the greater good... and a greater God

Guess what?  It's not all about me.  I have known this for years (in theory) but my attitude hasn't always been on board.  However, I have the found the cure to my selfish ways.  It's called parenting and it is the fastest and least painful way to get over yourself.  The reason is simple.  You love your child more than yourself.  You want the best for them more than for yourself.  You care more about their needs, than your own.  Hah!  I'm cured!!  Now don't let me fool you, it's not that I don't notice when I have to put my own needs aside.  No, I'm not that great.  I just notice and then move on to doing what's needed. 

Examples:

• Q: I'm not hungry, so why should I have to have dinner ready? A: Tricia is very hungry.
• Q: I hate swings, so why should I have to push Tricia on them everyday for hours? A: Tricia loves the swings.
• Q: I don't love routine, I get bored too easy, so why should I have to have one? A: Tricia is her healthiest and happiest when we stick to a routine.
• Q: If I don't feel like it, want it, like it or care about it, then why should I have to do it?  A: For Tricia.

Obviously my examples are small scale, but there is an underlying message that pervades.  It is the exact same principle that governs most of the lives of the people I admire the most and it is called healthy discipline.

Healthy discipline is the kind of discipline that seeps from the lives of those folks who put others first and look at the greater good when making decisions.  OK, now for a new name:  Living by grace, let's call it graceful living.  That is, my heavenly Father's grace.  Graceful living means living with a heart full of thankfulness, joy, happiness and patience.  When Jesus died for me, it was so that I could live by His grace, completely reliant on Him for my needs.  Well, when my daughter came into my life I noticed right away that my job was to give her grace.  Grace for everything, everyday.  She is two after all.  My Father in heaven, and by His example my earthly father too, have extended me so much grace in order to provide me with healthy guidelines (discpline remember) all so that I might grow into a woman who can in turn extend that grace to others.  I honestly thought I was pretty 'graceful' most of the time, but that was in my job and relationships with other adults who could take a little slip up from time to time.  The truth is I didn't know the half of it.

With Tricia in my life I can now see so clearly that I am just starting to find my feet in this graceful living.  She doesn't know about any of this though.  She honestly doesn't care.  She just knows that mommy and daddy are in charge and it's her job to live.  What an amazing thing.  She doesn't care that I have a migraine, I'm tired, my arms hurt from holding her, I don't like cleaning soggy cereal off carpets or catching her food in my hand as she spits it back out.  She only cares that I am there and she trusts that I have her best, her good in mind.  She trusts that I will provide, protect and love her unconditionally.  That I will do everything in my power to help her grow into a graceful woman someday.

 

How remarkable to look back and see the hands that have shaped me.  Then to look forward to the work my hands have to do.  On that note, I have breakfast to make.  A meal I prefer not to eat but have been preparing everyday now.  I think I will be making breakfast everyday for some time....

The photos are from Franks North's first family getaway to the Gleeson's cottage.  So many firsts: including boating, fireworks on the water, swimming in the lake, s'mores and more.  THANK YOU BITTONS!!