Holy Spirit Livin'

After a call from a dear friend the other day, I got to thinking.

Do I have any business telling other mommies how I get it done? Why would anyone want to know what I've done to produce such fabulous kids? (Stick with me here... this is not a self-promotion post.) I could get all prideful, claiming incredible parenting wisdom, but that's not the case.

I'm a complete mommy moron! I mess up all the time. And I repeat my mistakes. That's fine when washing hair: lather, rinse, repeat. It's not so good with meatloaf or mommy mistakes.

On my own, I am a selfish, prideful, demanding mess. Depending on myself to mother my kids, I'd be so stressed out a chiropractor would file my chart under "Pretzel." The energy required to balance my selfishness against the desire to do it right, unfathomable.

I'm Holy Spirit livin' instead. I listen to God's nudging through the Holy Spirit (or at least I try to). I parent not in my own strength, but in God's strength. We talk all the time, about everything.

Screaming and thumps come from upstairs. My first reaction is, "Oh God, what are they doing?" I actually mean "God, give me strength and wisdom as I climb these stairs cuz I know I wanna bite someone's head off." He gets there a step ahead of me. Usually, I listen, reacting calmly in the chaos, redirecting energy to more appropriate pursuits. Usually.

Sometimes, the Holy Spirit reminds me that kids are kids and this is no big deal but I completely ignore him. I yell, scream, rant, stamp my feet, point fingers...

A long, "Oooooooh" escapes the reader's lips at my admission of complete mommy meltdown (at least that's how I picture you reading this).

Disaster. Hurt feelings. Yucky day.

I realize that Holy Spirit livin' is a lot like reading a blog (second disclaimer... this is not self-promotion). You can read a blog - any blog - and have nothing sink in. "Ahhh, that's nice," you think. And off you go, completely unaffected by the words you just read. Same thing with reading scripture. Or listening to a sermon.

Or, you can read a blog or passage of scripture, relate to it, digest it, and apply those lessons to your own life. Your life is transformed as you relate to the successes and failures of other imperfect mommies.

Holy Spirit livin' takes it to a whole new level. Listen to the Holy Spirit's nudge to parent God's way and follow it. Of course, you can sense the nudge, ignore it, and fail miserably (like me).

It's my hope - and my blogging prayer - that as I share, you won't be unaffected. I hope God takes what I write and speaks to you through it. More than anything, I hope these words inspire you to take a step closer to Him. There is absolutely nothing better than your own Holy Spirit livin'!

God bless!