We all serve our families….but are we doing it in a joyful way or are we building resentment and looking to see if our husbands are doing as much as we are or even just grumble when we do laundry.  

But when we don’t serve our families with joy….it just brings more non-joy feelings to our life.

Remember last week when we talked about Joy being a fruit of the spirit.  When we follow the instructions for life in the bible, it moves us closer to experiencing these fruits including joy.

Again, it’s not that we are not serving our family.  We are taking care of the kids, cleaning the house, prepping meals, shopping, taking care of doctor appointments, medications, school involvement and so much more.  The issue isn’t doing it...it’s the spirit in which we do that can be an issue.

I know for me, I want to serve my family with joy but our intentions and reality are not always the same. I have been praying about this for a bit of time and the one thing that God showed me was this.

There are three things that keep me from experiencing joy in serving my family.

1. Forgetting that this is what God created me to do.  When I lose focus on the biblical principles at play, I get focused on the equality of the housework, and my own needs above the needs of my family.
2. Reactive.  When I plan my schedule and to-do list tightly and I get interrupted to fill a need, I lose it.  There is no joy there.
3. When I become a martyr and not take care of my own needs.

Can you relate to these?  Let’s talk about some solutions.  

1. Get in the word of God.  If you are in the Life Balance Membership, take the Setting Goals in God’s will Bible study...pay special attention to the parenting, marriage, and home versus.  When we can make the bible personal to use and remember the instruction for our creator it makes all the difference.  Life gets noisy so we have to ensure that we are tapped into the vine often and not allow the world to disconnect us.
2. Ok, I am not a fan of the whole take care of yourself before you talk care of anyone movement.  And here is why….it’s a slippery slope.  But we do have to take care of ourselves.  This is what that looks like:   Remember, there is no reward for taking care of everyone else and not yourself.
3. Reactive vs proactive.  I don’t like to be interrupted.  I find that the older I get, the more I don’t like it.  I don’t see this changing anytime soon.  But, when I can serve my family by being proactive about their needs it does two things...1. It focuses my heart and mind on them and what they might need from me. And 2. It allows me to show my love for them and allows them to experience that love.  Give them space (treat others how you would want to be treated) which means creating white space when they are around.