I think I received the most response from the last two entries than I have in a long time. I even had a loyal ‘male’ reader send me an email telling me to make sure I was nice to Neal and to cut him some slack. See, if Neal read my blog then I could tell him he even had people on his side! But he doesn’t so I’ll just let that be for now. I WILL say that he is MUCH BETTER today…close to his ‘usual’ self. We had a ‘discussion’ ( 😉 I’m sure Joy is laughing at this one as she had to suffer through it) regarding our youngest, sports and being positive with constructive criticism. All I can say is that God made me a woman for a reason… 🙂
When looking back through the day it took me awhile to truly remember what message I might have received in ‘showing up’ but then it hit me, – tepid. You don’t want to become tepid (moderately warm, lukewarm). The irony of this word and this ‘message’ for today is how quickly the danger revealed itself. I read the meditation this morning before Mass began and it was warning that when you are in ministry and you begin to become ‘burned out’ and you don’t keep seeking God to open new doors to stoke your fire for serving Him then the ‘disease’ of becoming tepid occurs and once it sets in it can be deadly to your ministry. This hit to the core and I spent quite sometime praying about this, asking God to keep my fires burning in all that I do for Him.
The danger set in as I began to taxi the kids from school to home, to piano, to home, to baseball, then to the correct baseball field, all the while on the phone trying to make sure I have one kid picked up and taken to rehearsal while another kid is picked up from band and taken to my in-laws all so I can go out of town. The sheer tediousness can drive one mad – but in reality this is the poison that can set in for ALL MOMS because this is our #1 vocation…our #1 ministry! When I went back to St. Hyacinth this weekend and recalled my desperate prayers to become a mom, and to save my child, I remembered that burning desire inside that set this life-long ministry ablaze. But in every stage of my children’s life I can also recall these moments of becoming tepid, the blaze dying down to hot coals because the sheer monotony of being responsible for the mundane needs day in and day out can cause you to loose focus on the overall masterpiece that is being formed moment by moment even in the mundane. Even in the countless drives to and from, here to there, day in and day out.
I related instantly to the message this morning in regards to ‘ministry’ at the church…but I failed to recognize the biggest hazard is within my own role as a mom and a wife. 😉 Suddenly every moment becomes sacred (though I will say, I do know I’ll need to be reminded of this often).
🙂
Blessings
Shannon