Gevurah of Chesed (Boundaries to Love)

Today is the 2^nd day of the counting of the Omer.  This is the day of the Gevurah of Chesed (judgment or boundaries of loving kindness).  I do have a confession to make about yesterday’s counting of the Omer.  I told you that the counting is a rectifying of our emotional and spiritual well-being in order for us to remove the Egypt from our lives.  I also reminded you that there is an Egypt for each of us.  The truth is, whenever we are delivered from our Egypt, it seems it doesn’t take long before the Egypt we have left behind begins to catch up to us and draw us back into its’ fold once again.  That is the purpose behind going through the counting of the Omer every single year, over and over and over.  As long as we remain in this world, we are surrounded by Egypts on every side.  Those Egypts will do their best to pull on us, twist us, taunt us, allure us and try to reel us back into their folds. 

As I went through my day today trying to keep Chesed of Chesed on my mind, my Egypt surrounded me with extra forces and I was drawn into conversation after conversation which I knew was displeasing to HASHEM.  By the end of the day I felt dirty and beaten down and ultimately I felt like an epic failure.  The one day in the year in which I should have exuded love, I exuded anything but love it seems.  I was relaying to a friend how much of a failure I felt when she reminded me, “If you recognize your failures, then you haven’t failed.  It is when you can’t see them, that you have truly failed.”  How true!  Reminds me of an old Beatle’s song, “There are none so blind, as he who will not see.”   I wanted to let you know that I struggle every single day of my life, but HASHEM looks at the heart.  He wants a heart that longs to connect with Him!   If you are a parent, think about your child.  You do not stop loving your child each time they do something that displeases you or something you have asked them not to do.  But, oh the difference it makes when you see a look of true heart break on their face for the act they have committed.  That is our connection with HASHEM! 

Now, on to today’s counting of the Omer.  Gevurah of Chesed

I really have written a couple of posts on yesterday and today’s lesson already in previous posts, but will just ask a few questions for today.  This is helping you see where your loving kindness (or your love) may need some boundaries.  Love MUST have boundaries or discipline in order to work properly.  Just as in the picture above, how could a game of baseball be played if there were no boundaries?  How would the players know when they scored a run?  Love must have boundaries so there is no confusion for those involved.  If you really want a full explanation on this you will have to go back to my previous post "What's Love Got To Do With It".  

Now, are you ready for some tough questions? 

Parents  

Do you have boundaries and discipline for your children?  Unconditional love is no love unless it has appropriate boundaries with it.

Do you force your children to follow your dreams and a path you have chosen or do you allow them to follow their own hopes and dreams?

Are you so overprotective with your children that you smother them rather than allowing them room to fail?

Do you have so many rules for your children to follow they barely have time to be children?

Husbands / Wives / Dating Relationships

Do you give the other person in the relationship their own personal space?

Are you sensitive to the other person’s needs or are you selfish?

When you dream about the future, who's future do you consider, yours or theirs or both?

Other Relationships

Are you a person that is easily taken advantage of?

Are you an enabler for someone with a habit or dependency?

Do you isolate yourself?

Do you reach out to others, but let very few into your life?

These questions can help you see whether you have too few boundaries or in the case of the last two questions perhaps too many boundaries.  These are thoughts to ponder for the next 24 hours.  I certainly know where I fit in this category and I have been working on those for the past couple of years.  I am making progress, but I definitely need to pray specifically for direction on them tonight and tomorrow. 

May HASHEM open your eyes to see what HE wants you to see about your inner soul during this counting of the Omer.  Blessed be HE!  Shalom!