Do ya’all ever feel like you’re spending your life learning the same lessons over and over and over again? Some days I get pretty frustrated with me. Some days I wonder how frustrated God is with me? Same lesson, different day.

What lesson? Using my time the way God would have me use it. Now, granted, each time I’m taught the lesson it has different nuances. For the first time in a very long time, I’m finding myself with some free time. We’re on a school break and I’m not running True Vine and so I’m finding myself with time. Time to research or to read or to um, Facebook. And so last week, very specifically Thursday and Friday, I didn’t accomplish much at all.

Wives, let me let you in on a little secret. If you’re married to a GOOD man, a man who has a strong set of ethics, then you’ll know that he likes to work FOR something. A GOOD man goes off to work hard because it’s the right thing to do. He does it because he wants to take care of his family, benefit his company, and take pride in what he does. It’s a strange thing, these things that men take pride in. They take pride in beautiful children, a sweet wife, a peaceful home. They take pride in knowing they are supporting the greater good. My husband leaves for work early in the AM wanting to believe he’s leaving behind his wife, who will educate his children, nurture his babies, run his household, and keep the peace. These are things he can work for… He can support. He feels good knowing these good things are why he goes to work in the morning and comes home in the evening. But, what would it feel like to not be working towards those things? A bit like a hamster on a wheel I suppose. Always working, but not for something he believes in wholeheartedly?

I’m a firm believer in the need for balance. A time for work, a time for play, a time for rest. But when you find “rest” taking more than its’ fair share of time, that’s laziness. And when you find “play” taking more than its’ fair share of time, that is also laziness. And I believe it can ALL be justified.

“The final step before sin is justification.” I wish I could find who penned this, I know it’s my Women’s Devotional NIV somewhere… But, Mamas, you know deep down, the conviction you’re resisting. If you’re reading this and you know, you just KNOW, that you’re guilty of wasting your time, I’d invite you to do what I had to do this weekend. Confess. Admit the wrong-doing. Ask forgiveness from those you’ve wronged. And then, and this is the hardest part, CHOOSE to sin no more.

I have always said I have no self control. I work very hard to set up boundaries for myself because I know I have a very hard time with temptation. If there is a candy bar in my house, I eat it. If there is a computer on, I check my email. If I check my email, I wander across the net… I find it very difficult to put boxes of time into my life and make my life conform to that.

I thought to myself this weekend that I will do this for my husband. He IS that good man. He deserves to work hard for SOMETHING. I should be pouring into his children, into his home, everything that I am able.

And then I realized it’s so much MORE than that. This is something I need to do for God. After all, these children are truly HIS children. I am raising them up for Him. This house? It is truly His house, I am but the steward. I imagine what self control it took for Christ to allow the cross. After all, He knew. He knew what was coming. He didn’t shirk from what God had laid out in His life, but embraced it with love and seeking His Father’s will. Would that we were all more Christ like and instead of seeking ways to avoid that which He has put into our lives, we instead would turn and embrace it with love and seeking our Father’s will.

I believe, with every ounce of my being, that mothers are truly called to a difficult and rewarding task. We nourish our children – their minds, their bodies, their souls. We feed them what they need to grow and be strong, and to not grow weary in doing right.

I have scripture saved in my computer. I’m unsure where it came from. Perhaps it was a blog, or an email from a friend, I don’t know. But I’d like to share it with you. And I’d like you to cling to it in these season when we’re called to serve. And remember that precious things come at a high cost. So don’t hold back. Pour every bit of yourself into everything. Pray blessings upon your household while you do that 101st dish today. Smile at your children and bless them as they spill orange juice on the rug… again. (And then, for goodness sakes, get a good sippy cup!) Sing to the baby when she’s sleepy. Kiss that husband when he comes home. Make his favorite meal tonight for no other reason than just because…… And, Mamas, take the time to read your Bible today. YOU, Mama, need that nourishment too. You, Mama, will grow weary too without Him.

Proverbs 31:27
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Ecclesiastes 11:6
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.

1 Thessalonians 5:14
And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

2 Thessalonians 3:6
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

2 Thessalonians 3:7
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,