Soul Care

“We must care for our bodies as though we were going to live forever, but we must care for our souls as if we were to die tomorrow.”
~ Augustine

“The responsibilities and pressures of this world clamor for our attention and tend to squeeze our inner lives and starve our souls.”
~ Kenneth Boa in Conformed to His Image

The summer began two weeks ago but I feel like I’ve lived a month of events. The responsibilities and possible activities that surround my children during this time can easily squeeze my soul dry.

If I neglect the challenge to teach and train my children to transition from a busy school year to a relaxed summer schedule I will resent them.

The un-interrupted quiet time I have when the kids are at school give me mornings at the throne of grace. Those peaceful hours help me focus on the things that matter.

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things,” Psalm 107:8-9.

Looking at the summer looming ahead I knew I needed a renewed vision for motherhood. Holly Elliff’s session from the True Woman Conference 2010 provided me with a big picture perspective, convicted my heart attitude, and challenged me to see every summer day as a precious, diamond day with my kids.

The book of 1 Peter holds a special place in my heart and Holly walked through the entire book to show us the distinctive life we are called to live. These distinctive characteristics must be understood and lived out before we can pass them on to our kids.

When preparing to take off in an airplane, the flight attendants point out the safety features. If the oxygen masks drop, what are you supposed to do? Place it on yourself before helping your child. Holly says, “As we respond to God’s promptings in our own life, then we have a platform in which to launch instruction for our children.”

1 Peter touches on areas that God has been bringing up in my life:
* Focus on the living hope that you have in Christ in the midst of various trials (1 Pet. 1:3-8)
* Remember that you are a living stone, growing up to be a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5). This is a long process.

She illustrated the living stone analogy by describing a family outing to a cave. Parts of the cave were living where there were stalagmites and stalactites growing because of the steady, but slow drips of water which pick up mineral deposits. The long and timely process for me to be built up into a spiritual house must be patiently endured.

My parallel application in engaging in a process is learning to watercolor paint. At present I’m stuck and frustrated. This painting is my finished tutorial of St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, England. It has a two-stage sky that I could not get quite right. I feel like that boat stuck in the mud because the tide has gone out. However, I know that with more practice, I will get better at controlling the amount of water with paint, just as the tide will come back for the boat to set sail again. I need to remain willing to engage with the process.

Holly explains what is needed, “Humility is the key that opens the door of grace in my life, so that God’s Spirit can do his job within me. That job is to enable me to desire God’s will and then do it.” God’s will in my life for this summer is to embrace the process of learning to enjoy the moments I have to teach and to train my children.

Holly defines training as: “ingrained teaching that has been absorbed but still requires help to stay on the path so that it works its way in to become almost automatic.” Training is also a slow and steady process.

I’ve held unrealistic expectations of teaching and training. If I don’t know something, I must be taught. It may take several lessons or sessions to learn something before I understand it. However, if a new idea is caught, I expected myself or my children to apply it without wavering. Life is messy and complicated. Parenting has illustrated this for me, if nothing else. My frustration in the slow drip of water and little progress made with that mineral deposit on the stalagmite reveals my impatient nature and faulty assumptions.

Apart from the Holy Spirit, I do not have the character traits to teach and train well, or enjoy the moments of pouring into their lives. Fortunately, I do not have to be perfect. Mistakes are made, sins are committed, and confessions are given. Holly said, “When we live transparent lives it is like we are giving our kids GPS systems to navigate the path to life.”

The Shepherdess by Johann Baptist Hofner @ allposters.com

“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you…not domineering over those in you charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory…Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” (1 Pet. 5:2-4, 5b).

I have a little flock to lead and I’m called to be an example to these two. Since the summer began I’ve managed to walk in the Spirit some days while others have been clouded by the pressures of life. I’ve stumbled in front of them and confessed where needed.

Every so often I’m reminded at how quickly time is flying and my children are growing up. The moments I have with them are as precious as diamonds. Frustrating circumstances and endless needs often make me careless. I drop the diamond opportunities and in anger I don’t care. If I continue in this way, my soul will be empty and I will regret my temporary perspective once they are grown and gone.

Augustine’s wisdom reminds me, “We must care for our bodies as though we were going to live forever, but we must care for our souls as if we were to die tomorrow.” This day may include grocery shopping or a gym workout that cares for my body but I must be on the lookout for the diamond moment to care for my soul.