The last blog post was about being seen differently by people and not acting the way of the world. I have been mocked a couple times by the way I have chosen my life and Im ok with that, but my heart keeps telling me theres more to say. Its the wierdest thing to have your heart pulled and tugged for what has been on my mind, but the only way to put it to rest is to write it out. The podcast of life church was a series "from this day forward" learning five principles for marriage. I will use the same quote as before, it just got to me,"If you want to have a different marriage and family than everyone else, then you have to do things differently than everyone else". It really is a very powerful statement. We do have rules in our marriage and home that most people think is ridiculous and most of the time my husband thinks they are ridiculous, but weve been married before and you all know how that worked out so, if we want a different marriage, we will have to do different things than we did before or we will have the same outcome. Marriage is work...its hard, difficult and it takes two to never give up and make the commitment that we are together and will be together forever so lets work this out.
The analogy thats been on my mind to demonstrate living a different family life seems really odd to write about but totally relatable. "The Simpsons" is the all time all American family that we have watched for years and yes a bit eccentric at times, but we laugh because we can relate. Many of my "church" friends were never allowed to watch it because it was a "sin" show that promoted bad things and thats ok, but for the rest of us we watched the "Simpson" family live their lives and mocked or made fun of the "Flanders" family. The Flander family was a church going, praying kind of family. They were made fun of for being "churchy" and "proper" and the show really highlighted the different kind of lifestyles. Here is the interesting part, as I mature with Christ, I can see things differently and this show has been in front of me over 20 years, my dad loved it and it was on in our house every night. Not once (that I remember) did Ned Flanders ever wish he was Homer Simpson. The Flander family was always smiling and happy and doing things together as a family. He was always there to pick Homer up, never seemed to have a bad day and had the "perfect" life. We all watched and thought yea right, hes a wierdo...hes different and his family is different and strange. I do however remember a couple times that Homer was in trouble with his family and they would leave and Homer was left to join the Flanders family. Even though they were completely different, Homer at times would deep down wish his family was like that...he noticed they were different and craved it with his family. Of course his family would come back and hed go back the way he was but, he looked over the fence and knew they were different and began to wish his family was that way at times.
I dont think you should envy other peoples families and marriages, but I think we all have families that we look up to and strive to do things like they do because we crave the outcome they have with their marriage and family. What you dont see is the work that these families do internally that sets the foundation for united growth. These families have rules, they lay ground work, they stay pure with God and each other, they understand Gods plan and design for marriage and family and really want his promises. They are "different" than most of us. They watch what they say, what they see, where they go, how they dress, who they are with. Its hard to be different, but the outcome is far greater than any of us can imagine and a big part of that is internal peace. Internal peace of mind when your not worried or second guessing those closest to you is worth the work alone not to mention its pleasing to God. I feel like at this point I am in the middle taking my family from one extreme to the other. The "Simpson" family has turned into the "Flanders" family in our household, so of course we will be mocked and made fun of for the way we choose to maintain our family, that must mean were different. We are here for the people that want to come, but dont judge the "Simpson" families out there because we have been there and we love people. We are not here to turn our backs on people or come across that we are better than our former relationships, we just choose to be different and for those who are offended please take a number because Im sure that there will be more in the future. There will be many tests of people trying to break up what we have to see if its pure and genuine, along with Satan trying to rip apart our family again and try to get us to turn our backs on God again. He will be persisitant, he has won before and he will try again. We are human, we will fail, we will make mistakes but our hearts are in the right place as we strive to please God and follow his path for us. "Greater is he that is in us, than he that is in this world".
The analogy thats been on my mind to demonstrate living a different family life seems really odd to write about but totally relatable. "The Simpsons" is the all time all American family that we have watched for years and yes a bit eccentric at times, but we laugh because we can relate. Many of my "church" friends were never allowed to watch it because it was a "sin" show that promoted bad things and thats ok, but for the rest of us we watched the "Simpson" family live their lives and mocked or made fun of the "Flanders" family. The Flander family was a church going, praying kind of family. They were made fun of for being "churchy" and "proper" and the show really highlighted the different kind of lifestyles. Here is the interesting part, as I mature with Christ, I can see things differently and this show has been in front of me over 20 years, my dad loved it and it was on in our house every night. Not once (that I remember) did Ned Flanders ever wish he was Homer Simpson. The Flander family was always smiling and happy and doing things together as a family. He was always there to pick Homer up, never seemed to have a bad day and had the "perfect" life. We all watched and thought yea right, hes a wierdo...hes different and his family is different and strange. I do however remember a couple times that Homer was in trouble with his family and they would leave and Homer was left to join the Flanders family. Even though they were completely different, Homer at times would deep down wish his family was like that...he noticed they were different and craved it with his family. Of course his family would come back and hed go back the way he was but, he looked over the fence and knew they were different and began to wish his family was that way at times.
I dont think you should envy other peoples families and marriages, but I think we all have families that we look up to and strive to do things like they do because we crave the outcome they have with their marriage and family. What you dont see is the work that these families do internally that sets the foundation for united growth. These families have rules, they lay ground work, they stay pure with God and each other, they understand Gods plan and design for marriage and family and really want his promises. They are "different" than most of us. They watch what they say, what they see, where they go, how they dress, who they are with. Its hard to be different, but the outcome is far greater than any of us can imagine and a big part of that is internal peace. Internal peace of mind when your not worried or second guessing those closest to you is worth the work alone not to mention its pleasing to God. I feel like at this point I am in the middle taking my family from one extreme to the other. The "Simpson" family has turned into the "Flanders" family in our household, so of course we will be mocked and made fun of for the way we choose to maintain our family, that must mean were different. We are here for the people that want to come, but dont judge the "Simpson" families out there because we have been there and we love people. We are not here to turn our backs on people or come across that we are better than our former relationships, we just choose to be different and for those who are offended please take a number because Im sure that there will be more in the future. There will be many tests of people trying to break up what we have to see if its pure and genuine, along with Satan trying to rip apart our family again and try to get us to turn our backs on God again. He will be persisitant, he has won before and he will try again. We are human, we will fail, we will make mistakes but our hearts are in the right place as we strive to please God and follow his path for us. "Greater is he that is in us, than he that is in this world".
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