Grow with Love (Week 2)

    Sometimes I wish we lived in the Andy Griffith show. 
It was so simple and their perspective on every life lesson so innocent. It seems impossible to have a simple, innocent life anymore, but I'd like to think it is possible. 
Grow some space, grow with love. . . 

When we make space in our day, that is when we can have space to love more and live more simply. That's all that truly matters in this world isn't it?!? If we aren't loving our family, our friends, our neighbors then what's the point. If your family is all kinds of crazy then that most likely means your calendar is too full. If you feel like you don't have time for friends or neighbors then you're probably too overbooked and overwhelmed. We are all learning when our YES is our yes and when it's ok for our No to be a no. As women, we want to help everyone and say yes to everything; it's innate for us to swoop in and save and before we know it our calendars are filled with too much stuff that we didn't even really want to say yes to or stuff that doesn't even matter. Inevitably in those moments we surrender to exhaustion and we end up cancelling last minute on a dear friend or cancelling on a commitment. 

This week I encourage us to be intentionally praying over our calendars and don't say YES to anything unless you know you can commit to it or you know you're meant to do it or joyfully can't wait to fulfill it. The Bible is very specific about oaths and commitments

Jesus Forbids Oaths. It was common for Jews to place oaths on objects so they weren't truly committed to their word but Jesus’ point was that we don’t even have the power or authority to make oaths. The Lord is displeased when we don’t keep our word whether we swear by heaven or not. The easiest way to avoid this behavior is to simply say yes or no to what you will do or not do. One day you and I will have to give an account for our empty promises and I don't know about you, but that terrifies me. I want to strive to be a woman of my word and if that means saying "No" to things then that's what I need to practice doing.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’  But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.  Matthew 5:33-37

If you want space in your day and space to feel like a normal human being, you have to make space. Say NO to things. It's really ok. They will ask someone else or God will find another way to meet the need. Say YES to things that are life-giving, say YES to things that fit right in your sweet spot of how God made you to be, say YES when you are obeying what God commands. 

When I started eliminating things from my calendar and practicing saying NO, it was amazing how I slowly started feeling like I had space in my head to think, space in my heart to give, space in my day to love and energy to give to things God asked of me. I'm still learning but I could start pursuing what I was made to do and who God made me to BE. 

We can GROW in Love in this way. We can make space for people, we can practice saying No, we can have the energy to give to things that matter and not just say yes to things that don't. It's a great way to find some joy and freedom to love as we should. 
  
As a mom I want to have all the possible energy and time to give to loving my sweet little puppy squeezing, hunka chunka toddlers... enough space to give to friends and neighbors and be a woman of my word. Don't you?