Bittersweet Homecoming and an article

I am home.
It's a very happy thing, but then again it is very sad. I am going to - I already- miss my dear aunt and my cousins so much. *tear*

I had such a good time with my aunt that we went shopping a lot, and I forgot that I dislike shopping! (Until the one time I was wearing shoes that weren't good for shopping. =P)
Spending time with Sarah, Anna, and Allie is such a joy, even if Sarah freaks out over silly things, Anna talks incessantly, and Allie is a big stinker! =P And I'll even miss listening to Uncle Guy tease Aunt Cindy to death =P.

I wrote an article recently on obedience to parents.



Dear Reader,
I want to share with you something God has been teaching me over the past few months. Something I hope you will grasp sooner than I did. If you can grasp this principle while you are young, and learn to live by it, you will not only save yourself and those around you from much trouble; you will gain length of life, and many blessings. The principle is this: honor your parents.

Honoring your parents means a lot of different things in a lot of different situations. It means obeying them in the Lord. (Our parents are sinners, too, and to blindy follow an order when it is out of line with God is wrong.)Honoring your parents means trusting God to lead you through them. It means respecting them even though you think their ideas are old-fashioned and, well, crazy. It means doing what they ask you to do, - or not doing what they ask you not to do - with joy.

As hard as this is, it is completely worth it. Not only does God bless you when you obey him, but he has promised to bless you especially when you honor your parents! Ephesians 6:1-3 says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." When you honestly seek to do what's right, even though it's hard, it will really draw you closer to God.

One of the blessings that comes from honoring your parents is peace. If you are trusting God to lead you through your parents, you have a lot less to worry about when it comes to what job you're going to get, what college you're going to, or whether or not you should date that really awesome guy/girl. I'm not saying that you don't have to make these decisions for yourself, but when you're submitting to your parents, you have their guidance, and God's blessings.

As you learn to honor and obey your parents you are cultivating a submissive spirit, and this is a major blessing! All throughout life we have to submit to those over us - husbands, bosses, pastors, teachers, and government authorities. The sooner we learn this, the better it is for us and those over us. If we're not struggling to submit we are free to put 100% of our efforts into the job they've appointed to us.

One final note - If you've given your life to Christ, honoring your parents is not something you can get around. Your Lord commands you to honor and obey them. If you want His blessings and guidance for your life you have to obey the rules he has clearly laid out for you. Ultimately,if you learn to abide by this principle, you'll find that God knew exactly what he was talking about when he put it in the ten commandments. Even when it seems tough and crazy to listen to your parents, and even if it seems like it doesn't affect your life, it does. God notices everything, and will bless your obedience to him.

In Christ,
Laura