I’ve always been a night owl. But lately, my body seems to have taken that tendency to an extreme. It’s not unusual for me to see three, four, even five o’clock on my alarm clock before I finally drift off to sleep.
I know it comes with the stage of life I’m in. My mother went through it, too, so I know that eventually this stage will pass. But until then, what do I do during all those hours I can’t sleep?
If you follow any of the current self-help influencers these days, you’ve likely come across the concept of self-love. And, if you’re anything like me, at least part of you has recoiled at the idea. It seems rather unChristian, for lack of a better term. After all, my godly parents and the many Sunday School lessons I had as a child taught me to love others and to be unselfish. Self-love sounds like just the opposite of either of those and not like something the Bible would teach. Its connotation smacks of narcissism, certainly not something I aspire to!
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:25-26 CSB
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we make decisions. How I make decisions. I’m dismayed to realize how often I hesitate to do or not do something because I’m afraid of what someone else might think. I’ve also noticed I’m not alone in this. Despite our rather independent-minded culture, our choices are largely influenced by others’ opinions. Sometimes it’s not even what we know to be others’ opinions, but what we assume they are.
For the past 12 years, I’ve followed the blog of a retired gentleman who turned a cancer diagnosis into an adventure. On the day he finished his chemo treatments in 2003, he bought a motorhome and set out on an adventure that would last 15 more years. He started a blog to keep his family and friends informed of his whereabouts and adventures. It wasn’t long until others started following it, too. Over the course of his blogging life he gained a significant following.
I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
Over mountain, or plain, or sea.
I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord.
I’ll be what You want me to be.
It’s been years since I’ve heard this song. But for the last number of days, I’ve been humming it over and over again. I’ve also been reading about Corrie ten Boom and Pamela Rosewell Moore, Corrie’s companion and caretaker during the last decade of her life. The lives of both these women, fully surrendered to Jesus and anything He called them to do, reminded me of this song. It inspires me to continue to surrender myself and my life to Jesus, no matter what He asks of me.
I’ve always thought of boundaries in relationships as drawing a line to keep unhealthy behavior at bay. You know, such as needed for an abusive spouse or a friend who keeps infringing on your time and space.
So when I got to the “Boundaries and God” chapter in Cloud’s and Townsend’s book Boundaries, I was somewhat startled.
Why in the world would we need boundaries with God?
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