Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Laying down arms







Upon laying down of arms .

If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country,I never would lay down my arms o never o never o never!
—Pitt,William, 1st Earl of Chatham known as the Elder

In my life, I can find it hard to lay down my arms. To surrender myself, my desires, particularly with regard to my vocation as a wife and mother. I tend to be like the first Earl of Chatham, mentally shouting never, never, never!

Or, usually, in my mind, Sh*t, Sh*t, Sh*t! I am so holy!

At least I can laugh at myself ..
Karen E. has a very thoughtful post on vocation and surrender.

She writes In striving to practice obedience and self-surrender, I've been granted the greatest freedom I've ever known.

It is paradoxical and yet it is true. I give, I give up a desire, I struggle, I pray. And , eventually, there is a sense of reward, of fruitfulness, of this is right, of being content. Perhaps, too, of joy.

Nearly always. Eventually. Although eventually might mean a very long time.

And I don 't do this laying down of arms all the time, I don 't always surrender my desires. I don't believe I am called to do so.

Am I?

P.S. Pics are from Saturday's RAAF Family Day. I thught the military theme fit in with the laying down of arms!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

ROFL - I can SOOOO relate to this. Both the never, never, never and the sh*t ;-)

Good think I married a guy who appreciates such a strong-willed, cantankerous wife!

Leonie said...

Oh, soul sister...

Hopewell said...

Lol! Love your version of Pitt the Elder-- S&^t happens here too! By the way, the photos look like a fun day--like those striped socks!

Greg said...

Wow! In the photo in front of the plane T is one of the tallest in the group!

molly said...

Hilariously true for me too!
Love the photos and the socks, you are so fun!
Oh, and as far as strong-willed, I am right there with you! But thank God, so where many of the saints.

Leonie said...

Gre, T is going to be mortified! lol!

Lisa and Molly, so glad you can relate, makes me feel not so alone wrt being strongwilled...Btw, your comments re the socks also make me feel better..After I posted the pics, I thought OH NO, I look fat!

molly said...

Fat! Are you kidding? If only I looked that "fat".

Karen Edmisten said...

Hi, Leonie! Great post and thanks for the kind words, too!

And I'd agree that we don't always have to surrender our desires, or maybe, that once we surrender them, we get them back a hundredfold, like with the writing, in my case. And I think He often uses or transforms or leads some of our desires for His will, don't you think?

Leonie said...

Definitely, Karen, its a mix - sometimes we surrender, other times a surrrender is not needed..Your post was such a keep and made me thing so I had to link..Thank you so much!