choosing that good part.

i had a conversation with my sister in law, Rebekah, this afternoon and i had an AHA moment.

seriously, i hung up and wrote in my journal and then I had to blog about it because i NEVER want to forget this.

Do you know, I finally realized that sometimes it is just as WRONG for me to have a clean house as it is for me to have a messy house.

It is WRONG for me to be too obsessed over my home, my appearance, my health, my children's behavior, clothes, cooking, weight, grades, etc., etc...  

The best thing we can do is to LOVE OTHER PEOPLE. 

Anything that keeps us from loving and serving is WRONG, even if it is a good thing.

That Scratch, he is a tricky fella.  I've missed this for many years. 

I think I've lived this way, but mentally I haven't embraced the truth. 

I didn't recognize the lie that I believed.  Satan had power over me because I didn't recognize him.

When I notice things in my life that are undone, Satan tells me that I have chosen WRONG.

For a long time God has been trying to teach me this lesson.

When I am choosing "that good part", lots of good parts are left undone.

When I am doing exactly what God wants me to do, there are things that I will see that are good, that need to be done.

I do not need to feel bad that they aren't done yet.  But maybe, they are just the next good part for me to do.

Wouldn't life be GREAT if we could go from good thing to good thing without feeling GUILT?

We can TOTALLY do this.

Sometimes, my family needs to come first.  Sometimes I need to stop and clean my home, do the laundry, pull back and find my bearings.

But, that is NOT where I should STAY.

Rebekah is reading Henry David Thoreau's Walden.  She said something like, while living in a cottage in the woods sounds ideal, it isn't the life God wants us to live.  He wants us to SERVE people.

And it hit me--  God doesn't WANT me to spend my whole life organizing and cleaning and exercising and reading my scriptures... those things are all very good.  But if I don't SERVE, Satan has still won.

LIFE is serving and interacting and making messes.

LIFE is connecting and LOVING others.

1. The greatest good we can do in this world is to LOVE one another and SERVE one another.

2. God wants us to LOVE and SERVE. Satan wants to isolate us.
3. God wants us to LOVE and BE KIND to ourselves. Satan wants us to beat ourselves up.
4. Sometimes, we have to CHOOSE better over good. There are good sacrifices and bad sacrifices.
5. Sometimes, when we are choosing to LOVE and SERVE, we choose NOT to clean our home, wash our dishes, or do the laundry.
6. A messy house DOES NOT mean that we have chosen poorly. In fact, OFTEN, a messy house means we are doing EXACTLY what God wants us to be doing... LOVING and SERVING.
7. I believe that God wants me to look at my messy home and SEE goodness. To see all that I have been doing that is GOOD. And, not to feel guilty about the parts that I haven't chosen.

and, it's not just a messy house... it's LOTS of things.
Truth- sometimes when we are choosing the good part we will be messy, tired, overwhelmed, unorganized and even fat. 
Choosing that good part, that BEST part... isn't always the part that makes us LOOK perfect.  dang it.
sometimes, we can love and serve other better when we don't look perfect, have a perfect house, or have perfectly behaved children.
{haven't you ever seen someone you thought was perfect completely stressed out and thanked God that you were normal?!!}

-does this make sense at all?

I choose that good part continually, when I go from one good thing, to another good thing, without feeling guilty that I haven't already done every good thing!!

hah!

Did you catch that?

It is the key to happiness...

choosing that good part means that we are choosing.

choosing between many good things.

choosing that good part means that sometimes other good parts are left undone.

we can choose them later. 

when we walk with God, we are constantly choosing that good part.

and we never really sacrifice anything.
God knows the path to eternal happiness.  He is showing us.

I have walked with Him, and when I do my life is beautiful.

My family is happy.  My heart is full of love for others.
My home is not always magazine perfect. 
My body isn't magazine gorgeous. 
My kids aren't always magazine clean or well dressed. 
Sometimes, we eat triscuits and apples in the car.  Sometimes we pray to find the same pair of shoes four times in one week.
There are days that are fast, and days where my life slows down and I find order again.

I am FINE.  always. 

If I don't wallow in shoulds, and listen to that evil spirit who whispers lies.

When I am serving, everything is better.  Always.

When I choose that good part, life is good.

 oh so good.

i KNOW it.

-- this post is too long.  someday, i am going to figure out what i am trying to say and say it again shorter.  today, you get my whole thought process... and, my time is up, so enjoy the ramblings!!