Thursday, January 6, 2011

My boundaries

I am struggling with my attitude. I know that I need some boundaries. And we are working on setting some up. But when kids disregard my requests to not enter our yard or to be quiet because our kids are sleeping I get frustrated. I realize they probably didn't really understand what I asked, and even if they did, they really have no framework for boundaries, or nap times. Kids nap on their moms backs, or pass out on the ground when they are too tired. Life is so different. A kid stops by convienently when we are eating lunch or dinner and Jeff with a heart twice the size of mine, invites him to join us. I just finished cleaning the house and not all these kids are even clean... After feeling protective of my time and my stuff and my house, I am reminded of Jesus.

In Matthew 25: 31-46 He talks about what we do for others, we do for Him... 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”


God help me to have a heart like yours...

3 comments:

frisky said...

Man, I love you, Heidi. Thank you for being so honest about how you are feeling. I will be praying for you, for sure.

Hilary said...

Thanks for the reminder Heidi...I needed that. Praying for you guys!

Christine H. said...

Wow, that's a tough one...where to find the balance. I know that is hard for us because we have an open door policy with just about everyone, customers, teens, friends, neighbors. But there are some nights when I really don't want to add another place setting to the table, or smile and invite someone in to pay their bill, knowing they will be in our home all night. Balance. It's a hard one.