Today, I give my wife the blog. She wrote a devotional recently for the MOPS Lakeview newsletter and I just had to share it with you. (BTW, this would be reason #749 that I am married to the greatest woman in the world.)
Tending the Garden of Your Soul
As the new year begins, many of us, probably all of us, find ourselves contemplating the previous year and how we could have done things better or differently. The start of a new calendar year offers us a
fresh start at doing life.
Though I resist making resolutions, knowing that resolutions eventually get broken, I do find myself secretly resolving to do things differently, take on new things, and in general, take better care of myself this year.
With all of the calories and fat grams adding up over the holidays, my first quasi-resolution is to eat more fresh vegetables.
I’ve also decided to take on that ministry I’ve put off starting up for the last four months.
My bulletin board that holds everything -- and I do mean everything -- from the kid’s hot-lunch menus to baseball and dance schedules, got a thorough cleaning.
I even started reading a novel this month. Something I haven’t done in YEARS!
But the one thing that I know will have the most lasting benefits, not only for me, but for everyone around me as well, is the resolution to be a better gardener of my soul this year. Why is it that we mothers continually neglect ourselves in the midst of mothering – the most important and draining season we will ever be in? Finding quiet moments to talk and listen to God and to read and reflect on His Word can seem so elusive.
I don’t have the latest and greatest “Read the Bible in a Year” plan to recommend to you. No, not even the newest Bible study on the market for women and mothers. I just know in my heart, that I NEED more of God this year. Without Him, my soul is dry. So far, I’ve been steeping in the book of Galatians. I’ve read through it – some passages more than once. I’ve prayed parts of it over my children. Today I even began memorizing it. As I steep in God’s Word and His presence, my soul is refreshed.
I’m thankful that God gives me opportunities over and over again to make things new. I fully expect that days will go by without my Bible opening. I may be a pastor’s wife – but I’m human too! And every prayer for my children may not come from scripture. And, I may go overboard with my requests and not stop to listen to God everyday. But I resolve this year to be a better gardener of my soul. To treat my soul with as much love and attention as I give to my children and my husband. This year, I want my soul to overflow with fruit that is worth picking.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22, 23 & 25
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