I am suppose to be on a run right now, but I am using a sore throat as an excuse to sit here and blog instead. I am not sure my waistline agrees with my decision but that is the way it goes sometimes. I received an email this morning notifying me that my immigration paperwork has been received and sent to the appropriate office. In three different places on the email it said "DO NOT REPLY TO EMAIL" which is probably a good thing b/c my first thought was I need to email them and see where they are in the process; are you done? how about now? done yet? wait two minutes and then ask again. I learned that tactic from my children, they are professionals at wearing me down. So, that is the latest; it is there at the correct office and now we wait. Matthew 23: 3 (Jesus speaking about the Pharisees) "So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice." I read this and immediately thought of my children, how often is this true in my life in regards to them? How often do I preach to them but not practice? No one spends more time with me then they do, they know me at my worst. I pray God teaches me to practice and not preach, I pray He gives me the strength to be the person I expect them to be. We so often cut ourselves slack; always have a reason for the things we do or don't do but then do not extend that benefit of the doubt to others. Matthew 23: 10 "And you must not be called masters, for you have one Master, the Christ." We are not to be a master in some one's life and we are not to have any masters before Christ, seems simple enough but when you really stop and focus on what He is telling us it becomes more difficult. A person becomes our master when we stand silent b/c we fear what they may think more then we fear what God thinks of us. Our boss or our career becomes our master when we place more of a priority on company policy then the Truth. Our friends are our master when we don't say the things we know we should say just to avoid their disapproving looks or hurtful comments. Our children act as masters as we jump through hoops to avoid disappointing them or depriving them of so many things that they never needed to begin with. The list goes on and on and I realize that I have many masters in my life sometimes as I worry and fret about what others are saying or thinking about me. But, the sad truth in my life is that the master I so often serve is not God or even others but MYSELF. I am slave to what I want, what I think, what I feel. Am I having a bad day? am I tired or a little strung out? Well then God you are going to have to wait until I get some downtime and meet all my needs. Jesus Christ as my Master means what I want in all areas of my life regardless of how insignificant they may seem have to be under total surrender to Him. Whether I wanted to head in another direction no longer matters. The funny thing is is that when I live my days in this type of surrender; when I say the things I know I should say and hold my tongue when I know I should hold my tongue, when I try to love others with His love, life is so much more wonderful, so much more peaceful, so much more complete. When I surrender to the true Master I find true freedom. God, teach me to live the rest of my days serving only You as my Master. On a completely different note; my younger three kids and I have been trying to grow Triops (a prehistoric little creature) for a Science experiment. And I have just killed my second batch, who knew that growing Triops was so difficult!? Apparently I am Triop KILLER and did not know it! Sad. Cole said to me yesterday that I needed to stop ordering more Triops b/c I am just wasting my money. Wow, from the mouth of babes. The truth hurts sometimes. I saved half the batch from the last order so I am going to go for round 3 with these little buggers, wish me luck!