If you’ve ever flown on a plane you’ll remember the flight attendant telling you the various operations of the plane, the location of the exits, how the seat makes a cool flotation device and how should the cabin pressure drops - oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling and parents should put the mask on themselves before placing it on their children. Now that statement stopped me in my tracks. Of course, as a parent (and like most parents), I would normally take care of my children first, but the flight attendant made a brilliant and life-changing statement for me when she said “If you pass out from lack of oxygen, who will take care of your children?!” Well duh!!! Brilliant my dear Watson - just Brilliant!!

Now you would think I would remember this life-changing statement and carry it over into my down-to-earth life (pun, intended :P) and most of the time I do. I need to take care of myself so that I can be the best mommy I can be for my family. Are you?

If you’ve read my blog here recently, you know I’m struggling with some health issues. I’m in the middle of another “episode” (guess we’ll call them an episode for the lack of a better term, because an “attack” sounds like aliens are invading or something. LOL) and I was flipping through TV channels and caught a brief bit on a show about Angelina Jolie. She’s a beautiful women who lives a life quite the opposite of mine in many ways. The interviewer made comment on how thin she was at that time, and she made comment her weight loss was due to chasing after four children and grieving over the recent loss of her mother. I have six children myself (although three are grown and gone); three of whom are still young and at home; I do have three daycare infants whom I watch all day long and three dogs (two of them very young dogs - one just a 5 month old puppy!) and I am not struggling with keeping weight on. Now I did not just lose a parent. So not sure if grief could be a factor - perhaps so. But I suspect a couple things: first, Angelina has never struggled a day in her life with being overweight, and probably quite the opposite. I’ve had more than one friend that struggles to gain weight. As odd as that may seem for those of us who have struggled to lose weight, it is just as serious a problem. The bottom line is the same: we, as mothers and women, need to take care of ourselves. We can not be here for the ones we love if we neglect our bodies and our health. It serves no useful purpose to do so.

“After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church” Ephesians 5:29

Time and again I hear of mothers who put their children’s needs before their own in every way. They don’t eat, they don’t sleep, they don’t exercise, they’d don’t get their prayer and quiet time and they don’t get any time for their marriage. This is a perfect example of wrong priorities! Yes, children take time, and many children do take lots of time, but they should not take ALL of your time and you should ensure that YOU are MAKING time for YOU and most importantly making time for your MARRIAGE.

If you have not been setting aside time every single day for a quiet time, exercise, and time every single day to talk (uninterrupted) with your spouse, then you do so right now TODAY.Instruct your children that from such and such time is time for mommy and daddy to talk - perhaps it will need to be after the kids are in bed, or before they get up. Whatever works best for you - but you need to have at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour where you two can connect and talk. I’m not necessarily talking about sex here, but of course you need that too; I’m talking about time to communicate about your day, talk about household business, his work stuff, etc….if you can work the sex in at that time too - GREAT!

Exercise. I know, for many it’s like a four-letter word. But honestly, we do need it. If you live a very active lifestyle, like on a farm where you’re out working the fields, then you probably don’t need any structured exercise, but the rest of us most likely do. Even those who don’t need to lose weight, still need exercise for muscle tone, flexibility and cardio health. There’s great health benefit in just 30 minutes a day. I love the Walk Away the Pounds videos. So weather does not become an excuse to not doing it. Leslie Sansone, the creator of this program, is also a Christian and one of the versions is also a Christian one with praise music! Although any of the versions are appropriate for Christians and I highly recommend them. She has one just for kids and a new one for families! If us moms are fit and healthy - then we can better take care of our families. It just makes sense.

Get your quiet time of prayer and Bible reading in every single day. I do mine in the evening during my nightly bath soaking. This is what works best for me in my daily routine. I have other times when I actually study my Bible - but my prayer time and reading of passages for meditation comes in the evening. I prayer all throughout the day as I’m working, driving and doing other things - so not always on my knees and “formal” prayer, but quietly to myself and sometimes it is more formal. There’s many types of prayer. If the word says we are to pray without ceasing, then there are obviously many types of prayer because we can’t always be face down praying! We have to work and eat at some time.

“ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19,20

Wise words from God. It’s not selfish to take care of the body that houses the Holy Spirit and that God himself uses to carry out His will and His purpose on this earth. We are here for God’s will and to fulfill His wishes and His purpose - not ours. Yes, we have freewill, and that’s a wonderful blessing, and quite frankly, one that we abuse. So often, we don’t even consult God on what we do and how we live our lives. We just do whatever we want and don’t consult Him, until we’re in such a mess and then we want to blame God or want Him to fix it. If we would’ve read the instruction manual first (BIBLE=Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth), or consulted with God about our plans before we dived in and did them, then our lives wouldn’t be in such a mess. God has a divine order and way He prefers things to be done and it’s all with good reason. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense to you, or if you want to put your children’s needs above your own and you run yourself into the ground and then can’t take care of them, your home and have nothing left for your husband: it still isn’t God’s will for you to do so. Read the instruction manual and get with the program!

Don’t go down with the plane!

Written by Traci Knoppe ©: Aside from her roles as wife, mother of six, mother-in-law and grandmother, Traci is a Christian parenting instructor, Sunday school teacher, and business owner.

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