Out of Humiliation

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ~~Philippians 2:3-4 NIV

I never knew hard work until I became a mother. It's the one job that never has time off.

Sometimes the emotional turmoil of my role as a mom attempts to take a toil at me. The demands place on one person at times can be overwhelming.

The dynamics in our household do not always allow for our family to be together, even on holidays. Yesterday's Mother's Day was one of those days. I woke up, prepared to go to church. But as I'm driving off by myself, I pulled over because the tears filled my eyes.

How can I walk into church alone on Mother's Day. Everyone greeting mothers with "Happy Mother's Day." I didn’t feel happy and I couldn’t go on, pretending.

I called a friend who shared with me her perspective on the situation. I thank God she didn’t coddle me. She told me straight out from her own experience that sometimes expectations are set up are from selfish desires.

Ouch. The truth hit me smack dab in the face.

Now slapped with the truth, some sense had been knocked into my selfish brain. I started thanking God that I have a healthy family. It no longer mattered if they were with me at church because I thanked God I have a family.

Already late for my church, I decided to drive to a nearby church that I wanted to visit but had not had the opportunity. Yesterday's guest speaker was Jim Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in The Passion of Christ.

Caviezel shared a statement that stood out to me, "Out of humiliation comes humility and that's where God wants us--to be humble."

Out of my perceived humiliation, I let go of the false expectations of my family serving me on Mother's Day. I chose to serve them and it made me glad to do so.