I’ve been an emotional pinball machine lately. Thrown to and fro, bouncing high to low, at the mercy of changing moods.
And not just my own moods (although I’ve got enough for all of us). If Owen’s crabby, I get crabby. If Molly’s dramatic, here comes Drama-Mama.
Sucked into this riptide of reactivity, I’ve felt powerless to lift my head above the rise and fall of the moods and circumstances around me.
When I opened my Bible today, I thought I needed a verse about emotions.
Instead, God gave me a verse about power.
While I bemoaned that I’m drowning and powerless, this verse cut straight through the riptide. It declared that I have, in fact, been entrusted with great power and influence:
A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. (Proverbs 14:1 NLT)
I have the power to be a builder or a breaker.
As a woman, I am the heart of the home. This means the climate of my heart determines the climate in our home. Not my husband’s heart. Not my children’s hearts.
My heart.
True confession: I don’t know if this fact is good news or bad news to me today. I do know that it’s a huge responsibility. And not a responsibility I even WANT most of the time.
But like it or not, it’s true. And pretending it’s not true is not going to change it.
So, yes, it’s a big responsibility. But with that great responsibility comes incredible opportunity. It doesn’t mean I can’t have a bad day. But it IS a crucial wake-up call regarding the damage I can wield with my response to a bad day (or to someone else’s bad day).
But the verse doesn’t ONLY say a foolish woman tears down her house with her own hands. It is a just-as-crucial wake-up call regarding the GOOD I can infuse into my home.
The wise woman builds her home.
Build: (verb)
1. to construct by assembling and joining parts or materials
2. to establish, increase, or strengthen
3. to mold, form, or create
A WISE woman builds her home. She joins things and people together. She establishes, increases, and strengthens her home and those within it. She molds, forms, and creates the climate of her home.
Note that the verse does not say the crafty woman. Not the fashionable, the maternal, the Pinterest-worthy. A woman COULD be all these things. (God bless her! I am not her!) But EVEN IF SHE’S NOT, she can still build her home.
God in Heaven, how do I foster a life-GIVING and life-BUILDING climate in my home when I feel like the world is trying to suck the life FROM me ?
Wisdom. It’s the wise woman. Oh God, what does a wise woman do? And how do I become her?
I needn’t pine after every single womanly/motherly/whateverly skill I may lack.
I need wisdom.
And praise God, He delights to give it.
He doesn’t fault me for needing it. Or asking for it.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)
Perhaps the wisest thing I can do each day is ASK FOR WISDOM.
Wisdom to navigate the tides and currents in my home and our lives. Wisdom to set my sail to catch the wind of God’s Spirit in our presence. Wisdom to remember I’m not the Anchor. Wisdom to honor the gravity of what HAS been entrusted to me: the power to build and the power to tear down with my very own hands.
All the Little Pieces 