Devotion

Have you seen the Adam Sandler film; The Waterboy? In this movie a young cajun man by the name of Bobby Boucher lived with his mother in the swamp lands of Louisiana. His mother was afraid of being abandoned in her old age and spent her days sheltering Bobby and making it so that he was totally depended on her. She became his moral compass and would tell him that different things in the world that you and I would do for simple enjoyment like say perhaps attend a football game, was "of the devil!"

Whatever caught his interest and took the focus off of his momma, that instantly became "of the devil!" Poor Bobby. His mother went to extremes to keep his attention focused on her. I sometimes wonder if God would like to say that to me? Annette, facebook, CSI, Poker Palace (who misses me by the way) or whatever things that can take up hours of time before I realize it, "is of the devil!" I'm sure He would say it in Bobby's mommas voice for effect.

As a christian, one of the things I can certainly testify to about my life is the minute I choose to get involved in something that involves church or study the bible or even a simple devotion, Satan likes to try and distract me. One time a girlfriend of mine and I decided we would do a devotional study together on the Proverbs 31 woman. We swore would hold each other accountable to this commitment. HA! We were about two weeks into it and I sent her this email:

Debbie,

de·vo·tion    noun.

Ardent, often selfless affection and dedication, as to a person or principle. See Synonyms at love.
Religious ardor or zeal; piety.
An act of religious observance or prayer, especially when private. Often used in the plural.
devotions Prayers or religious texts: a book of devotions.
The act of devoting or the state of being devoted.

Now that we can see what devotion means it is quite apparent that I am not devoted to anything! Ardent, selfless, dedicated???!!!!!!  Nooooooo! The things I find my self committed, horns waggled, roped into, coerced or asked to do; i.e. the things that truly take up all of my time, most definitely do not come close to the definition of devotion.

Do I have that selfless affection toward my family? Let’s narrow it down, my immediate family? Perhaps…..when they are not making me crazy. Now I admit they do not all make me crazy at the same time, but I would swear they all draw straws every morning when I am not watching just to see whose turn it is. Who knows, perhaps this is their little way of keeping me on my toes.

I do love my family, that is why I want to study the Proverbs 31 woman, understand her a little more, and find the P-31 in me. Me thinks I have set the bar too high! I have fast forwarded too far into the book….or shall I say the Book since it is really the Holy Bible I speak of. Perhaps I should flip back a few pages and really discover why I am more the Genesis 3:1 woman!

Eve, so easily distracted. All it took was the serpent and his talk of things that would make her life, bigger, better, perhaps easier. All she had to do was pursue something other than the will of God for her life. Only one little rule to follow and only one little rule did she break! Well, at least my children come by it honest!

We all have those serpent’s running around in our lives today as well. Look better, live longer, have more, the list goes on. The modern conveniences that are supposed to afford us more time actually eat our time up because we find so many more things to fill that time with. We cannot schedule our time to include the basics because the extracurricular is out there just screaming for our attention!

Can you imagine the Proverbs 31 woman running to and fro so she can get her children to band or sports or tap and ballet and all at the expense of home cooked meals. Not to mention the beds to be made the floors to be mopped, bathrooms to be cleaned and junk to be dusted.

What about the kids to be hugged and booboo’s to be kissed? Homework to go over? Husband’s to spend time with and help relax after a long day out trying to provide for us. Do they have the opportunity to have a good cry in the car on the way home after a bad day like we do????!!!!! Does that even occur to them?

There will always be appointments to attend, oil to be changed, yards to be mowed, seeds planted, weeds pulled. For those of us that help care for aging parents; there are Medicare papers to review and choices to be made. Knees to be replaced, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol to lower, Co-pays to pay, deductibles to meet, appointments to schedule. The list goes on and on.

Your frustrated friend, Annette

I have learned a lot since this email was sent to Debbie. The biggest thing being, how to say no. Not to everything, just to the stuff that really isn't necessary. I have to say I haven't missed out on anything. Am I closer to being a P31? Do my children rise up and call me blessed? I don't think so! But I do take more time to focus on God, my family and less on what the world suggests that I should be doing. Each day has it's own challenges, but I think I am up for it.

Do me a favor though and pray for me!