Proper Place . . .

My minds a humming, so this one is a bit lengthy, but hang with me.

My kids would be familiar with an old adage that I often used as they were growing up. If they are reading this, I'll bet they know what I'm about to say. "Everything has a place and everything in its place." Even if the toilets needed cleaning or the kitchen floor hadn't been mopped in months, as long as the house was clutter-free I could function a lot better because at least things were in their proper place.

Over the years I've been discovering (and still am) that the phrase "proper place" means more than just an orderly home. Relationships, material things, and even things in the spiritual life have their proper place. It's so easy to place people or things where they don't belong.

For instance, I need to keep my husband in his proper place. And I don't mean this in a derogatory way. I mean like giving Dennis priority over my children, or other things as far as that goes. A mom can easily put children before husband. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I want Dennis to be the one I serve, love and honor the most and my actions and expressions better show it.

On the other hand, I need to keep my kids in their proper place and I need to understand my proper place in their lives, especially with our now grown and married children. As parents we start out as caregivers. Children need us not only to survive in the early years, but to learn and grow in character. Throughout the teen years we assume the role of coach - training them in the game of life, occasionally calling them to the sidelines for a pep talk or a new game play (and at times, discipline), but always their greatest fans. Once they are independent adults we serve as counselors (only when they ask for it - that's the hard part).

Two years ago while taking a college course on Spiritual Formation I realized I had taken "devotions" out of its proper place. "Doing my devotions" had become an idol in my life . . . a check on my spiritual "to do" list, a discipline that made me holy. Now that's called self-righteousness. I'm not saying that reading the Word and praying are not good things to do, but they are only pathways to God. God is the One who makes me holy, not the Bible or my prayer life. We need to be on guard for a Pharisaical view of the disciplines. We need to keep them in their proper place.

And just recently I understood to a greater degree that a certain action didn't belong to me - that of judging. It is not my creaturely role to judge. It is something that solely belongs to God. Only with Him, is judgment in its proper place.

No wonder God made the first two commandments about keeping Him in His proper place. He knew our tendency to misplace even Him. "No other gods before me."

The phrase "proper place" is my "word" for the year. Last fall my schooling consumed me because I had taken it out of its proper place. I loved my classes and all, but not to the point where it took precedence over just about everything and everyone else. I sometimes can become so absorbed with something that life gets cluttered and I need to remind myself, "proper place." Once I put it in its proper place, life is as it should be.