"If we'd just show up..."

We'd get the encouragemnet we have longed for all week!  We'd get the answers to things we have struggled with for long periods of time.  We'd be convicted of wrong thoughts and attitudes.  We'd get the fellowship time with other Christians.
If we'd just show up!
Yesterday was cold and rainy.  It affected the mood and movement in our house.  The coffee pot got an early start!  It was slow going, but since we get up early enough on Sunday mornings, we have plenty of time for "hiccups" in energy and obedience levels.  We, girls, fixed our hair knowing that all efforts would be in vain once we walked outside.  We walked circumspectly to the van through slushy puddles.  We yawned the whole way to church hoping the music that was playing would encourage the right spirit for worship. 
We made it without mishap.  And I am so thankful we did!
I needed to hear the lesson in Sunday school..."How to Bless your children". 
It was good!  It was convicting!  It was challenging!  It was salve for a wounded heart, as I thought of times of my failures. 
We struggle.  We make bad choices.  We make mistakes. 
But God loves us and forgives us!  We can be a blessing to our Lord...to our family...to others. 
And part of that blessing comes when we show up to learn about God's Word from God's men. 
We can't be a blessing to our children...or operate in the right spirit through the week...if we aren't filling ourselves with God's Word.  I realize it takes more work than just Sunday morning...it is daily studying and meditating (which was pastor's message last night). We will fail miserably without the Lord's help!  He has given us His Word...and He has given us pastors, teachers, and evangelists.  But so often...we do not use either...and we continue to struggle with the same things over and over...but never growing!  Struggle...then...what?  Change must occur for growth to occur!  
As different Scripture passages were read, I was struck by the fact that the opposite of being a blessing...is being a curse!  Matthew 5:44-48  We are to be maturing in godliness...it is a step by step process of obedience.  I had to shift my thinking back and pay attention...I took notes...I needed this!!!
The focus of the lesson was blessing...by speaking good words to someone in the name of the Lord.  The speaker explained that a blessing should be said out loud, with a touch if possible and appropriate, given unconditionally, and done publically at times. 
I admit...I struggle with that balance as a mother.  Always correcting and teaching...not always taking time for praising and blessing.
We know that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue:  and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Proverbs 18:21  So often I am "in the zone" of mothering so our children will "do right"...and it clouds the other aspects of parenting.  I need to ask for God's help to have balance...every day.
As I contemplate these thoughts this morning, I also realize the blessing we speak...must be held up by our actions!  We can say what we want...but we can un-do it all by our actions!  We hope that if we say something out loud it will happen...and all our children hear is "blah, blah, blah..."

Our parenting is a public testimony of what we believe...and it can be a blessing or a curse to others!  If you think I am off here...think back to the last time you were standing in line at Walmart or grocery store...you heard a mother and her children...or a father and his children.!  There is more credence given to what we do than to what we talk about what we do.  Our children are watching us.  Other believers who are struggling...possibly with the same issues...are watching us.  The world is watching us.
Have we ever considered that our actions of just showing up to church faithfully...would be a blessing to our children?  That our children would be blessed by what they are taught?  That what we would learn each week would help and encourage us through our struggles?  That God's Word has the answer...and sometimes...we need someone to speak clearly and directly to challenge our wrong thinking and way of living? 
As a mother, I struggle every day of every week to maintain my walk with the Lord.  I struggle to have the "law of kindness" flowing from my lips in every situation.  I struggle with the overwhelming task we have as parents.  I struggle in my heart submission to leadership.  Satan attacks our homes...and often...he starts with the mother!  He did it in the Garden and it worked...and it is still working today.
My mother once told me, "If you are not struggling...there is no growth."  I have never forgotten that statement.  So I am learning to be thankful for the struggles in life...and I see how important the choices I make are during those struggles! 
We just listened to a children's cd recently again that teaches character truth through song and story. They used the quote, "Just two choices on the shelf:  pleasing God or pleasing self."  In every struggle I face this week, I have a choice!  Even though we struggled through our Sunday morning...I am thankful that we just showed up!  My heart was challenged.  I am able to start out this new week in the right frame of mind.  And if I had to go to the store with our children...and stand in line...we could be a blessing to others instead of a curse.