My ultimate goal has always been to be an amazing grandmother. In fact, I wanted to be a grandmother before I even had children. I know it may seem ridiculous, but I've had such incredible examples in my own life that I couldn't help but wish to be the kind of women my own grandmothers are. I just wanted to skip to the part of life where I would be incredibly wise, sweet, endlessly patient and loved by all. Easy, right? Ha!
It wasn't until I had my own children that I realized: this is the initiation process. No one becomes amazing overnight. It is these years as a mother that will ease me into becoming an amazing grandmother.
It wasn't until I had my own children that I realized: this is the initiation process. No one becomes amazing overnight. It is these years as a mother that will ease me into becoming an amazing grandmother.
Recently I was explaining my ultimate goal to a new friend. Anyone who has known me for any length of time will soon discover my not-so-secret ambition. As I was talking to her, I realized my ultimate goal to become a grandmother isn't really about having grandchildren. It's actually more about mirroring the person I want to become.
1 John 3:7 says those who practice righteousness belong to God, and those who practice unrighteousness don't belong to God. It’s such a simple idea: if I belong to God then I should act like him, plain and simple. I suppose this is a principle that could be applied across the board: if you want to be a good musician, then you practice music. If you want to be a good doctor, then you practice medicine. If you want to be an Olympic gold medalist, then you take the time to work out and develop your skill. You get better at whatever you choose to practice. It's funny that we associate practice with professions more than we associate it with character because I think God is more concerned about the person we are becoming than the goals we are achieving.
So these days I'm leaning into becoming that amazing grandmother. Since I want my future grandmotherly self to be kind, then I’m practicing being a kind mother. Since I want to be known as a patient woman 20 years from now, then I’m learning to take time to respond instead of reacting - I’m practicing being patient. Since I want to be an amazing cook, I’m hunting down good recipes and keeping that oven warm! It’s tempting to think that one day everything will fall into place and we'll magically be more awesome, but I think it's our daily habits that determine who we eventually become.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How about you? What are you practicing these days?
2 comments:
Hi Mekeisha, it’s Erin! Haven’t been here in a while but what a pleasant surprise to see you starting the new year of 2019 already sharing new stories and encouraging words for us fellow sojourners ;) Also, as I scrolled and read posts and came to the bottom of the page and realized you’ve had over 14,000 views in less than a year! Wow! Love reading your posts!
Hey Erin, it's nice to see you on here! I do hope to write more this year. Thanks for popping in!
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing... I love to hear from you!