In Pursuit

**Prologue: Pretend this is Thursday. Do it just for me…because you love me and know that if everything went according to plan that it would have been sent on Thursday! J



Hey Mamas!



Happy Thursday! We're almost there...almost to the weekend. And what a lovely thought that is!



I always feel some sort of relief when we pass Wednesday...like "it's all downhill from here." Just coast to the finish line. It's not true, 48 hours requires a lot more than coasting, but maybe it's just the mental reprieve that the end is near that sends joyous shivers down my spine! Let's just say I'd be a HORRIBLE marathon runner, for endurance is not my thing!



I figured out the other day why I feel so scattered throughout the day: we, moms, work split shifts.



Back in my lifeguarding days pre-Cliff, I used to hate getting split shifts...come in the morning, go home for a little while, come back in the afternoon, then finally go home. It was mentally exhausting for me because I love to get everything done in ONE FELL SWOOP. I'm the girl talking on the phone, folding laundry, silently scolding a child, running to grab the coffee from the beeping microwave (because I didn't have time to drink it hot from the coffee maker), and taking food out of the freezer for dinner all in a 5 minute period.



But as moms, our time is split, isn't it? Here's my schedule:



7-8:30am kids up, fed, out the door (if school aged),

8:30-11:15 FREE ("Ahhhh," sing the angels)...or if your kiddos take a morning nap (or have room time...and if you don't know what that is, well, let me introduce you to a concept that will save your sanity!! Email me and I'll be specific.)

11:15-4:00 Lunch, chores, playdates, play, pick-up again, homework, snacks, discipline, etc.

4-5:30 FREE Kids in rooms for naps/book time

5:30-8:15 Dinner, clean up, baths, books, bed

8:15 FREE! Kids in bed!



See? A split shift! On, then off, on, then off again, on, then die. And in those time constraints it's hard to keep your endurance going! Your routine (and even if you think you don't have a routine, you do. We humans are creatures of habit!) may vary. Your free time maybe less...or more depending on the ages of your children, but the concept is the same. It takes more energy to start after you've stopped (the law of inertia for those 8th grade science students!!). And it is exhausting, admittedly!



But it's much like the spiritual journey that we're on as women. Close to God, pull away, draw near to Him, stumble and sin, humbly present self before Him, forget He's there, and on and on it goes. I think at certain points, if we're really dialed into our hearts and souls, it becomes exhausting...to work so hard to be grounded in Him, and then to lose it...get back on your feet and cling to the cross, and then fall away again. The more we know of Him and what He requires, the more sensitive our hearts become to the failure of our behavior and thoughts.



I would challenge you, however, to not see split shifts in our walk as a bad thing whatsoever, just as I've switched my thinking about split shifts in my daily routine. For spiritual sanity is gained in the moments spent alone. Our saving grace, our point of balance comes in those moments when we are relieved from our earthly duties and can dive into Him and His word. Those "free" shifts, when we can stop doing and start hearing Him, is worth the extra effort is takes to begin again. For it is in those free moments that He refreshes, restores, rejuvenates, and re-centers us in His will. And the more we check in with Him throughout our day, the less damage we do in the time that we're "on." (Ex: after 5 days, I'd have a lot of repenting to do...after 3 hours not so much...and I can probably right some relationships that were wronged without letting it go on and on.)



Proverbs 4


7 Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do!
And whatever else you do, get good judgment.


There’s a part of me that laughs as I’ve gone to the grocery store for the third time this week that wisdom was definitely on my list to buy. My infamous weekly to-do list I email myself every Sunday night does not include “get wisdom.” Sure it has “daily devotions, be kind, go to Bible study” on it, but how many times do I purposefully seek out wisdom and then actually apply it? Not enough.



Let’s get real just for a minute.



Thanks to Chris Allen (and I suppose I should thank American Idol), who sings the song “Live Like You’re Dying,” we are reminded that there are 86,400 seconds in a day. In that massive amount of time, we can choose to fill our mind with our own understanding, our own emotions, our own motives…or we can turn our back on what has always been, and turn our face, our mind, heart, and soul towards the One who calls us to be so much more than we are.



For, ladies, we are dying. We are in the process of dying from the moment we’re birthed. The time on this earth is finite. It is fleeting. It is but a speck of dust flying through the winds of eternal time. When you embrace your mortality, that race for wisdom becomes more and more desperate and driving. For we are called to live for Him.



Ladies…we have a family to change, a marriage to change, children to change, a home to change, and a world to change…for Him. He will enable you to do things on His account that you would never imagine possible. You will achieve things, impact people, and endure circumstances unimaginable because you posses a peace you’ve never experienced before. For the wisdom that comes from Him is truth. It’s not the wisdom for the time, or the culture. It just is.



And that wisdom is readily available in His Word. Everything in life becomes clearer, your perspective of yourself changes, and He will open your eyes to things He wants you to change. View everything, through the Word of God. Use it as your measuring stick for your behavior, your words, and your thoughts. Use it as the filter for what is truth in this world.



As I write this at Panera Bread, I am watching a women read The Secret, that infamous book toted by Oprah as her epiphany to the “unleashing” the power of the universe. The bottom line of the book is this: if you think something, the universe will bring it back to you tenfold. If you think negative, then you will receive negative. If you think great, positive things, then the universe will bring those back to you. All about the “energy” you put out, being echoed back on you and your circumstances. This lady, was reading, and then writing frantically in her little notebook, I can only assume about the energy she’s putting out there in the universe. For she’s seeking a wisdom that will explain her existence, her purpose, and her future.



Across the way, I am sitting with my Bible in my lap and find it so completely ironic that here we are both seeking for wisdom, but hers will be fleeting, just as her life is. It will come and go as her thoughts do, and will not explain why bad things will happen to her despite her positive energy. I serve a God that loves me despite myself and what kind of energy I have (listen, in my world it’s not even positive or negative…it’s exhaustive or coffee-driven!! Haa!). I serve a God who is seeking after me, even when I may turn my back on Him. I serve a God not because I’m going to get something in return, but because my soul is filled by His glory. It’s not about me and my life here on earth, what I’m going to get, what I’m going to be spared from, what I’m going to be blessed by. It’s about Him and the eternal life that He so freely gives.



And I prayed for her because the secret is that God loves her…and is waiting for her to turn to Him.



And so, in the split shifts of our day, our lives, our emotions, pause to fill up with wisdom. Drink in that wisdom straight from His Word…straight from the source. Seek after it as you would if your child was suddenly lost. For wisdom is faith in internal application and then demonstrated in our active thoughts, words, and actions which shows the fruit of His transforming power over our hearts.



Here’s to our pursuit of Him and His wisdom!!



Lots of love, ladies!



Rebecca