Saturday, July 17, 2010

He remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103 is one of my favorite Psalms. I love all of it, but for some reason verses 13 and 14 have always resonated with me.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

We humans put so much on ourselves. We expect so much from each other and from ourselves. We should be always bettering ourselves; we should be always aiming for perfection, though we know it’s unattainable. I know what the perfect ‘me’ looks like. She’s a loving wife that gets up before or at least with her husband to make coffee and breakfast and send him happily off to work. She’s a hardworking homemaker who keeps the laundry machines running and the clothes ironed and put away. She’s a mom who makes a healthy and yet tasty meals for her children. Her house is always clean and tidy, ever ready for someone who might drop by.



She is the perfect mom who is patient and always at the ready with a soft answer and encouragement. She is a homeschool mom who knows just what and how her kids need to learn, and who never gets exasperated with learning setbacks. This perfect wife/homemaker/homeschool mom would also never be swayed by parenting or homeschooling fads but would know just what the Lord would have her do at any given time.

Just imagine? Food always cooked and on the table when it’s supposed to be. Clothes ironed and ready for a busy husband to put on when he wakes up and heads out the door. A surety of thought when parenting and educational decisions need to be made. A made bed. Every day.

And yet…

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

He, the one I need to please the most, remembers that I am dust. He knows how I am formed. He knows how my joints ache and my thoughts can be confused. He is compassionate. Surely we, who are so much less than Him, can offer that same compassion to ourselves and those around us.


3 comments:

Heidi said...

Thanks for this post. I so needed this reminder.

Denise said...

Stopping by from the Homeschool Crew. Maybe you mention it somewhere on your blog, but how long have you been homeschooling?
Your family is beautiful!

Tricia said...

Bless you Heidi. It sounds like you and Brenda are having some serious stress this year. I'm praying it gets MUCH better soon!

Denise, I just graduated my first in may. He did attend a private school for K, but has been homeschooled in one form or another since then. All of my other children have been homeschooled since the beginning.