that day I decided I wanted to try to make things as equal for my kids as I can. To be fair, my parents did too. They didn’t know that an album of pictures from before she was born would bother her. If we were splitting the last piece of cake, one cut and the other chose—there were never two more equal pieces of cake! They tried to make the time they put into our activities and the money they spent fair. Not always easy when we were doing different things in high school. I think at that point we got that “fair” no longer meant equal.
My girls are small though, so for now I’m striving for equal. There were several things that Kate received from baby showers and just being the first that my mom and I have been intentional about getting for Gabby. There’s a card with a bracelet and a penny for their shoes when they get married, a baby hat that becomes a handkerchief (also for their wedding days), photo albums, baby books, first shoes, and scrap books. Quilts I made and afghans from my mom. Even my sister bought Kate a hot cocoa cup last year and two month old Gabby got one too, so when she's ready they'll match (that meant a lot!). The very last thing that Kate had from her babyhood was a silver cup with her monogram. My mom knew that Gabby hadn’t received one, so she got one for her. They aren’t just close, they are an exact match!
It’s a trait we want to teach our children. To love others, to care about their plight, to actually get up and help. At their current ages these actions can be somewhat limited. It’s not the easiest task to get them in and out of the grocery store, so the idea of taking them to go volunteer somewhere is near ‘daunting’ in my book. I feel like I would be more of a hindrance than a help. I know that I couldn’t do the work sorting clothes that I had done at a pregnancy support center when I was first married. The laying tile I was doing when Justin and I first fell in love in Chicago is totally out of the question—sharp knives and two small children, no way. I’m not in a financial place that I have a lot of money to donate, not that my kids would learn a lot from that anyway.
I mentioned my quandary at a MOPS meeting and one of the other moms gave an example of something she did when she only had one child. They would go and visit an adult day care. It was her daughter that actually got to do the ministering. She was facilitating her young child as a light in these people’s lives. I have some thinking to do. I’m not sure if this will be the exact route we take, but it is food for thought.
I try to help my girls, especially Kate, since she’s old enough to start understanding, do some things that are for others. She helps me make food for Justin’s students and colleagues. We went Christmas caroling in December and other small things through out the year. We try to discuss these things and how they make people feel with her, but there’s a lack of the on going. I want the girls to always be on the look out for ways to do for those around them. I want compassion to be such a part of them that it’s always there.
I know that this unabashed compassion has repercussions. It can cause anguish. You can see every need around you, even those things you can do nothing about. It can cause you to be taken advantage of. But truly, if that is the worst, isn’t it more than worth the cost? If I am taken advantage of, am I truly the fool? I don’t think so.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)
We are to give what they ask for and even more. And there are, of course, the warnings that we may be “entertaining angels unawares” and Jesus’ story of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:41-46). We never know whose needs we are meeting and the life effects that our kindness will have not only on others, but on ourselves as well.
Speaking of Compassion—here’s a place to get involved if you’re looking. You can sponsor a child, paying for their needs (such as educational costs, medical care, and the opportunity to learn about Jesus), writing to the child, and praying for him or her. It’s a great program.
