Longing to Inspire

The tough thing for a blogger like me is when I get overloaded with grand thoughts and visions and dreams, and want so much to put them into words and help myself make sense of them all, but can't even find the time to get in front of the computer long enough to make it happen. That's been the case for me for over a month now. I'm overjoyed to be typing out my thoughts tonight. Writing is such sweet release for me. Thank you for joining me on the journey.

I've not been able to get the word "inspire" out of my head for weeks. Not really sure why; it seems to have fallen from the sky in a random sort of way and taken over my thoughts. Words, images, songs, conversations and such all around have seemed to be filled with talk about inspiration, passion, motivation and the like. I guess the Spirit wants me to meditate on it awhile. I've fallen in love with that word "inspire" and all the depth of meaning behind it. Webster's defines it as "to fill with a quickening, or exalting influence; to produce or arouse something in another; to guide by influence or to impel; to bring about; infuse, imbue." I've been thinking about where I get my own inspiration and how, even if, I am inspiring anyone else. I want so much for my life to be more than just a survival from day to day, a passing of time from this moment to the next. I want it to be infused with passion and inspiration. I really want to inspire and to be inspired. I'm pretty sure this is a common feeling with humanity. Everyone wants their life to count, I would think, and yet so many of us just survive. How do we do more than that?


I get the question a lot, "How do you do it? Don't you have your hands full??" I'm never really sure how to answer that question. My friend Angie (who also "has her hands full") and I were recently lamenting that question and finding the right answer to it. Thinking aloud, I told her, "I guess I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. God must do the rest." And truly, that is all there is to it. Just putting one foot in front of the other. Just getting up in the morning and showing up. It may look really difficult to onlookers and yes, at times it is, but I do it the same way everyone else does- minute by minute. God always gives me the strength, ability, and fortitude. I really don't even think about it or I might get overwhelmed. :)  But I want so much more than just to survive each day. I want to have conquered it! To have lived well! To have truly uplifted and inspired my children and infused their lives with passion. And yes, I believe that can be done. Someone once said "Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire." That statement challenges me. I want to do more than fill my children's buckets; I want to light a fire within them. I've been asking God to show me what inspires them and how to use that to light their sweet little fires. I've been analyzing the questions, "Can I inspire my children to greatness? To curiosity? To hard work? Determination? Passion?" and of course, "If so, how?"I'm trusting God to show me that one day at a time. :) 


As usual, Bro. Greg's message in prayer meeting tonight went right along with this theme for me. We're still in Hebrews 11. We reached verses 23-26 about Moses' beginnings. Verse 23 says that Moses' parents hid him for three months after his birth (as Pharoah had declared that all Israelite newborn baby boys were to be killed), because "they saw that he was no ordinary child" and they "were not afraid of the king's command." Moses' parents chose faith instead of fear at a time when it would have been totally understandable and socially acceptable to kill him as they were commanded. They believed that God had given him to them for a purpose, to be part of the future generation of God's people. I thought about if that situation were to happen today, how so many "well-meaning, Christian people" would look down on Amram and Jochabed keeping that child in faith. And yet, God was in control the whole time! He was aware of Pharoah's decree and that that could mean death for Moses. But He was in control and had a plan. Thankfully Amram and Jochabed were full of faith. They influenced, inspired and infused Moses with a distinct identity with God's people, following God's ways, that went with him for the rest of his life. Verses 24-26 say that Moses refused to be identified with the family of Pharoah and the Egyptians, though that could have meant a life of luxury for him, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin." He valued Christ as more precious than all the riches of Egypt. Their son Moses later led God's people out of slavery. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is! :) 


Bro. Greg ended the sermon pointing out that Moses refused the pleasures of Egypt and chose God. He said that refusing and choosing are two sides of the same coin; refusing one thing is in essence choosing another. Someone said, "Life is the sum total of all our choices." That really made an impression on me. We are constantly making decisions about what is important, what matters, what drives our passion and inspires our actions. Every moment. We can either sit and soak, or get up and be inspired. Inspire others. My passion, my calling in life, is to pass on a legacy of faith to this next generation of little Rodgers. I mean I am so super passionate about these children, this family, this calling. I am choosing to see these days of diaper changing and toilet training and ABCs and 123s as important days that can never be replaced. I am choosing to inspire my children with love and hope and overflowing joy, refusing to just pass the time as quickly and easily as I can. These are the days that will affect the generations to come. Who knows? Maybe I'm raising a Moses!