{"id":2807,"date":"2012-04-03T01:00:31","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T08:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/?p=2807"},"modified":"2012-04-02T20:50:47","modified_gmt":"2012-04-03T03:50:47","slug":"what-i-would-do-differently-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/what-i-would-do-differently-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Would Do Differently, Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>&#8220;Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u201d <\/em>(1 Corinthians 13:7).<\/p>\n<p>What else would I do differently if I could go back to my early days of mothering?\u00a0<strong>I would memorize 1 Corinthians 13 <em>sooner<\/em> and pray for God\u2019s grace to take things less personally:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The \u201coversights\u201d and \u201cblunders\u201d that are simply a husband thinking like a man instead of like a woman. He&#8217;s not trying to hurt me. He&#8217;s just different than me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2808\" title=\"shutterstock_88472245\" src=\"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_88472245-273x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"273\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_88472245-273x300.jpg 273w, https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_88472245.jpg 455w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 273px) 100vw, 273px\" \/>The furrowed brow and the little hand that reaches out just one more time to touch the \u201cno-no\u201d. He&#8217;s not trying to drive me crazy. He\u2019s a sinner. He\u2019s doing what comes naturally. He&#8217;s finding out who&#8217;s in charge. He needs God, and he needs me to teach him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>That ankle-eating grocery cart that got me <em>again<\/em>. My eager helper didn\u2019t plan to injure me. He was just keeping his baby sister entertained while he pushed the cart for (and <em>into<\/em>)\u00a0me.<em> <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The dirty footprints all over the <em>finally<\/em> just-mopped kitchen floor, left by precious children that are still just that \u2013 <em>children.<\/em> They usually don\u2019t even <em>see <\/em>dirt. They\u2019re not trying to make more work for me. They\u2019ll learn to take off their shoes eventually.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The barefaced lies of a little one caught \u201cin the act\u201d. She doesn\u2019t think I\u2019m stupid or blind. Foolishness is just bound up in her childish, fallen heart, and part of my job is to work with the Holy Spirit to weed out that foolishness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The tantrum in front of <em>that<\/em> mother, the one who has it &#8220;all together&#8221;. He&#8217;s really not trying to make me look like a failure, and <em>she <\/em>doesn&#8217;t have it all together nearly as much as I think. God&#8217;s just using <em>his<\/em> sin to confront me with my own sinful pride.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The forging of their own style \u2013 clothing, d\u00e9cor, music. God made them unique. They\u2019re not my clones \u2013 thank God! They\u2019re not rejecting me when they like something that pleases God but doesn&#8217;t particularly please me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The complaints about math or grammar or any other school subject they don\u2019t happen to like. They\u2019re not trying to make my job harder. They\u2019re still learning \u2013 math or grammar <em>and<\/em> how to do something they don\u2019t like and to do it cheerfully.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The hurtful words, spoken in haste, just as <em>I<\/em> have often spoken before I have taken time to think. They don&#8217;t hate me. God is using them to help me see myself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Their \u201cother plans\u201d that simply mean they are growing up and living their own lives.They aren&#8217;t abandoning me. Their lives just don\u2019t revolve around <em>me. <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u201cLove is patient and kind\u2026It does not insist on its own way&#8230;Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>How often have I sinned by <strong>assuming the motives of others<\/strong>? How often have I sinned in my impatience, making an issue of something that was simply <strong>immaturity or carelessness<\/strong>? How often have I sinned because I simply <strong>want things <em>my <\/em>way<\/strong>? And how often have I made things worse by forgetting that when my children <em>do <\/em>sin, they are ultimately <strong>sinning against <em>God<\/em><\/strong>?<\/p>\n<p>I must continually plead for God\u2019s grace and strength to wage war against this stinkin&#8217; old sin nature. <strong>There&#8217;s hope for me, because Jesus purchased that hope on the cross. <\/strong>If I just keep looking to Him, He will &#8212; over time &#8212; conform me to His image.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>(Photo from Shutterstock.com)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtsocial-container rtsocial-container-align-left rtsocial-icon\"><div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon \"> <div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-button\"><a title=\"Share: What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\" class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F04%2F03%2Fwhat-i-would-do-differently-part-3%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-button\"><a title=\"Tweet: What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\" class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=What%20I%20Would%20Do%20Differently%2C%20Part%203&via=@doorposts&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F04%2F03%2Fwhat-i-would-do-differently-part-3%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-button\"><a class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/what-i-would-do-differently-part-3\/&media=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rtsocial\/images\/default-pinterest.png&description=What I Would Do Differently, Part 3 \" target= \"_blank\" title=\"Pin: What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"perma-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/what-i-would-do-differently-part-3\/\" title=\"What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\"><\/a><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rts_id\" class=\"rts_id\" value=\"2807\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"rts_media_nonce\" name=\"rts_media_nonce\" value=\"5083776ab2\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\" \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:7). What else would I do differently if I could go back to my early days of mothering?\u00a0I would memorize 1 Corinthians 13 sooner and pray for God\u2019s grace to take things less personally: The \u201coversights\u201d and \u201cblunders\u201d that are simply a husband thinking like a man instead of like a woman. He&#8217;s not trying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtsocial-container rtsocial-container-align-left rtsocial-icon\"><div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon \"> <div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-button\"><a title=\"Share: What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\" class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F04%2F03%2Fwhat-i-would-do-differently-part-3%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-button\"><a title=\"Tweet: What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\" class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=What%20I%20Would%20Do%20Differently%2C%20Part%203&via=@doorposts&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F04%2F03%2Fwhat-i-would-do-differently-part-3%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-button\"><a class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/what-i-would-do-differently-part-3\/&media=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rtsocial\/images\/default-pinterest.png&description=What I Would Do Differently, Part 3 \" target= \"_blank\" title=\"Pin: What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"perma-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/what-i-would-do-differently-part-3\/\" title=\"What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\"><\/a><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rts_id\" class=\"rts_id\" value=\"2807\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"rts_media_nonce\" name=\"rts_media_nonce\" value=\"5083776ab2\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\" \/><\/div><a role=\"link\" class=\"rtp-readmore\" title=\"Read more on What I Would Do Differently, Part 3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/what-i-would-do-differently-part-3\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read More \u2192<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2807"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2821,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\/revisions\/2821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}