Last year, after much prayer and investigation into
different options that were available to us, we put our boys into the public
school system. Now there is a whole new group of people that shake their heads
at us and give us looks. Looks that say, “I can’t believe you would do such a
thing! Do you know what they’ll be exposed to?”
Looks of judgment.
It seems like everyone has an opinion on how I should eat,
what I should feed my kids, what my house should look like, what political
bandwagon I should jump on, how I should spend the hours in my day, how I
should raise my kids, and what I should do if I want to be a good wife. And
now, through the magic of blogs, Facebook, and Pinterest, they can share those
opinions with me multiple times each day, and explain to me why not doing the
things they think I should do makes me a terrible person.
Now, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate words of advice that
are offered in a loving manner by friends I know genuinely care about me. And I’m
certainly not saying if someone sees sin in my life, that person should just
keep quiet. These are not at all the situations I’m addressing here.
I’m talking about people who, in most cases, I have never
even met, yet they think they have the right to tell me how I should look,
dress, think, feel, and act. I am sick of people thinking their way is the
right way. For everyone. Period. And if you don’t do things the same way they
do, you are simply inferior.
Most of all, I am sick of letting it bother me so much. I’m
tired of feeling like I have to explain myself and defend my decisions and try
to make everyone happy. Because I can’t. And I shouldn’t.
Do you know the only One who has the right to tell me how to
live my life? My Father in Heaven, who bought me with the precious blood of His
Son Jesus. I can honestly say that when Lars and I have an important decision
to make, we seek God. We pray for His guidance. And we respond to His voice
when we hear it. So I guess it really doesn’t matter what other people think.
There are a lot of things I don’t do right. I admit it. I am
not perfect. Nobody is. Still, I realize I need to stop being so concerned
about what other people think and start concerning myself more with what God
thinks.
And I pray that I will never shake my head at someone else and
give a look of judgment, but that God’s love will shine through me.
