Put Down the Legos

Hey Girlies!!

GOOOOOOD MORNING, MONDAY! Good morning, week...good morning, schedule...good morning, routine...good morning, faith, hope, and love...good morning, peace that passes all understanding...and good morning, wisdom.

Ohhhh, good morning WISDOM!

After a weekend of family craziness, do you ever crave wisdom for the week? For a steady and rational view of life and all it entails, so you can live as drama free as possible? Me too!

Let me tell you, it's totally that time of month. I know that may be too much information, but we've all been there...you know, when wisdom definitely ISN'T there! Normally, my emotions race through my mind at a gazillion miles a minute like the Polar Express racing down the mountain into the gulch. I'm the conductor who's lost the pin that is necessary to make the train stop. Instead I become victim to all the wild "truths" that race through my mind, and lack the brakes of wisdom to filter them out. "He didn't help me with the kids, I'm outta here," "My son told me to leave his room, I'm going to take every toy out of it," "I hate laundry...for that matter, I hate my thighs, the zits on my face, and the fact that every 4 hours I have to think about what to cook." And on and on it goes. It's almost as if I'm possessed. Seriously!

As a result, picture my poor hubby and 2 kids hanging on the front grill of the train, praying they make it out alive, uninjured, and emotionally unscathed, as I inadvertently drive this train to a destination not originally on the iterinary. (And it's NOT going to the North Pole!!)

Most of the time I do find the brake pin to stop the train just before we reach emotional destruction; but there have been those months that I actually rehearse those "truths" in my head so much that when I'm done riding the hormonal Polar Express I ACTUALLY still harbor those emotions and refuse to get off the train. That makes sense, right? HAA! Wrong!

Last week, I warned Cliff that I might be emotionally unstable in the upcoming week. He looked at me like I was crazy, but nodded his head. I think I was hoping that WHEN crazy hit my brain, my warning would almost give me a free pass for acting out my craziness.

But this month it didn't happen. I didn't need to use my "free" (not really "free", huh?) pass because my brain was so focused on controlling the thoughts going through my head in the first place, that the words just didn't happen. I know! Shut UP! One small victory in the journey of life!

Now, I was not perfect...but I made sure that if I felt the craziness surface, I went in another room, talked under my breath, rolled my eyes at the wall, and then got over it! Shocking, huh??

Sometimes we become victims to our own emotions...and even our own hormones, don't we? We forget to filter them through the reality in front of us. What we feel is, most of the time, NOT reality. I think, as women, we've given too much credence to our emotions and treated them as if they were the truth...and facts, perception, perspective don't matter. As long as we FEEL it, then it MUST be true.

So, let's tackle Wisdom in Proverbs 8:1-4:

1 Listen as Wisdom calls out!
Hear as understanding raises her voice!
2 On the hilltop along the road,
she takes her stand at the crossroads.
3 By the gates at the entrance to the town,
on the road leading in, she cries aloud,
4 "I call to you, to all of you!
I raise my voice to all people.

I couldn't whittle this down to one verse, because collectively it is beautiful. A beautiful calling to our minds and our lives to discover Wisdom and all she has to offer.

I love that I see Wisdom at the beginning as a mom standing in the kitchen yelling down the hall, "Are you listening? I have good things to tell you! If you don't listen, then you are going to suffer the consequences." How many times do we ask, preach, yell this to our kids as moms?

My favorite question to ask Keegan (which I know I will never get an answer to) is, "What did I just say?" Because his blank look says it all: "I have no idea what you said because I was so concerned with my legos that I didn't EVEN know you were talking, let along talking to me." Then as his gentle mother, I grunt my frustration, launch into a mini-lecture on how a 6-year-old boy must have focus and attention, walk away shaking my head in total dismay knowing full well that this conversation will happen over and over again as if I'm beating my head against a wall.

But when we use that example on our own hearts, how many of us actually hear Wisdom talking, let alone actually talking to US? How many of us are so consumed with our emotions, our circumstances, difficult people, or life's drama to actually pause, hear Wisdom, redirect our course of action, and discover the Lord's path for our hour, day, year, life?

Or are you too busying playing with your "legos"?

Proverbs 8:5-9

5 How naive you are! Let me give you common sense.
O foolish ones, let me give you understanding.
6 Listen to me! For I have excellent things to tell you.
Everything I say is right,
7 for I speak the truth
and hate every kind of deception.
8 My advice is wholesome and good.
There is nothing crooked or twisted in it.
9 My words are plain to anyone with understanding,
clear to those who want to learn.

These verses hit my heart with the "duh" thud.

Wisdom is excellent. Wisdom is good. Wisdom is understanding (not just of myself, but of everything around me). Wisdom is right. Wisdom is truth. Wisdom is wholesome. Wisdom is common sense. Wisdom is plain (how's that for revolutionary??). Wisdom is available to ALL who want to learn. Wisdom is God.

If this is His truth, then why is it so difficult for my mind to let go of MY wisdom, and embrace His wisdom? Do I really see myself as an equal with God? Do I really see myself as capable enough to figure it all out on my own? Do I really see myself infallible and right in all circumstances, conversations, complications?

Oh, mamas...do we have a reality check coming!! Maybe the answers to those questions are the root of why we are so unwise!

For here is the result when we actually do heed to Wisdom:

James 3:13-18

13 If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.


Today, my friends, just today...let's put down our legos, get off the hormonal Polar Express, find the brake pin for our mouths, hear Wisdom and, further, heed Wisdom, and love peace, be gentle, practice mercy, and good deeds.

What would the world look like if we actually did this? Pretty beautiful, I would imagine!

Lots of love! Praying for you!!

Rebecca