The Better Mom Devo: Day 18; Extend Your Family (Sassy Backtalk in Truth)

**DISCLAIMER: I don't even know what's up with my computer but every-
thing is off. Boo. If you are finding this extra-difficult to read, my apologies.
I have tried -like 3 separate times, to remedy this. **

And we begin...
I have this confession to make. 

Yes, I have been gone from this devotional for awhile (it has been 3
months since I last wrote about The Better Mom devo), but my
confession has nothing to do with why I was gone (I was living my life,
ya'll), instead it has everything to do with this feeling I get in the pit of
my stomach similar to that of a sucker-punch.

This feeling comes on me when I read some books (including this one),
and when I watch other people “do life”.

The confession: 

I think you are full of baloney. 

In today’s devotional, author Ruth Schwenk writes about how her family is
eating dinner when the doorbell rings. Neighborhood children huddled around
her door, awaiting her own children. 

I get this. I have been here.

When I first moved into the neighborhood I now live in, it was the neighbor
boys and they were on my porch ALL THE TIME. 

“Hey guys, we’re eating dinner now, the boys cannot come out,” was followed
by my return to the table and their pursuit of my sons via sitting on my porch in
waiting and sometimes even looking in through the window as we ate!

Sometimes I would remind them that my boys could come to them when they
were ready but that they simply had to sit on their own porch, Not Ours (and
watch us). That they needed to leave. 

So Ruth. 

She speaks to the neighborhood kiddos and tells them that her children can not
yet come out for they are finishing their dinner and that will be followed by family
devotions. 

For those of you who may not be in a “Christian
circle”, devotions are something many Christians consider to be right up there with prayer and
worship: it is uber holy. 

This can look like the devotions many Christians claim to do at 5am when “it’s just
me and Jesus” and others in the form of “family devotions”, ala, hey family, let’s
ignore the fact that it is now football season or that Ninja Warrior is on and let’s sit down
-together- and talk, about the Bible. 

This all sounds lovely, and it is. 

Also, I sound cynical, which I promise, I don’t want to be. 

But I wonder...who actually does this? 

So again, Ruth. 

She feels this nudge (by the Holy Spirit, no doubt), to INVITE THE ENTIRE
NEIGHBORHOOD IN to join her family in their devotions. 

Alright, SO. MANY. THINGS.

First of, isn’t she exhausted? 

It’s late, no doubt, and she has the family bedtime routine to contend with
-and devotions-, plus, someone has got to do those dishes!

Secondly, her husband. 

What husband, pray tell, backs up his crazy wife when she, near to bedtime (which often results in chaos
and meltdowns), invites ...I don't know, say five…. 5 kiddos into their house to sit
down and do devotions with?
Does he get a say in the matter? Is he saintly? Is he even attending these devotions? 

Next, I would like to point out the condition of her children: 

No one will be finishing dinner tonight, not even if it is macaroni and cheese with a
side of pie. You invited others in, rendering dinner a lost cause. 

Of course, this is a double-edged sword because your children won't lift another
forkful, but at least half of the neighborhood children are still hungry, prompting you to
give away tomorrow’s left overs and cook off a new box of mac-and-cheese. 

And then, finally, the devotions. 

They all sit, eagerly awaiting whatever it is you have to share. 

Until they remember that they are children and are much more interested in the new
game your sons have, whatever is on the television in the other room, and “are we
allowed to jump on your couch”? Bless those who ask before jumping. 

After all of this, the devotions are completed and Ruth feels saintly, as she should, but she is tired because her childcare multiplied itself out of no where (and
where are all the other parents, huh?), her husband abandoned her for the Colts game
(and they’re playing the Patriots so, double blah), and her children are hyped-up on sugar
and adrenaline, all the while, the table needs cleared off, the dishes done, and this is the
moment when Ruth remembers that she has put off washing her hair for two days now,
she has no choice tonight if she does not wish to be beyond gross tomorrow. 

So, about this devotional…

  

I promise you (and Ruth!), that I am not here to blast it, but to bring another perspective to it. 

If the Holy Spirit prompts you, or me, or Ruth, to do something, we totally should. 

Perhaps her children were lovely, her husband helpful, and all of the neighborhood children were saved that night. Maybe she has a dishwasher and washed her hair
yesterday, rendering tomorrow “safe”. 

Maybe you read her experience and it
encourages you to take a step
towards your neighbors. 

And maybe you have
opened your door at times
and today it is time to close it- tight. 

It doesn’t mean that you’re mean (you're not), that you don't care about the salvation
of your neighborhood (you do), or that you ignore the Holy Spirit (not intentionally), but
that there is a time for this and a time for that. 

What does your today look like? 

As for Ruth’s title, Extend Your Family, I would add this: 

Extend Your Family...But Not at the Sake of Losing the One’s You Have Been Given. 

If I know that my anxiety is going to flair, my children will get yelled
at, and my husband gets my stink eye, it is not the time to invite others in.
Period.

So, lessons we learned: 

Listen to the Holy Spirit. Not me, not Ruth.

Invest in a dishwasher.    

Be nice to your neighbors, but feel free to shut your door and close your curtains.