If It’s Monday, It’s Mama
E is for Elesabeth,
Equanimity and Elephant
When I was young, way before I ever married, I told God I
would really be grateful if He could find it in His heart to send a daughter to
me. I would be grateful for boys, but I
really, really wanted a daughter. And,
God was good. He sent you to me and I
have been grateful ever since. You were
named Elesabeth (really Elizabeth) after Beth Morris, my BFF who went to be
with Jesus long before you came to live with me. “A gift from God” is what your name means,
and I truly believe that to be a truth.
You are a Gift from God.
I don’t take that for granted.
Nor should you.
When life would try to pull you down. When others would try to drag at your
spirit. When work wears you out. When bills start piling high. When school becomes a challenge. When men are monsters and brothers are
bears. When parents are off-putting and
friends put you off, I hope you will remember….
HE WILL NOT.
And, as a favored treasure of His, you have an obligation to
live brightly….for Him. The whole
purpose of our life here on earth is to be God’s reflection to others so that
they will want to come and know Christ as well.
Ask yourself? “Does
my life portray God in a good light?”
“Am I consistent in my Godly behavior? Do I give of my best
first to Him?”
How you are able to answer this matters. Noone expects perfection, not even the Perfector.
Don’t ask me how to do this.
I don’t have it all figured out.
BUT, what I have learned is that it does require some “EQUANIMITY”….some, “evenness of temperament”,
even under stress.
One thing I pray you are able to grasp more of as you grow
in maturity is equanimity.
The ability to keep your temperament even…to think through
things, to set goals and walk toward them, to make good decisions. To guard your words, your actions and your
heart.
And, I can promise you this…there is only one way to do that
and it is by following HIS WAY.
Do that.
Don’t just write that you are going to do it.
Do it.
Pray for strength to do it.
Write it on your hands, put stickies around your room to
remind you…(like Sarah taught you).
Be purposeful!
Grow equanimity in your life.
And finally, your elephant story….when you were little, I
took you to ride on an elephant. You had
to step up high onto a ladder to climb on its back and you didn’t want any help…you
could do it “all by myself” you told me.
You giggled and laughed until the moment you got to the top of the
ladder. At that point, you stopped and
turned around and looked at me as to say, “I am not sure I can do this….it is
too high, the elephant is too big”….
You said out loud, “Mama,
I might be afraid”.
Hmm….what does a mother say to that?
I replied, “Baby, at some point, you have to decide, do I
want to be afraid or do I want to ride the elephant?”
To which you very clearly said, “I don’t want to be afraid.”
My reply, “Then be careful, do what the elephant helper
tells you and climb on it’s back”.
Never will I forget your getting on top of the elephant and
the ear-to-ear “I did it” grin on your face.
You were so proud of yourself and so was I.
Don’t get me wrong, I always want you to be wise in your
decision-making. I want you to think
long and hard about the consequences of the decisions you make, but I do pray
you are able to walk through your fears and INTO your faith. You can do that with confidence when you are
living for Him and not for yourself.
When you remember whose gift you are….it is simpler to be the Gift you
were intended to be.
Blessings,
Mama
