Rule of Life

What exactly is a Rule of Life?  To me, it is a way to stay focused on my end goal.  Loving and serving God.  The guidelines in which I live my life by.

I am human (duh, Athena).  Because I am human and because of the fall of man, I am inclined to sin (Concupiscence, thank you high school youth ministry for teaching me these big words).  This inclination to sin makes it very difficult to not live for myself.  Naturally I want to be selfish.  Therefore, I have come to realize I need a plan to stay focused. I need rules to prevent myself from falling into bad habits.

For me, this is necessary.  It is clear I need boundaries.  It is clear I need the grace of God to obtain any amount of holiness.  So what is my plan?

Doing what I ought to do.  What I believe God intended for me.  Discerning His will for my life, which I believe is to be a wife to my amazing husband and a momma to these three sweet babes. 

I need to keep myself in His presence at all times so I can be sure to radiate His love to my husband and children.  This means making time for prayer.  I need to wake up early to have my half hour with Him, reading His Word in scripture, journaling, spiritual reading, and listening to Him.  I need to keep focused on what my duties are as a wife and mom and allow God to work through me so I can find patience, love, humility, and kindness throughout my day.  It is not I who can do this, but Christ. Therefore I need to conform my will to His. 

Parenting is hard.  Some days I think, "yep, I got this, no problem," and other days I feel as though I've been pushed to my limits.  Yes, we all have limits.  Our limits remind us that the only way to persevere with any grace is through the grace of God.  With Him we can do and survive anything! 

Even a major crash on the sidewalk :)

I also realize every aspect of my life must Glorify God.  If he created me to love and serve Him, then I should really start thinking about how my daily activities, recreation, and conversations reflect Him.

This might sound really out there, but it really works.  I've recently decided to try to imagine Jesus standing next to me all the time.  Think about it, if you could see Jesus standing next to you all the time, don't you think you would act differently?  It changes what you say, how you talk to your children and your husband.  It even changes what you watch on TV.  Can you imagine sitting next to Jesus while watching a movie that is devaluing sex? Or even one that disrespects Him in anyway?  If you believe in Him, you can't deny it would change your actions.  This has helped me to know what I can and can't watch, listen to, or participate in.  I realize I need to stay focused on loving Him.  It is that simple. 

My priest recently shared a quote from a book about my patron saint, St. Margaret Mary.  She lived in the late 1600's and was able to see and hear Jesus.  One of the things He said to her was recorded in the book my priest was reading, "The Devotion to the Sacred Heart," that I found extremely beautiful and is a good reminder of our call to love Him and to keep things simple..

"...of thinking at almost every moment of so many things, know that you will satisfy all by loving Me without reserve and without interruption; think and apply yourself to loving Me perfectly; pay attention only to loving Me and consequently only to pleasing Me on every occasion and in every thing; let My love be the object and the end of all your thoughts, actions and desires; breath only My love, and endeavor so to love Me that you may love Me daily more. I assure you that, without troubling yourself about anything else, you will accomplish more by this holy exercise..." -Jesus to St Margaret Mary

So my dear friends, this is where I am at right now.  Simply trying to love Him in every aspect of my life.  Through this love, I am finding an inner peace I have never known.  Although to the outside, all of these rules must seem restrictive, to me, they are freeing.  I am able to be exactly who God intended me to be, and I am able let go of all anxiety and worry, because when I allow Him to live my life for me, I have nothing to fear.  He is in control.

I easily get distracted by the pulls of the world and the pulls of my own selfish desires, which is why I am making a Rule of Life for myself.  Praying this will keep me focused on my one job, loving and serving God.  I desire to keep straight toward the path to holiness.

Please pray for me, and I will pray for you. 

"Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire." -St. Catherine of Siena

**Photo credit: My sister Nicole Vaughn**