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Showing posts from June, 2019

Growing into Truth

There is a running joke I have with my husband. Whenever we do something that is completely predictable, or on brand behaviour for someone we know well, we say with affectionate humour “Classic Peg!” (It’s a SNL skit that we’ve adopted). I get a ‘Classic Jo’ every time I forget to set a timer and end up burning food. There are some things I still do, even though past experience or sheer logic would teach me to change my ways. While it’s good to be able to laugh at oneself with someone who knows and loves you well, there are some things I do which are ‘Classic Jo!’, which I really do want to change. Personal makeovers are most certainly a long game, but effort alone isn’t the solution, there are some things that can only be changed by God, his truth and in his good time. When I was younger I erroneously thought I would have worked through all my issues and learned all I needed to know to do life well come middle age, but growing older has only meant encountering a whole new set of situ

Fixing

Currently, the common choice of music in our family is that of Coldplay. Whenever the kids are in the car and arguing about what to listen to, Coldplay is universally agreed on. So I’ve had the pleasure of many hours absorbing their lyrics. One song in particular has really resonated with me and how I’ve been feeling. It’s entitled Fix You and the song begins with the words, “When you try your best but you don’t succeed. When you get what you want but not what you need. When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep, stuck in reverse”.  The daily challenge of adapting to life with teens, has left me feeling like an utter failure. A repetitive and unhelpful thought has played through my mind, negativity suggesting that all my conscientious efforts in the toddler and primary years have amounted to nothing. It has felt like everything I’ve tried to instil has been crumpled up and tossed out; deemed irrelevant and outdated (a common teenage assessment of things). My motives, my values and my h