I will behave wisely
in a perfect way
I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart
I will set nothing wicked before my eyes
Psalm 101:2
I cannot walk within my own home in any way near perfect
let alone in the world
my house
is nowhere close to perfect
let alone
my heart
the laundry piles up clean and dirty around me
cobwebs in the corners, dust on every surface
I long to be servant
to be holy
to have my will conform to the Father's
yet I balk at the idea of running errands all morning
banks, returns, post office, dry cleaning, checking this out here, and that out there
I'd rather be home cleaning
not stuck twice in traffic
I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it
I do not claim any great thing
home or heart
job or career
knowledge, beauty, talent, experience
yet the one thing I am
is help mate
and if I cannot serve here
in small matters
will I ever be entrusted to great matters
the will of the Father
to save little children from being gassed by those who should be protecting them
I am not called to battle illness in mind or body
I am not being asked to do one thing that is difficult or dreadful
by the grace of God I am what I am {where I am}
1 Corinthians 15:10
I am a middle aged home-maker, overly sentimental and emotional
my home is secure, paid off, not crumbling around me
our children are grown, healthy, well fed, not in a refugee camp
I am loved
I am silly and small and lowly
and I have been entrusted with great gifts
I am free to be kind
even if I don't feel like it
I am free to do good, to be good
or not
I am free to care
when I'd rather just stay home and be a little selfish
what a gift
Joseph Brackett (1848)
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we will not be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.
'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,
'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.
The Earth is our mother and the fullness thereof,
Her streets, her slums, as well as stars above.
Salvation is here where we laugh, where we cry,
Where we seek and love, where we live and die.
When true liberty is found,
By fear and by hate we will no more be bound.
In love and in light we will find our new birth
And in peace and freedom, redeem the Earth.
'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be fair,
'Tis a gift to wake and breathe the morning air.
And each day we walk on the path that we choose,
'Tis a gift we pray we never shall lose.
I have not already attained, or am already perfected
but I press on
that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus
has also laid hold of me
I do not count myself to have apprehended
but one thing I do
forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead
I press toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus
let us have this mind
and if in anything you think otherwise
God will reveal even this to you
Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained
let us walk by the same rule
let us be of the same mind
For our citizenship is in heaven
from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body
that it may be conformed to His glorious body
according to the working by which He is able
even to subdue all things to Himself
Philippians 3
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