My Heart... His Words

Does anyone else ever feel like you slip back into old ways???? I'm sure glad Paul wrote these words in Romans 7:

We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not spiritual since sin rules me as if I were its slave. I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate. And if I do not want to do the hated things I do, that means I agree that the law is good. But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do. So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.

So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. In my mind, I am happy with God's law. But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner. What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So in my mind I am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful self I am a slave to the law of sin.

I decided to drive home last night from Frankfort so I could see the kids and Tim and do some last-minute packing changes before heading to Charlotte today. I didn't think driving early this morning straight into the bright sunrise sounded too safe either because I would have had to leave Frankfort at 6:00 a.m.

As I drove home, I made some phone calls to the house and found myself getting all worked up.

Olivia had injured her foot at basketball practice the night before and Tim had chosen to spare me the worry by not telling me...............................not realizing that I would hear the news from a 13-year old friend of Olivia's.

Tim did take her to a friend of ours who is a physical therapist and have it looked at before I got home, and it looks like she has pulled something in the base of her foot which makes it painful to put any weight on it at all. I know in the scheme of everything this is no big deal, but I think that having seen Olivia have such a weak and rough spring, it just hit my heart in a painful way thinking that she is going to reenter her new season injured.

Then, I arrived at the house to discover a mound of dirty laundry that didn't look quite as tall as Mt. Everest, but honestly, I was only gone 48 hours.............WHAT IN THE WORLD DID I MISS HERE.............A FASHION SHOW THAT INVOLVED SEVERAL OUTFITS PER PERSON EACH DAY?

As I moved through the house, I was greeted by counter tops covered with crumbs and on and on.

I knew deep in my heart that Tim had been busy with several church situations.............a death of someone's grandma and an emergency room visit by another church member.

I knew deep in my heart that Tim had taken Olivia and a friend to a movie.

I knew deep in my heart that Tim had been busy helping with a few of my last-minute things for the conference I'm flying to in a few hours...................

BUT.....................

The devil knew I was weak, and oh, did he have a victory last night.

I had listened to Joyce Meyer all the way home (in between phone calls trying to check on things at home.) I heard about the abundant life we can claim in Jesus' name. I had been reminded that the devil wants to steal this from us.

BUT......................

Everything I heard somehow managed to stay in the car.

I entered our house tired and OVERWHEMED.....................

Few words were spoken as I moved from room to room picking things up and choosing to feel like a maid who had been off duty long enough to see a house fall apart............................

I'm pretty sure everyone here wishes I would have stayed in Frankfort one more night. I did rub Olivia's foot for awhile before she fell to sleep.....................for that reason alone, I'm thankful I came home. :)

Well, it's morning and I am leaving again.

Please say a prayer for my family while I'm gone. Please pray that Olivia does okay on her youth group trip and that her foot heals quickly. She'll be doing a lot of walking next week.

Please say a prayer that I can return on Monday evening and enter my house without slipping into an ugly mood.

Please pray I can remember these words,

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came
that they may have life and have it abundantly."
John 10:10

Praying you have an abundant and slip-free day,

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