Somewhere in my early years as a Mom we found a book called “Goose Goofs Off”.  It is the story of a goose whose has lots of things to do, but as she goes down her list she decides one at a time they can wait until tomorrow.  The result is she goofs off all day!  It is fantasy I loved and envied and yet find myself guilty of!

Fantasy

What Mom can ignore all the tasks of her day without major consequences?

 

Loved

Her care free spirit- not a worry or care in the world.

Envied

The freedom to choose not to do a thing completely eluded me at that point in my life.

Guilty

I stay very very busy all day every day and yet may ignore the most important task.

In our society we do a poor job of educating our children about the concept of making a choice.  I was raised only with the threats of what would happen if I made wrong choices and the rewards for making right choices.  Those choices were defined by the parent, teacher or other authority or mentor in my life. Every choice felt heavy whether good or bad and it was a lot of work to be constantly proving or defending myself.   I didn’t learn until later the joy of living in the freedom to make my own choices based on what I deem important in life.  I am looking at the cookie thing again.  I made it through Christmas without the cookies.  Then sadness due to a funeral, happiness due to anniversary and birthday celebrations gave me the excuse to walk away from my decision.  How pitiful is that?   Obviously once again I didn’t make that choice from the depths of my heart that holds what is important in my life.  And look at me in the last two sentences defining who/what is to blame for my failure!   Below I shall redefine my responses to Goose as I see them today:

Fantasy

Mom’s should evaluate what tasks are important and leave time to play with and enjoy the children she has been blessed with as a priority.

Loved

Jesus said, “Cast all your care upon me and I will give you rest." There is a place in trusting God that we can live care free in a very messy world of problems.

Envied

I do have the freedom to choose to do or not to do whatever comes my way.

Guilty

It’s time for me to get to the core of my own heart and live from there instead of responding to the opinions or expectations of others.  I expect to find joy in being myself and taking full responsibility for how I turn out…….