Be Courageous

Well yesterday was an interesting day for me. In years past Shane and I have not always seen eye to eye on discipline for our children. We have fussed and fought and I've hid things from him and we have both just been totally out of God's will for our lives. Shane and I started going to church as a family for the first time in our marriage in January/February of this year. As the year has drudged on I have struggled with the "wives be submissive" thing. I even went as far as asking my Mom tons of questions about that area. Well, let me tell you something, the moment I was saved that all changed. It is amazing how everything falls into place, your views on discipline and everything else sort of fall into line when you and your spouse are both submissive to GOD! I had to tell you all of that to start my story today.

Yesterday my kids were out of school for Veteran's Day. Late in the day God began to tug at my heart and tell me that Kristina had broken a rule. I know that may sound crazy to everyone for me to say that but I don't believe in "mother's intuition" but I do believe in God and believe in his ability to let us parents know when our kids are "out of line." I struggled for about an hour with this "feeling." I would pick the phone up to call her and question her and then I would hang up before I dialed the entire number. I got up from my desk to just get away from the phone and I made copies, went to the restroom, got something to drink but every time I came back to my desk I just had this nagging feeling to call and talk to her about my "feeling." So, I finally picked the phone up and called her. As we talked and I asked questions she told me the truth. She could have lied but thanks to God's mercy she was honest with me. I explained to her that we would discuss this further when I got home and we both hung up.

As I sat at my desk I dropped my head into my hands. We have been struggling for quite some time with this one particular issue and Kristina's obedience to this rule. A feeling of anxiety washed over me. "Do I tell Shane?" "Shane is going to flip his lid if I tell him!" "I CAN'T tell him!" "I'll just deal with this on my own." All these thoughts just kept racing through my mind over and over and over. I quietly prayed, "God, please, give me some comfort, give me a word on what to do." Now, I knew that the right thing to do was to tell Shane about Kristina's disobedience but I just didn't have the courage to do it. I was scared of his reaction because I was basing past experience on my decision process. I lifted my head, opened up the internet on my computer and went to www.biblegateway.com. God took over my fingers and I typed in the search line Ezra 10:4. To my wonderment I read, "Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be courageous and act." I jumped back from my desk and all but shouted. I began to smile and I said "Okay, God, here we go." I no more said those words and my phone rang and as I glanced at the caller id I recognized the number. It was Shane! I began to explain to him what I had learned and I went through the conversation between me and Kristina and after a brief pause he says, "Okay, baby, well what punishment do you think we should give her?" He was calm, he was understanding, he was open to discuss the situation with me. He didn't yell or fuss or go off the deep end. Naturally, he was as disappointed in Kristina's decision as I was but there was peace. We discussed her punishment and discussed our "game plan" on talking to her upon our arrival home and then I gently hung up the phone in total amazement. Not that I was astonished at the way Shane handled the news but I sat amazed at my Father! He is so perfect, so loving, so compassionate and he can take a situtation and turn it IF we are just courageous. He is with us!

As I finished up my day and drove home, I couldn't help but smile. I walked in the house and Shane and I sat down with Kristina. There was no yelling, no screaming, no stomping of feet. The conversation lasted less than 2 minutes. She knew she had broken the rules and there was no point in rehashing what she had done. We simply told her that we loved her and outlined the consequences for her choices. I have heard people say "Let God take control!" and I understand that to a point but honestly, I witnessed yesterday that he is already in control he is just waiting on us to be courageous enough to give him control! Today, just catch your breath and give God complete control of every aspect of your life!