Not that, but how

I had another moment of clarity while running this evening. (Thank you again, Jim, for giving me that time to myself!)

I have to admit that this wasn't a thought that came to me on it's own, but one that must have stemmed at least from my discovery of one of my new favorite websites - Kitchen Stewardship. I highly recommend it to all women! It has way more than just cooking stuff.

It dawned on me that it matters not that I do certain things for my family or others, but how I do them.  I don't think it matters to God that I feed my family or clean up after them, but how I do it. If I do it with love, joy, gratitude for the gift of family and with an earnest servant's heart, that is pleasing to the Lord. But if I do it grumbling and moaning, seeking recognition or without patience, then I'm not truly living out my vocation as wife and mother in the way in which I am called. May seem rather simple, but I think I have been in desperate need of this enlightenment lately. Today, in my moment of clarity, I realized that it's so important for me to ask for the grace to do these things with the fruits of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)

I realize I can do a better job of this in every day life, too. If I open the door for a stranger, and expect a thank you and grumble under my breath when I don't get one, did I really do it how I should have? It matters not that I opened the door, but rather how I opened it. I want to strive to do it with kindness and generosity! I want to be an example for my son in all things. I want him to learn not from my words alone, but from my actions. I want him to be proud of his mother and when he is all grown up to remember that she did her best to teach him well and raise him up as a child of God. I know I'll have moments of weakness over the years, moments of less than sub-par examples, but if I let God bring be back to this place, back to this reality, I know He'll recharge my batteries, refocus my mind and get me pointed back in the right direction. He's already done it so many times.