Food for thought

"If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one an other's feet." John 13:14

Are we a living example of a servant to those closest to us? The mission field starts at home. My husband has a saying he tells parents and friends . " the face your children show to other people is the face they will grow to become." As Christian parents we often become discouraged; It appears our children are going the exact opposite way we tried so hard to guide them. When we are so focused on the outcome we lose focus on the income. The outcome is God's tapestry and remember we can only see the underside. The income is our own personal relationship and we must remain focused there in order to become salt and light. When for example we are so focused on riding our child , out of our own fear for their future we may just have messed up what God had intended to teach them. The story of the prodigal son was not one of a helicopter parent. Yet this father grieved as much as any parent, the difference is ... he kept his focus where it belonged. Better yet his son was free to learn from God, remember " Gods ways are not our ways." God was there for the father and the son, the question is do we really believe He is there for us, for our children? Are we so focused on our child's faults we don't see where we ourselves are falling short? What kind of example are we showing them and others? One of devotion and reverence to God our Father? We reap what we sow! (not something we want to scrutinize). How we handle stress, our need for control, our social habits. Well I'm older and wiser so its OK for me I can handle it ... Maybe our child's behavior is an indication of just how well we are handling life. We are often about removing the speck from someone else's eye than the log from our own. Most people listen a lot more with their eyes than their ears... hey dad. YOU did it. Do as I say not as I do never works!!! Do others see our focus remaining where it belongs? Do they see the washing of feet or just hear about it? " It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty as it ought to be done." Oswald Chambers. Jesus said "I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you." If that statement doesn't humble us I don't know what will. Our focus so easily slides to knowing the outcome for our children and others we fail to see what they are really seeing in us by our lack of faith and fear. Is it a spirit of fear we wish to instill in others by the way we handle life? And yet we all have been there. It is indeed one of the toughest trials we face , keeping our focus on the income and yet it is the very point of where God teaches us so much if we will seek Him.

Lord I pray that you will open our spiritual eyes to see where we fall short, give us a humble and repentive heart, so we may strive to keep our focus on You alone. In Jesus name amen.

" Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey"

Love to all in Christ Jesus C:)