Barking At Turtles - Breakout session with Jennifer Dyer

During MomLife Bootcamp we had a breakout session where we were able to choose a topic to attend. I chose Jennifer Dyer's Barking at Turtles. Now the turtle story is all hers to tell, but basically this was about the distractions that come along in a Mom's life and can keep us from experiencing a life of grace and peace. She called each of these things 'turtles' but I'm not that big on turtles so I'm just going to write about them full out.

The first she mentioned were trials. In James, it is said to take joy in our trials because they produce perseverance. Jennifer gave us a few reasons to take joy in the midst of trials. The first reason is because Jesus always comes to those who need him the most. The second reason is because suffering produces longing for eternity, our true home. Another reason is when we go through trials we catch a glimpse of how much Jesus did for us. And last, trials can bring out the best in us and we can thank God for trusting us to endure the trials.

The next distraction she mentioned was guilt - especially guilt that will not let go or that we don't let go.  The first thing we need to do is admit that we have failures. In admitting we are not perfect, we can't feel guilty for when we make mistakes, right? When we admit we have failures, we understand our need for Jesus, our hearts are able to bloom in his light, we are open to receive and understand his race, we can pass his grace onto others and we can be a light shining in darkness. Without our failures and without being poor in spirit we would not understand how much we need Him. We need to let go of our guilt and remember that there is no condemnation in Christ. (Romans 8:1-2)

Fear and failure can also be major distractions. To overcome this we need to turn to God's Word and remember "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24)  John 16:33 says "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome this world." We are not in charge or control of this world. God is.

Never ending messes are next on the list. We need to remember that messes are temporary and keep an eternal prospective so that they don't drag us down. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 Jennifer reminded us that there are no bonus points in heaven for dying with a perfect house. Thank goodness in my case!

We need to also remember to seek first the kingdom of God and avoid being distracted by busyness and stress. Matthew 6:33 tells us "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you." We need to avoid 'doing' things that get in the way of our relationships with God and with our family. Being stressed out with all that we are trying to do and accomplish and not nurturing those relationships is not our purpose here on earth. 

The questions we need to ask ourselves is "what is our primary purpose as a mom?" and "what are our families' goals?". Jennifer recommended we look at our family schedules and consider everything we do in a day, even including changing diapers and carpooling. She suggested we ask ourselves what does not fit in our purpose as moms or does not help meet our family goals. Then she suggested we filter these activities through those ideas. Do not allow guild to force you to say yes because life is full of seasons. We need to enjoy the one in which we live.

Hope this all makes sense and you enjoyed hearing about my bootcamp weekend! This wraps up that weekend but I am looking forward to attending Momlife Bootcamp again in March 2014!