A friend said to me once that it does not do us any good to submit to God in one area of our lives if we are going to disobey in another area....

This has been on my heart a lot since then in so many ways.  It is perhaps the single most impacting piece of advice I have ever been given by one of the wisest people I know.

I look at my life and I see areas where I have submitted and done as I feel the Lord is leading me.  But then there are so many areas where I just completely go in my own way.  I am quick to speak, quick to anger, quick to share my opinion - which I do rather passionately and that has a tendency to offend others.

If you would have told me yen years ago I would be praying for a meek and humble spirit, I would have laughed at you.  But here I am, a wife, a mother, a friend....  and I realize that this is exactly what I need.  I always thought that being meek was a horrible thing but today I looked it up in the dictionary -  Meek is defined as showing patience and humility.

Hummmm, I could use some of that in just about EVERY area I listed above.. wife, mother & friend

So then I looked up humble - not proud or arrogant; modest.

Hummmmm, could use A LOT of that is EVERY area listed above ....  wife, mother & friend

James 1:19 says that "everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger for a man's anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires."

How many times have I be quick to react and it EVER turns out well for me or anyone else involved?  Does a quick response ever get me what I want?  When I snap at my husband does he suddenly realize "Oh, Natasha was right" and do what I want?  No.  And if he does just do what I want I get even more upset because I realize he is just doing what I want because I snapped at him, not because he believes it is the right thing to do.  Either way, it turns out poorly and usually leads to more snapping (yelling)!
If I would have been slow to speak, shared my thoughts in a way that was meek & humble, perhaps he would have seen my wisdom or perhaps not but the yelling might have been avoided.

When I just react and say "NO" to my children without giving thought to what they have asked, I set myself up for tears and gnashing of teeth (on everyone's part).  There are many time, after I have said no, that I realize what they are asking for really was not that big of a deal.  But by that point in time, their whining has gotten so bad that I cannot change my answer for fear that they will believe that the whining was what got their desired outcome.   Had I been a little meek (patient) in my response, I would have realized this and avoided all the drama.

And my friends?  They are constantly bombarded with my arrogance and opinions.  I am not really sure why they put up with me at all!!! 

So here I am, looking down the barrel of the next big thing God wants... my pride, my arrogance.   But then I realize that if I give this up God will replace it with something so much better... a spirit that is modest, patient and full of humility - it does not sound so bad after all.