My Rules

I was challenged today - as I was reading another blog (My Messy Thrilling Life)- to really consider what rules are MY rules and what rules I follow because someone else thought they made sense. Those of you that know me will probably be rolling your eyes right about now and wondering when I EVER follow rules. But that's not what I mean.

I mean the seconds, minutes and hours that we waste worried about what someone else will think about a decision we have made. While I may not have much of a thing for rules in the first place, I have wasted many days of my life concerned about the fallout of certain decisions. I have avoided certain books because someone thought they were inappropriately "magical." I have made myself and my children miserable because I was worried about a random parent in the mall thinking poorly of my children or me. I have doubted myself because someone else stridently insisted they were right about a topic. I have closed down on who I am at times for fear of offending someone else who was still offended in the end because that's just who they are. No more.

From today forward, I will have three rules - to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God.(Micah 6:8) These are MY rules. I did not choose them to benefit someone else. I will not do them because others are looking or because I fear their reactions if I don't. I choose these rules because that is who I want to be. I choose these rules because that is what is best for me and my relationships. I choose these rules because they are not rules that have a separate "letter of the law" and "spirit of the law." I choose these rules because I believe when your spirit is right, the letter of the law will take care of itself.

These rules are sufficient.

So, I am going to go to the library and check out the entire Harry Potter series. I am going to relax and let my boys be boys and concentrate on whether they are living justly, loving mercy and walking humbly - not on what other mothers think. I am going to choose clothes that I love, and not worry what people will think when I wear them. Some days I will purposely leave my house dirty so I can read a book, watch a good movie or even blog while my children sleep. I use fabric softener with ALL of my clothes, even my towels and I'm proud of it. I love people long after they are done with me, and I'm not going to stop. Think what you will.