Because God loves me...

In reading my devotional for today from "15 Minutes Alone with God" I came across this beautifully written paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 by Christian psychologist Dr. Dick Dickerson.
My devotion for today challenged me to read this aloud to myself each morning and evening for the next 30 days.  The author said that it is "important to believe that we have value and that we are worthy to give of ourselves. This begins by knowing and accepting what our heavenly Father believes about us"

Here's the paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 by Dr. Dickerson. I've added the parentheses to the end of each sentence to show which part of 1 Corinthians he is describing.

Because God loves me, He is slow to lose patience with me. (Love is patient) 

Because God loves me, He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.  (Love is kind)

Because God loves me, He does not treat me as an object to be possessed and manipulated.

(It does not envy)

Because God loves me, He has no need to impress me with how great and powerful He is because He is God. Nor does He belittle me as His child in order to show me how important He is. 

(It does not boast, It is not proud. It does not dishonor others)

Because God loves me, He is for me. He wants me to mature and develop in His love. 

(It is not self-seeking)

Because God loves me, He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.  (It is not easily angered)

Because God loves me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets the chance. (It keeps no record of wrongs)

Because God loves me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don't trust Him and love Him as I should. 

(Love does not delight in evil)

Because God loves me, He rejoices when I experience His power and strength and stand up under pressure of life for His name's sake. ( but rejoices with the truth)

Because God loves me, He keeps working patiently with me even when I feel like giving up and can't see why He doesn't give up with me too. (It always protects)

Because God loves me, He keeps on trusting me when at times I don't even trust myself. (always trusts)

Because God loves me, He never says there is no hope for me, rather, He patiently works with me, loves me and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me. (Always hopes)

Because God loves me, He never forsakes me even though many of my friends might. (Always perseveres) 

Isn't it so cool to know that we are loved that much?!?! I have honestly never read this passage of scripture, and thought about the characteristics of love in that way. I've always thought about them as things I should be doing to demonstrate love. 

Such refreshment to read such a commonly read scripture in a completely different way...

God LOVES me (and you!) in each of these ways. Despite my sins and failures. Now I am to show that same love to others. No matter the hurt they have done to me.....after all, Christ continues to love me throughout all I've done to Him.

Struggles

Ever have those days moments where you feel like you just can't get ahead?? And you wanna just throw a mini- pitty party but even that sounds no fun...and something would probably go wrong there too. Ha!

Welcome to my day today. Well, I don't really think it was the events that actually happened today as much as it was my attitude and struggle to overcome my hormonal mess. (Can I still blame moodiness on hormones 5+ months after giving birth?? I mean, I AM still nursing...)

I think the fact that I'm working everyday but Wednesday this week is part of it too. It takes me all week to get laundry caught up and the place clean from when I just work weekends, so today I really wanted to get things semi- done so it wouldn't be total chaos by the end of the week.

Wwweeelllll.... I think I forgot for a split second during that thought of "gonna get everything done today" that I have 2 kids under 2. And unlike a few weeks ago, they do NOT have the same nap schedule. MissPriss naps at 10ish and 2ish. And EJ naps at 12ish. Which means..... Yep, you guessed it... No more time alone during the day.

So I'm having to learn to get things done with EJ's "help". He really does a pretty good job at laundry and dishes. I'll have to get better at posting pics so y'all can see his big-boy help. He just can't figure out that the clean/dry clothes are ok to be OUT of the dryer instead if IN the dryer. Or that dirty dishes go in the dishwasher, not the cabinets. Haha!

So ok, back to today. It ended with me (finally) showering and getting groceries. Only after getting kids bathed and in the bed. My feet are exhausted, bottles aren't washed for tomorrow, and there are dirty dishes in the sink because the dishwasher didn't get unloaded today. Aannddd... No clothes are ironed/ ready for work tomorrow and no lunch is packed. 😫
And apparently I didn't get enough groceries because TheHubs has been looking in the kitchen for 10 minutes now asking what we have to eat. He finally decided on chips & salsa... But seriously, there's plenty of food. Men. Need I say more?

It's such a struggle to stay positive. To not let Satan have a foothold and win in the battle of attitude. Especially for me. But I'm so gracious for a God who forgives ... And a husband who continues to love even when I'm not lovable. The struggle is daily but I must press on. With His strength only will I finish the course set out before me. 

His mercies are new every morning. Praise God for that.