Thump.

I feel like God literally thumped me on the head today and followed it up with a "Hello, McFly!"

So, after yet another wonderful sermon by our pastor, I went to the altar with my 17 pound child who was a sleeping dead weight in my arms and began praying. The sermon was about dealing with disappointments in life - you know unfulfilled expectations. Hello. Unfulfilled expectations are like a daily, almost hourly occurrence in my world sometimes. But it did get me thinking about all my abundantly fulfilled expectations. But that's totally not what this thump on my head dealt with. So, moving on...

I am up there praying, something along the lines of, "Thank you for all our blessings,(list blessings with sincerity). I want to do what you want me to do, even if that means working...But (we always give God a but don't we? Then he kicks ours.) I feel like I can't do it all. I can't be the wife, mother, friend, teacher that I should be. I don't know how to get it all done and be every ones everything...

This is when the thump came.

Obviously this thump will seem very much like a duh to those of you who are, let's just say, a little more advanced in your spiritual endeavors than I, but nonetheless I am putting this out there.

Thump: "Please ME."

This is when, if you had been watching me, you literally would have seen me chuckle mid prayer.

Well, duh. Please Him. Please Him. And everyone else will have to get over it.

Hello, McFly!

Okay, just so you don't think I am literally the dumbest Christian in town, I have always known to please God. Duh. That's like rule one.

But, I hadn't really thought of it, are you ready to say duh again?, in this area of my life.

All together now - DUH.

I absolutely cannot be the best wife, mother, friend, teacher, cook, housekeeper, bedmaker, daughter, aunt, etc. all the time ever. BUT if I just focus on what pleases GOD, then the other stuff shouldn't matter.

Shouldn't matter is of course the operative phrase there. Very easy to type, not so easy to live. Especially for people pleaser extraordinaire over here. To say I like to please people might be the understatement of the year. I live for pleasing PEOPLE. Obviously, I may not do it all the time, but I sure do want to.

But, here's what the bruise from this spiritual thump left me to realize. If I please Him, then the rest will fall into place. FOR ME. Everyone else might think my world, my classroom, or my house is going to hell in a hand basket, but I will know that I am doing what God wants me to do. Well, some times. Because let's face it-knowing what pleases God and then doing it is not always the easiest thing in world, but you know what I mean.

God doesn't want me to spend money I don't have on things I don't need to impress others.
God doesn't want me to put my job before my family.
God doesn't want me to have a sparkling pristine house, instead of enjoying what precious little time I have with my children right now. (I wish he would tell me to hire a maid...)
God doesn't want me to be a master chef for my family, or to host parties all the time, or to whatever. Those are all things I have thought I needed to do. (I didn't say I actually did them, people. Obviously not. I just have been beating myself up for not doing them.)
God does want me to have a good attitude.
God does want me to be a good teacher for my students.
God does want me to be happy in all situations.
God does want me to make church a priority.
God does want me to stop beating myself up for not doing everything.
Ad the big kahuna, God does want me to love others. But for HIM - not for ME.

Big confession there, folks.
Just in case you missed it, let's say it one more time.
God wants me to love others for HIM, not for ME. Not for my glory - His.

Yikes. I think a goose egg is forming from that thump.

Hello, McFly.
Please Me.

Seriously - sometimes you just need a good thump on the head.