Jason and I were having a discussion the other night and I thought I’d invite the blogosphere in on the question:
“What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time ten years or so? (whatever your previous season of life was)”
“What would you tell yourself if you could speak to you as an elderly person?”
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Just the random musings of a Christian wife, mother, and homemaker
13 comments:
Question #1 answer: I'd tell myself, "Don't get on birth control. You have no idea that losing babies is far more difficult than raising them."
I would tell myself a lot of things, but I think it might all be summed up with these two comments:
"Be broken so God doesn't have to break you."
And, "Briana, you're not all that; get over yourself quickly so that God can use you"
Question #2 answer: "Boy, I thought the first 40 years went by fast!
Don't waste any more of your life. You might be old, but your name is Zo and that means "abundant life" so live abundantly in your old age like Marika Galanis did. Own no more than 2 suitcases worth of stuff. Oh, yeh, and "keep your fork"--the best is yet to come!"
Love these answers! Bri, what would you tell the elderly Mrs. Almengor?
"Don't be so easily offended, always complaining and an overall crotchety old lady who no one wants to be around." I love this phrase that Carole E. always uses, and I would tell myself this: "Choose praise".
OR...
"You're almost there; keep fighting; persevere. Your prize and your King is waiting just around the bend!"
Laurie, if we get to be old together, can you remind me of these statements? :)
OH, ditto the memo to myself that Bri wrote (ie.Stop being so crotchety. You wonder why your kids don't visit more often and why the nurses leave fast. Well, except that there are no more nurses. The world was full of too many crotchety old people who never forgave,were always impatient, and seldom gave thanks. It wasn't worth the money. Nurses quit left and right in the mid-'20s. But cheer up--you can still get vintage blood pressure cuffs on ebay."
11 years ago- there's a reason for the 11 years: I'd tell myself not to worry so much about getting married. It will happen. Also, I'd tell myself to enjoy every moment with my mom because she will die very soon, and that losing my mother will have a HUGE effect on the rest of my life.
Elderly me: Those wrinkles ARE beautiful.
Q#1: Don't keep looking ahead to what you think will happen. Live today for the glory of God.
(And don't worry about those premature gray hairs.)
Q#2: Don't keep looking behind to what has happened. Live today for the glory of God.
(And look at that beautiful crown of glory - that head full of gray hairs.)
10 years ago I was 17 and I'd tell myself: "Don't worry about college so much, God's got it all taken care of and it won't be at all like you planned it, but it'll be wonderful."
To my future self: "Live joyfully, full of life, in the service of others and don't complain. Leave your mark on some young awkward girl who used to be like you and make sure she knows you love her."
I like what Brianna said about being broken.
10 years ago: 23, married, no kids, teaching high school, part of an egalitarian church and desperately thinking I had something to prove - I don't even know where to start in what I would say to me...
* read or listen to John Piper
* pray that God opens your eyes to the truth of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood soon
* learn good budgeting and housekeeping skills now so that life won't be so complicated when you're not a DINK.
* be open to what God has to teach you, esp. to seeing how prideful you are.
* give all the credit to God.
Of course, I regret not having learned these things sooner. But, I trust that God's timing is always good and that I have learned, am learning or will learn these things according to his excellent timetable. I have a younger, believing sister, so she gets to benefit from all my unsolicited advice.
To me as an old woman,
* remember what it was like to be a daughter-in-law, esp. since you have four sons
* befriend a young, busy mom and seek to help her learn to manage her household
* give all the credit to God.
Great comment, Fishboys. My brother is the singles' pastor here at Chesapeake. He will be leading a retreat for them next week. The theme of the retreat is biblical manhood and womanhood. I think, like you that the younger these girls are taught and envisioned for their roles as they are defined biblically, the better for their lives over the long haul.
Do you think that it is possible to have egalitarian tendencies even though you are taught from a complimentarian view?
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "egalitarian tendencies." But I'll give it a shot.
When we learned about Biblical headship seven years ago, it was in the context of a church that was extremely traditional/conservative in its style of worship and its application of Biblical principals...i.e. some women wore head coverings; many wore only dresses, etc. I think they felt their style of dress was, in part, demonstrating their submission to their husbands. Yet, it was easy to see in some of these same women that their attitudes were not. Ex: one woman said, "I balance the checkbook, so I get to decide where our money goes. He doesn't have a say in the matter." She purposely tried to keep him in the dark about this, which I don't think was allowing him to lead his family properly.
I am often guilty of wanting to buck my husband's leadership, but I don't think that is because I once had bad teaching, but that I'm just plain sinful. Does that make sense?
Good questions! =) Hmm...
1. "'She' ain't gonna show up on the radar for a while, kid; and when she does, you'll be surprised! So quit daydreaming and focus on serving the church."
2. "You'd better be out on the mission field somewhere by now..."
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