Motivations Ministries


Oh, Lord, to hear your voice and know what You would have me do.













Saturday, September 25, 2010

Movies with an Autumn Flavor

Go in peace.  The presence of the Lord be with you on your way.  Judges 18:6  NKJV
Many years ago: Zachary, Brandon, Destinee
~ Hello all you bloggy WINners out there!  Have you begun celebrating Autumn yet?  I decorated the house other day, then dusted off my DVD's that have a touch of Autumn's theme: You Got Mail, Mona Lisa Smile, Sweet November.  Yesterday, instead of taking a power nap, I watched Stepmom (love the fall colors).  And this is where I get a little serious, because again, the message came to haunt me: You are a lousy stepmom, and you're also a crummy mother-in-law.  Stop! I told myself.  I've been through this too many times--I'm not going there again.
~ Dang!  Why do I watch movies that force me to take such inward looks at myself?  Am I the only woman in Bloggsville that goes through this?  I talked to some fellow-stepmoms the other day and they were ready to form the Stepmom's Unite Club!
~ As women, we try to be perfect, especially in the younger years.  I was on the threshold of perfection when I was in my thrilling thirties.  Didn't last long.
~ Twenty-two years ago my daughter married, and I became a mother-in-law.  Then Rob and I married, and voila! I was a stepmom.  A few years later, my son married.  Yep, mom-in-law again.
~ I love all my children, step, in-law, and otherwise, but sometimes this love doesn't come across the way I want it to.  I fumble; probably say the wrong words; to this day, I sometimes feel distant.  I ask myself questions about this, but I don't dare go to the source in fear that I might open a can of worms.  I might politely be told, You're right, I don't like you! or I don't like what you stand for.  So for now, I leave the can unopened.  Besides, I figure if my step-kids or in-laws have a bone to pick with me, they are welcome to ring me up anytime.  Hmmm, now I'm asking myself, are you really that brave?  I don't know.
~ A few years ago, I was talking to my Auntie Eunice about being a mother-in-law and a stepmom.  She smiled.  "Honey, I can't give you any advice because I've never been one of those."  Smart words, Auntie.  Unless you've been a stepmom or a mother-in-law yourself, it's hard to give such profound advice.
~  The Lord recently spoke to me regarding relationships. "You can't expect something from someone if they don't have it to give."  That's it--I was putting MY expectations on others.  Those words freed me.
~  I'm doing much better in my savvy-sixties than I did in my fumbling-forties and my fungshway-fifties.  We must focus on the positive.  I'm having too much fun being a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mother, and a grandmom!
Have a WINning week, and go in peace.
Oceans of blessings.
p.s.  I found my curtain rod!

Dad's 88th B'day in Zion, Utah
In Istanbul

3 comments:

  1. Since posting yesterday's blog, I received several personal comments regarding being a MIL and a SM: Be yourself. You can't change someone else's feelings for you. Look closer and see what would 'touch' their heart (a Starbuck's gift card; a humorous card, etc.). No guilt. Love is the answer.
    ~ Thanks, girls, for you input. We learn as we walk on this journey. It's nice that we're not walking alone. We have the Lord. And we have each other. :)

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  2. I LOVE this, Sharron
    ...love the way it kicks
    shame to the floorboards
    where it belongs and shines
    the light right on the monsters
    so we see what they're really made
    of (lies).
    We're all so magnificently imperfect
    and so loved and valued just that way!
    Thanks for encouraging us to
    "just be".
    It's enough.
    Thank GOD, it's enough:)
    -Jennifer
    (GREAT post, my brave friend)

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  3. And Jennifer, you rock! And that's enough for me!

    ReplyDelete