Getting the Plank Out...

God has really been dealing with me about being self-righteous. There...I said it. Yup...I am self-righteous. It's almost a relief to admit it.

I regularly look down upon other members of my household for all the stuff I do versus all the stuff they don't. I trump up in my head all of the good that comes from the work of my hands and how it is so sad that the brunt of the work falls on me.

Blame is the name of the game. It actually comes second nature. If my plans do not go off without a hitch, it's someone else's fault. If I find myself looking for a dish in the kitchen that has seemingly disappeared, someone else must of have broken it and not replaced it. If I have worked hard cleaning and the next day things are helter/skelter again, then other people around this house must have messed things up. If anything is out of place, figure out who the culprit is and NAIL 'EM.

A few days ago, I was searching high and low for my 24 hour fitness card. I remembered clearly the last time I had it and knew...just knew...I had put it in it's place. I was intent on finding it b/c after three visits to the gym w/o it, I'd be forced to buy another one.

I figured that someone else must have moved it, or that it had been mistakenly swept out of place by someone in their carelessness. I just KNEW that I put it in it's place.

Around this same time, my husband was looking for his phone charger. He searched high and low. No charger. He asked me multiple times if I had seen it. No, I hadn't. In my head I was wondering, why couldn't he keep up with his stuff and put it in it's place?

Digging in my purse, looking for my membership card, guess what I found....you guess it...his charger. Not 10 seconds later, guess what else I found...my membership card, tucked behind some papers on my desk...completely NOT in it's place.

it was almost like the Lord was saying to me...."see when you become aware of your own error, and admit your wrong doing, then I am free bless you".

The Lord has been dealing with me HARD on this issue of self-righteousness. He is asking me to be willing to be humble. He is also asking me to be willing to view others the way HE sees them and to treat others the way I want to be treated.

So my prayer this week is "Lord, help me see others with your eyes and reach out to them with your hands".

I do not want to be a older, bitter woman b/c I spent years and years counting up the failures of others around me and storing up nothing but criticism, sarcasm, and unforgiveness. I can't give up on people...especially the ones I love...Jesus didn't give up on me. My job as a mom and a wife does require a lot of sacrifice and selflessness. This is a fact. But so did Jesus' job of being my Savior.

OK...this was a bit of a ramble but I just had to get this out.