Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope
Do you ever have one of those weeks where you just need to get out of the house and have some alone time? I had a week where the kids were fighting non-stop, my husband and I weren't getting along, and I felt like my already short fuse what getting shorter. I just wanted time to not think about the dishes, the laundry, or disciplining. So I took a ladies night out and went shopping on my own for a few hours.
Here's the bugger. I had just got a new Herberger's credit card in the mail. You know the one they talk you into because you get an extra 20% off. You pay it off at the register and then they send you the card and they tell you that you can cancel it right away if you don't want it. Well, I was at a weak state and wanted something to cheer myself up. So on my night out on the town, I ran to Alex and spent way to much money on the card to try to make myself feel better, and I did....For about a day.
What was I thinking? I was trying to make myself happy with the wrong thing. I felt that something new would fill a void that I was missing. I think we all have felt that from time to time. An emptiness, a missing link that no matter how hard we try to fill with things from this earth, it won't be filled. There is good news though. That feeling is completely normal and was put there for a reason. It is a longing for our Creator and His love. Unless we have a relationship with Him, we will continue to have that feeling. I especially feel that longing when my "love tank" is low. When things get tough at home, attitudes and negativity run high, it's hard to keep on the positive track. I begin to lose hope, get crabby, and the negativity can be consuming. Here are some ideas for you and your families to try to keep those love tanks overflowing.
1. Spend time in prayer-Keeping an intimate relationship with Jesus will provide you with fruit! Not the kind that you eat, but fruit of the Holy Spirit. He can fill you with the kind of joy and peace that you have been longing for. The more time you spend with Him in prayer, the more your cup will overflow.
2. Date Night-Take time out with your spouse or significant other to just focus your relationship with each other. This does not need to be extravagant. Just take time out together, shut your phones off if you need to. Talk, play a game, spend time getting to know each other. A bible study can be fun to do together and can start an awesome topic of conversation. It is so important to take care of our relationships. When tension grows between the adults in the household, our children can feel that and it can wear on them. Think of marriage or any relationship as a plant. If we keep watering it and take care of it, it will continue to grow and maybe even grow flowers. On the flip side, if we forget to water it, it will become weak. The leaves will turn yellow, fall off and eventually will die. Any relationship needs time and effort to keep growing. Remember when you first met your spouse? Do you remember how easy it was to get along, and how strong those feelings were? Butterflies, the look in his eyes, the way you felt when he held your hand for the first time. Those feelings aren't far away. They were stronger when you first met because you took time and effort to get to know each other, and to grow that relationship. When we have children, our time is shared, our lives are shared, and the focus is no longer on each other. I encourage you to continue to "date" and spend time together.
3. Date your children-Speaking of love tanks, our children have them too. My middle child is one that needs more one on one time. He's been my tough cookie, but I've noticed if we spend more one on one time with him, his behaviors tend to be less. So when his behaviors are lessened when his love tank is full. This can be tough when you have more than one child, but try to read a book, play a game, do something that he/she enjoys doing at least once a week or more. You will amazed at the difference it can make for you and them.
4. Family time-We recently got a membership to our local gym and cancelled our cable. When we have cable, especially in the winter, we tend to be glued in couch potatoes, which means we're not spending good quality time together. It's amazing how much time can be soaked up by watching a movie or tv shows. By eliminating it, for us, we are more social with each other, and have less distracted one on one time. I'm not saying that everyone should cut the cable, but it has made a HUGE difference for us.
5. "Me" Time-We all can use time to ourselves. This can be used in a million different ways. Prayer time, walk, bike ride, exercise program, coffee with your friends, hobbies, you name it, just do it! As mothers we spend uber time taking care of our children, household duties, hubbies, etc. We need to make sure to take time to smell the roses and enjoy life :)
Prayer Time:
Thank you Father for this beautiful day. I thank you for the wonderful season we are in and for the awesome things coming our way in the new year. Help us to spend time with our families and spouses without the distractions of this world and keep you at the center of all of our relationships and spend time in your presence. Help us to run to you when we are feeling down. Thank you for the longing you have placed on our hearts for you. We love you so much and thank you for your wonderful provision for us. AMEN
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