Do you need to change your mind?

I've been struggling with where I spend my time lately and how much gets spent on me verses housework, schooling the kids, changing diapers and bottle feedings, etc. Is it okay to set apart time for me and why do I feel so guilty when I do? God gave me Prov. 14:8 to chew on these last few days. I'm reading The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan, a book about reclaiming the Sabbath rest God intended for us to use, but so many lessons in this book can apply elsewhere in my life, too. I love Mark's breakdown of Prov. 14:8...

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,

(they think about where they are going)

but the folly of fools is deception.

(they keep lying to themselves.)

Mark goes on to say..."Wise people ask, Does the path I'm walking lead to a place I want to go?

If I keep heading this way, will I like where I arrive?

Fools keep making excuses for themselves, justifying and blaming, all the way to nowhere.

They dupe themselves right to the grave. They never change their minds."

This has challenged me to look at the path I'm on and the choices I'm making every day and ask "Do I want to continue down this path? Will I like where I will arrive at the end of this path?" To change our direction, we need to change our mind, our attitudes, thoughts and actions and head down a different path. This idea of changing my mind has been a lightbulb moment for me. I have been the fool, lying to myself, making excuses, justifying, blaming. For instance, with my weight...I can blame the hormones my doctor put me on or my hysterectomy for messing up my hormones. I can justify my decision not to exercise with the fact that there is not enough time in my day to add it in. I'm too busy with all of these kids. My list could and did go on and on and on. I'm just duping myself right into the grave! I have to face the truth about my weight and the physical problems it is causing and the fact that I'm the only one who can do something about it. I won't wake up one day and find it magically fell off while I was sleeping. I must change my mind, my thinking, about what I need to do everyday and the choices that are best for me. That is when I will begin to see real change and improvement.

I can apply this "change of mind" to many, many things in my life and I plan to make more changes in the coming days. What a difference it makes when we do as it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5

Take captive every thought

to make it obedient to Christ.