Dirty Little Feet
Baby Girl,
There is only one thing I am calling you to do, and that is to reveal My heart - the heart of your Daddy to the world. As you work to pull together around your house what you have so long neglected to care for, you are revealing My heart to your family. That’s where revealing My heart to the world begins.
Go clean your daughter’s bathroom.
Your eyes are filling up with tears because of the little discussion you had with her this morning. She complained that her sister had used her toiletries and that her dad leaves his facial hair from shaving in her sink. You felt the need to remind her that she doesn’t pay rent and so it is not her bathroom, but yours.
When did you start to believe that what I have given you stewardship over is “yours?”
You had your opportunity to raise your kids through boundaries and expectations, and there is no shame or judgment in My voice when I say this because it’s already under the blood, cleansed, and forgiven, but you fell short in innumerable ways. Now is not the time to parent your daughters to maturity. Now is the time to silently reveal to them the mind, heart, and will of their Daddy.
Wash their dirty little feet by keeping the bathrooms clean.
Wash their dirty little feet by taking care of the cats they asked for.
Wash their dirty little feet by dragging their trash cans to the road and dragging them back to the house when it’s been picked up.
Wash their dirty little feet by taking out the trash and recycling when the cans fill up.
Wash their dirty little feet by cleaning the hair out of the shower drain after their showers without a word.
Wash their dirty little feet by fully taking on the burdens that will someday be theirs to bear.
As your daughters step out into the world, you will not be sending them out ill-prepared because you didn’t strong-arm them into maturity. You and your husband, for all sorts of reasons, were incapable of being predictable in your discipline over the years both personally and as parents. The out-of-control state of your home reflects both yours and your husband’s unwillingness to surrender this area of your life to My care and control.
If you had surrendered your home and family to My care years ago and listened for the leading of Holy Spirit, your situation would have been very different over all these years. In your self-willed mind, you were mentally and emotionally unstable in all your ways as you and that single yoke worked feverishly to make everything work out. You never took on the yoke I offered. I’m glad you’re finally taking Me up on My offer!
Encourage YOUNG women to take on My yoke! Tell them what I told you about being yoked with another trained ox and being able to pull four times the amount you could have pulled alone, and then plant the seed in their imagination of how much they could pull if they simply take off that single yoke, put on MY yoke, and walk with Me.
As it is, you won’t be sending your girls out ill-prepared by serving them in this way, but you’ll be sending them out in the world to experience those responsibilities with an understanding of how to care for them in quiet, calm, and generous fashion without any negative feelings towards them.
By your quiet example - without words, reminders, or guilt - they will develop a deep appreciation for the kind of mother you’ve always been and for your deep sacrificial love for them. Your love pales in comparison to Mine but it will act as a shadow. When they see it, they can follow your shadow all the way to your feet, and they will see that your silhouette, from your Fourth Day on, was simply a reflection of My LOVE.
Back to work. You’re doing a good job and NOBODY else needs to acknowledge that.
I LOVE you,
Daddy
Matthew 6:2-4
