Thoughts on Grace. Do You Act Like a Holy Vacuum Cleaner?

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Awareness of God

Awareness of God
Welcome to Colleen’s Saturday meme. How about joining us at Thoughts on Grace?
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Ah mothers.
Aren’t we great?
Always running around serving,
Acting like a combination of Martha and Mary.
A+ Mums, right?
Think again.
When we refuse to give up control, we shut out the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact we end up acting just like vacuum cleaners when it is God’s job to purify our family in His power, mercy and grace. He needs us to simply be conduits of his Love. It is by Christ’s suffering that mothers and their families are healed, not by the mother acting like the sacrificial lamb or the scapegoat of the Old Testament.
As a mother, I am wired to work emotionally just like a vacuum cleaner,sucking up all my children’s pain. Likewise, my children are compassionate vacuum cleaners as well, who attract other people’s negative emotions. They are all aware that they learned this dysfunctional behaviour not only from observing Michael and me in action but also because they have inherited this trait from both of us.
This problem, The Vacuum Cleaner Syndrome, is a difficult disease to cure. As my daughter and fellow vacuum cleaner, Katie, asked during a family discussion,

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