Update from the Home Front

Life is finally beginning to return to something closer to what we would call normal.  :)  Sarah is finally beginning to feel better after a week of being knocked out by the flu.  I am also feeling a better even though I wasn't completely sick, I have been battling it too.  My daughter coughed less last night so that too was a good sign.

Today I finally got back into the office after almost a week out of it as I had more responsiblity taking care of the family while Sarah recuperated.  I miss all the great time I got with the kids last week, but it is good to get back to the other work that is piling up.  Started chipping away at it today.  Lots more to do.

God has really continued to teach me about allowing a focus on Him to result in self discipline.  My whole life I have struggled with self discipline and I think so much of that had to do with the fact that I was trying to discipline myself for Him instead of allowing a focus on Him to create self discipline in me.  Self control is part of the fruit of the spirit and I find that the more I get my focus much more on Him and yield myself for fully to Him, the more self disciplined I find myself.  I am also continuing to mature as I get older.  :)

To that end, I have been really working on my physical health as well as the relationship health of my wife and kids.  While I have always been a fairly laid back and patient person, I have needed to grow in grace and patience as a husband and father and God is seeing to that.  It really makes such a difference in our house.

I am also continuing to work on studying more, both the Spanish and the other things that I need to focus on and learn.

In the end, you can tell if your are truly drawing closer to Jesus by whether or not there are practical results in your daily life.  Look through the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and see if these qualitites are showing up in greater quantity in your life.  If not, the secret is not to focus on trying to do better with those qualities.  That is all just human effort.  Doomed to disappoint.  Instead, redouble your focus on Christ, His Word, His Person, His Presence.  The Spirit will then produce those qualities in you and you and everyone you interact with will notice.