Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Fine Line

At any given moment, we're walking a fine line.  It doesn't take much variation in our perceptions, actions, reactions, etc., until our line looks like a 3 year old drew all over our paper.   

I find this concept is lingering even in the simplest of things.  

California: I can very easily flip flop between loving and hating this place.
I love that 75% of the time we live in a beautiful, Mediterranean climate and don't have weather extremes most days. Yet, I hate that we pay so much to live in this area and we don't even have air conditioning on the days we do need it! 

I love that I can sit here and watch the fog roll in off the Pacific Ocean.  Yet, if I think about it too much, I get sad about the fact that I rarely hear the roll of thunder.   

I'm so thankful for and adore the group of families that have become like family to us here in California. Yet, I hate that the kids and I can't just run see our actual family in Tennessee anytime we get the urge....which.... is quite often.   


Children: Talk about a tight rope! 
Tending to a new baby is so exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time, especially for new moms.  Those little love muffins fill you with such joy and laughter each day and can drain you of energy and tears... later that day.    

It's like pulling teeth to get information out of our 15 year old twins and the 6 year old has no filter at all....rarely stops talking.   

One twin has a tendency to take things a bit too seriously.  The other twin probably can't spell or give you the definition of serious....at least not with a straight face.   

It's great when the kids are big enough to fix their own snacks.  Then, they eat everything in the house.  

It's so refreshing when I'm able to laugh and discuss life with my teenagers like I would a friend, but my primary role is always to be a parent.  (Let me just tell you, that's a hard row to hoe sometimes.) 

Caring for ourselves and others:  Word to the wise...we can really shank it and get way off course!

Where does being mindful of our own health, exercise, and eating habits cross over into a dark place of obsession, depression, or shaming ourselves and others?  

When does the God given drive to care for our families cross over into keeping up with the Jones's at all costs? 

Deciding between what's good and what's best.

90 mph in the fast lane, but spinning our wheels.   

Christian walk:  
Jesus said it Himself,  "Narrow is the way that leads to life". 
All of our fine line/tight rope situations in life can be worked out in this arena right here.  

James 1:5-8 
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double- minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

James must have been thinking about me with that one...unstable, double minded, wavering, tossed back and forth....not knowing what the right thing is to do.  I am learning to ask for wisdom, though. I may wait too late at times, but I'm asking more and more.  

Lots of fine lines to navigate in our walk of faith.... 

Love the sinner, hate the sin.....Love the things God loves, hate the things He hates.

Count trials as joy.  

Pray for those who persecute you.

  
We are in the world, but not of the world. 

We are to be salt & light to a dark and hurting world, but operate aware that bad company corrupts good morals.   

I could go on and on and I'm sure you could add quite a list yourself.  So, we’re all aware of the reality that there is so much that can go horribly wrong....and so much that can go beautifully right.  How do we find the balance to err on the side of that beautiful fine line   

Proverbs 3:6  
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.   

It has occurred to me that some of us may be so use to swerving in and out of the fast lanes and around twists and turns that we can't comprehend and accept the simplicity of a straight path.  If so, ponder on that later for sure, but for now...think of it this way..... 

Colossians 1:17 
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

In Him, ALL things hold together.  My crazy, disarray of thoughts...my family...our future... ALL things. Our families, our minds, our relationships....in Him...ALL things hold together.   ME.  He can hold ME together, regardless of whether I'm trying to find the balance of friend/parent, or whether I'm loving or hating a particular situation.  That is so reassuring.  Now, if I can just keep remembering to ask for wisdom, maybe my lines will take shape and start looking more like Bob Ross's "happy little trees" instead of a toddler's finger paint project. 

Now....in helping us walk the fine line of faith day in and day out...Jesus may actually have us color outside the lines a little, but that's another blog for another day.  :D