Housework and Parenting From a Place of Rest

Beloved, housework can either be done from a place of self-will, to satisfy your natural desire for control and order; or it can be done from a place of Rest, as a joyful act of worship drawing you deeper into My heart. Isn't this a beautiful mystery?

The same goes for parenting. When you ask your children to do something, the same request can come from a human desire to exert control and order, or it can come from a place of Love and Rest. 

When you do housework, or parent, or do anything else from a place of self-will and desire to exert control and order, you are setting yourself up for stress. You are positioning yourself to receive stress. But when you act from a place of Love and Rest, you are setting yourself up for Peace and Joy! You are positioning yourself to receive more of Me! 

When you tidy the lounge room from a desire to exert control, the process is boring, something you want to distract yourself from to get through. Then the minute the kids come back in and mess it up, you become highly stressed. But when you tidy the lounge room while "dancing" with Me, the process itself is an enjoyable act of worship and communion with Me. You can enjoy the few minutes it is in a clean state, but you can also enjoy watching your kids reveling in the tidiness by playing hard! You are then in a much better heart-space from which to guide them from Love to learn to clean up their messes - because it is an important lesson for them to learn, not because you need them to to in order to regain a shred of order and control. 

This is so freeing, Beloved! The flow-on effect is enormously powerful.

Look To Me

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

Beware "D.I.Y mode", Beloved. Remember all that I have taught you in these past few months. Do not let the journey be wasted. I have shown you your own tendency to try to do everything in your own strength. In times of great difficulty,  your own strength is clearly inadequate. But as the crisis passes, you quickly start grasping for control again. 

This is a big deal, dear one. This tendency is directly at odds with My plan for you. While you are striving in your own strength, you cannot be living yielded to Me. This is what I desire for you - a yielded life. Victorious living can only come through constant yielding to Me. 

Lift up your eyes. Remember to be consistently fixed on My Face. I AM your help - I, who made heaven and earth! Help for every moment, not just for crisis. 

Look to Me, Beloved. Look to Me. 

Personal Agenda

"Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart." Psalm 97:11

How you react to frustrating changes to your plans for the day shows you are still walking in your own strength, operating in "D.I.Y. mode". To truly rely on Me, you need to lay down your own agenda. Pray with all your heart, then focus all your energy on trusting Me completely. 

When you do only the first part of this - praying with all your heart - you are praying with a personal agenda. No matter how good an agenda it is, it is still your plan. This leads to disappointment if My plan differs from your plan. And if you do not check it, disappointment leads to self-pity and bitterness. 

So...pray with all your heart, then trust Me with all your heart. I know your heart's desires, and I see bigger picture. I am for you, dear one. I am with you, but I am also before you and behind you. As you invest time and energy in trusting Me, you will walk in My Light, with joy in your heart, regardless of how the path differs from your desired route. 

Beautiful Weapon of Light

Psalm 61

You are starting yet another day in total exhaustion and weakness...I see your desperation, Beloved. I hear your cries for help. I know your heart desperately longs to be strengthened in My Presence. I see that you are afraid of failing today, of falling back into sinful habits of "D.I.Y. mode".

Yield your weakness yet again, dear one. Truly yield to My Strength. You do not need to understand the hows and whys - just trust Me to come through for you. 

Cling to Me, precious one. I am the Rock that is higher than you. I am your refuge, a strong tower against the foe (the enemy of your soul). 

Dwell deeply with Me today. Let Me shelter you under My wings. I have appointed My Love and Faithfulness to protect you. 

Sing out praise to Me - even before you "feel" better. Sing out praise because I deserve it, regardless of how you feel. You will find the act of praising Me helps to push back the darkness. Praise is a beautiful weapon of My Light! It changes YOU and it changes circumstances!

Walking In Dependence

Psalm 71

Keep on walking in dependence on Me, dear one. You are so aware of your need for Me just now...your level of need for Me does not change, only your awareness of it! You actually always need  Me as desperately as you know you do right now. 

In times of smooth sailing, when everything is going well for My children, they often tend to lose sight of their desperate need for Me. While unpleasant, the trials you are going through have opened your eyes to your absolute need for dependence on Me. 

Keep building life habits during this time that will be well-established by the next time you enter calm waters. It will be your challenge then to stay as aware of your need, and to keep walking with your eyes fixed on Me, as if your life depended on it...because it does! 

The victorious life requires on-going absolute dependence on Me! It is just not possible to live victoriously in "D.I.Y mode". Your own strength and your flesh will fail you, but I AM the strength of your heart and your portion FOREVER! 

Each time you make the choice to enter My Presence, you are strengthening connections in your brain that are actually beginning to change the way that you think. You are being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). When you choose to respond to a challenging situation by leaning in to My Presence rather than by relying on your own "understanding", you are renewing your mind - weakening the strong bias for "D.I.Y. mode" and strengthening the connection with Me. It is actually happening right now! Celebrate with Me, dear one!

Yielded Weakness

Joy will accompany you when you are walking by My Spirit! Joy is a sign that you are walking by faith, not by sight. My joy is your strength. Whenever you lose your joy, it is a sure sign that you are walking by sight, slipping into D.I.Y. mode, giving fear control of your heart. 

When you feel weary, sick and exhausted, you very quickly let fear take the upper hand. You operate from fear-based thinking: "How can I possibly be victorious today?" But this is based on an erroneous and prideful assumption that you actually have something to do with your victory. I AM your victory. All that is required of you, dear one, is that you yield your heart to Me. 

Paul knew this secret: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10) For My Grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9) Weakness itself does not automatically allow Me room to move - it is your yielded weakness that I require. 

Yield your weakness to Me, and live moment by moment in joyful dependence on Me.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

I WILL Come Through For You

You must always be on your guard against "D.I.Y. mode". When you are impatient with the chaos around you, you slip into D.I.Y. mode to try to exert some control over your environment. You act in your own strength, instead of waiting for Me to empower and direct you. 

This behaviour is driven by fear, not love, and the results speak for themselves:

• damaged relationships
• feelings of inadequacy
• absolute exhaustion
• resentment and dissatisfaction with your lot
• a flurry of negative thoughts
• tears and tantrums 

Today, when all around you seems chaotic, run to Me! Give Me your fear and impatience. Rest in Me. Tune in to My voice, and do not jump into action until you hear from Me. Listen for the one next step. Quieten your frenzied thoughts and listen for My gentle, quiet voice. 

Trust Me with all your heart - I WILL come through for you! Yes, even in the "little things"! In ALL your ways, acknowledge Me, and I WILL direct your paths! (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Yield Your Heart

See how I am giving you Grace to see you through each day? My Grace is like the manna - you need to receive it each day, just enough for that day. You cannot inoculate yourself against the future. Just receive the Grace for today, and leave tomorrow in my hands.

Your mind wants to rush ahead, to think through all the implications of yesterday's news - how this might affect your other children, your marriage and your life. But discipline your mind to stay here with Me. Stay in today. 

Remember: your best preparation is to draw near to Me. Let me build up your strength. I am able to do this only to the degree that you truly surrender, yield yourself to Me. This is one way I limit Myself by the gift of free will. But the beauty of this is - the more you willingly yield yourself to Me, the more I can strengthen you. 

You have felt like you have had very little reserves of energy these past several weeks - this is because you yield to Me, then switch back into Do-It-Yourself mode. Learn to stay yielded. You need to practise this. Recognise the signs of D-I-Y mode: 

• pride at how much you are accomplishing, or about how you are coping, followed closely by - 
• feeling stressed and anxious
• feeling overwhelmed, often followed by -
• snapping at your husband and children
• thinking "how am I going to do ___ ?", and ending up -
• sobbing "I can't do this!"

Pick up on the pride first, before you spiral downwards and out of control. When you recognise these feelings of pride, run to Me. Yield your heart to Me, and draw strength from Me. Victorious living flows from a consistently yielded heart.