47: Joy in Hard Seasons

Well, I think over the last several years, probably the last seven actually, the Lord has really taken us on a journey to completely shift how we view life in general, but also people.

Like, I love that you said that we forget that they're created.

I'm going to take that a step farther and say we forget that they're created in the image of God, that they are image bearers.

We tend to kind of see our children

as kind

of below us in a way of us as being like over them and in a sense we are as their protectors and their their teachers right their guides through life yes yes but they are still image bearers they're still created in his image they bear his image and they're their own individuals with their own thoughts and their own opinions.

And sometimes they don't align with yours.

Oh, I get that.

I get that a ton.

I got my kids too.

It's like, they're their own person.

Yes.

And so he's just really shifted how I view family, how we view people, and what our priorities are.

Obviously, we still have to live, right? We still have to eat.

We still have to have a place to live.

to

live the bills have to be paid heaven forbid that we should still have a place to live and have food to

eat so you know people still have to work my husband has been blessed with a job that he gets to work from home he works remotely though and that was also a huge blessing in this shift in our family dynamic but just realizing that work and stuff and kind of the concept of keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak, isn't, then they're not the most important aspect of life, right? Like your family and your community are really your most important parts of life.

And if those are suffering and you don't take care of them, Then it doesn't matter what kind of house you live in, what kind of car you drive, how much money is in your bank account.

If your family is suffering, none of those things really matter.

I think that that's easy to get wrapped up in this idea of keeping up with the Joneses or trying to be like this person or that person when, I mean, we're all entitled to have certain needs and desires, right? Like, yeah, you should have goals and things, but you shouldn't let it take control of things.

Like, I like to talk about that.

Like, in my book, I talk about how to let go of the ego.

And I feel like our egos just get the better of us and just...

When things get really hard, I mean, you just got to let go of that ego of trying to be like someone else.