To Make or Not To Make?
This morning as I was making my bed (this is something I do first thing upon waking at 5:00am), I couldn't help but think of my mother and grandmother. Why would I be thinking about my family whilst making a bed? Well for one, I often think upon my loved ones and two, I was thinking about the wonderful examples my grandmother left to my mother. Many examples would fill page after page so I will share just this one: my grandmother ALWAYS made the bed first thing. It was never messy or unkempt. It was always made and clean.
My mother learned to do just this in her childhood and her early years of marriage. This has not only carried throughout her life but has now been taught to her daughters. And I know that I don't just speak for myself when I say that I am beyond grateful for my mother's teachings and in turn, my grandmother's teachings. But what's so special about making a bed? For one it sets the tone for the day and two it teaches discipline. I am of the mind that if you start your day off with an unkept bed or a messy kitchen from the night before, you will have that lingering until it is done and you won't be at rest. That's no way to start your day off.
"A messy life speaks of a messy - an incoherent faith."
If you know me at all, you know that I like order and discipline; routine and structure are my friends. I thrive in them. Letting my bed fall by the wayside and become a heap of a mess is too much for me and so I keep it clean and made at all times. Ya'll even if I'm sick my bed isn't a mess (and please don't take this to be me bragging, for that isn't my intent nor my purpose).
So what is the purpose of this post? To say this: order and discipline are good. How can we, as Christians, grow and mature in Christ if there isn't discipline?
Harmony is so important to me. It sets the tone for life, I think. When people hear that I come from a family of nine children and after getting over the shock of two people having THAT MANY children, they often remark on how life must have been busy, hectic, and messy for us growing up, because you know, having THAT many children is just crazy itself! It is to God's glory and my parents' dedication that that busy, hectic, and messy life was not part of our upbringing. Yes, some days were busier than others, but they never stayed that way for long periods. We needed to have normalcy and quiet and that's what they made for us and that's what they gave us. My parents are not hectic people; they're quite calm, and soft. Being Italian one would think that we are overly loud but we aren't. My parents gave us order and discipline and we thrived in it.
1 Corinthians 14:33 says For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
"the author of confusion" means instability, that is, disorder: - commotion, confusion, tumult.
So God is not unstable. He is of peace, which means peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.
Knowing that the God of the Universe is of peace, and not of disorder hugs me like a warm blanket on a cold day. Knowing that my grandmother set the tone for my mother, makes me extreemly gratful to God for giving me my family and the values they set in motion. Is making a bed really a value? For me yes, it is. Making my bed first thing has taught me routine and discipline. It has helped shape me into the person that I am today and it is my prayer that one day when I have my own little home to keep, and children to care for, I pray that I live these values out for them.
Blessings,
My mother learned to do just this in her childhood and her early years of marriage. This has not only carried throughout her life but has now been taught to her daughters. And I know that I don't just speak for myself when I say that I am beyond grateful for my mother's teachings and in turn, my grandmother's teachings. But what's so special about making a bed? For one it sets the tone for the day and two it teaches discipline. I am of the mind that if you start your day off with an unkept bed or a messy kitchen from the night before, you will have that lingering until it is done and you won't be at rest. That's no way to start your day off.
"A messy life speaks of a messy - an incoherent faith."
Elisabeth Elliot
If you know me at all, you know that I like order and discipline; routine and structure are my friends. I thrive in them. Letting my bed fall by the wayside and become a heap of a mess is too much for me and so I keep it clean and made at all times. Ya'll even if I'm sick my bed isn't a mess (and please don't take this to be me bragging, for that isn't my intent nor my purpose).
So what is the purpose of this post? To say this: order and discipline are good. How can we, as Christians, grow and mature in Christ if there isn't discipline?
"To be a disciple means to be disciplined."
Elisabeth Elliot
It's a beautiful and difficult thing to be instructed. Beautiful in that we are learning from a wise soul (my mother and grandmothers are a whole other post! They have been the best examples to me and I am beyond thankful for them). Difficult in that we may not like it and that being told to do something that we really don't see the point in doing (example: "The bed is just going to get messy again.") just doesn't make logical sense to us. But it is good for us; good for our souls.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Hebrews 12:6
That word chasteneth means to train up a child, that is, educate, or (by implication) discipline (by punishment): - chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach.
And it says that God LOVES those who He disciplines! So He isn't leaving us or forsaking us. He is there WITH us as He trains us. How comforting is that? To know that the God of the Universe is WITH us and LOVES us? How wonderful!
"A disordered life speaks loudly of disorder in the soul."
Elisabeth Elliot
Harmony is so important to me. It sets the tone for life, I think. When people hear that I come from a family of nine children and after getting over the shock of two people having THAT MANY children, they often remark on how life must have been busy, hectic, and messy for us growing up, because you know, having THAT many children is just crazy itself! It is to God's glory and my parents' dedication that that busy, hectic, and messy life was not part of our upbringing. Yes, some days were busier than others, but they never stayed that way for long periods. We needed to have normalcy and quiet and that's what they made for us and that's what they gave us. My parents are not hectic people; they're quite calm, and soft. Being Italian one would think that we are overly loud but we aren't. My parents gave us order and discipline and we thrived in it.
1 Corinthians 14:33 says For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
"the author of confusion" means instability, that is, disorder: - commotion, confusion, tumult.
So God is not unstable. He is of peace, which means peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.
Knowing that the God of the Universe is of peace, and not of disorder hugs me like a warm blanket on a cold day. Knowing that my grandmother set the tone for my mother, makes me extreemly gratful to God for giving me my family and the values they set in motion. Is making a bed really a value? For me yes, it is. Making my bed first thing has taught me routine and discipline. It has helped shape me into the person that I am today and it is my prayer that one day when I have my own little home to keep, and children to care for, I pray that I live these values out for them.
Blessings,
Sarah
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