Frames

Hello!

Welcome to the Dorie's Stories {devotional} Blog!

The devotional story this week almost didn't make it into my book. I felt like it might be a little too personal.

I had started to scratch it from the manuscript but then got distracted (this is a common occurrence) and started randomly organizing my closet (this is not a common occurrence).

I found a box of some old journals and happen to flip one open to the exact page where I had drawn a picture of frames on the lined paper and had journaled what God had been speaking to me about the way He sees us...the story I was about to cut from the book.

I decided that maybe my random closet cleaning wasn't so random and maybe God liked this story so it made it into the devotional. I wanted to share it with you today!

From my book, Hope Looks Good on You!: a Comedian's Joy-inducing Daily Devotional for Women

. . .

Chapter 8: Frames

So, it happened again. I blew it. Bad. My mommy skills were at an all-time low as I walked away from yelling at my son.

He probably did something that deserved correction, but not like that. I cried out to God in my normal fashion, something like: "God, have mercy!" (or as my youngest would repeat: "God, have murphy!")

This time seemed different...desperate. I didn't know how to get to a place where I could figure out what was happening.

Why the blow-ups? Why couldn't I get things under control? I had been a Christian for over thirty years...when does peace and patience kick in?

I would wrack my brain for the right Scriptures — was it the fruit of the Spirit, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, the Last Supper? Why was this so hard?

I felt like in that moment, the Lord said, ‘why don't you just start seeing your children and husband the way I see them?’

Sometimes God talks to me in pictures...He must know I'm a visual learner! I could see a mental image of a golden picture frame with nothing in it.

It was a beautiful and ornate frame on the outside, but the back of it was old and all the wall-hanging parts were exposed.

I felt like the Lord showed me that He saw my kids and husband through the ornate side of the frame, but it was as if I was looking at them with the frame turned around.

He had a whole different perspective of who they are. I realized in that moment that I had been believing lies over each of them and those lies were coloring the way I responded to them. I wasn't seeing their true identity and worth; instead, I only saw all their faults.

I asked God to show me how He sees each of them. It was as if He whispered a word over them, and for some reason, they all started with the letter P...probably because God knows I need a way to remember things easier!