What Is REALLY Important?

That's the question I'm asking myself today. With three young kiddies it's so easy to lose hold of the things that are really important. The fact of life is that children need to be fed, nappies need to be changed, and behaviour issues can't be put on hold.

Needs and wants can get blurred very quickly, and there are always plenty of gentle suggestions from the sidelines about things that we really should be doing... And while there are certain core, foundational truths - e.g. the ten commandments - there is no specific formula for life (e.g. 7am - get up, 7.30am - bible study, 8am visit sick/elderly). The best method of implementing our values changes from day to day.

Even if there were a formula I guess I would struggle to follow it anyway.

So... I'm just mulling this over, meditating on how much of my time is spent doing things that really count, whether mundane or exciting. Meanwhile, we keep plodding on, and I am gradually turning some of the important things into daily habits.

My small victory at the moment is that we are actually reading the bible together (almost) every morning. I plan on incorporating more of the really important things into every day - one step at a time.

A Question of Faith...

Life is a battle right now. A battle to get out of bed every morning. A battle not to get side-tracked by the menial tasks. A battle to do the things that really should be done before the things that I just really want to do.

So what does that have to do with a question of faith? Let me answer that as clearly as I can through the fog of mother-brain.

My time and energy are being sapped by trivialities because I don't have the faith to trust that God will look over the 99.999999 (OK, you get the idea)% of the universe that I have no control over and no responsibility for. I cannot change the amount of packaging that my food comes wrapped in. No really, I can't. Three young children is more of a priority than a one-woman campaign against supermarket giants and midgets alike. SOOOO I can stop stressing myself over trying to reuse every scrap of packaging. (What about your recycle bin? I hear you say. To which my answer is that I have serious doubts about how good recycling is for the environment - better to use less to start with, in my mind).

Anyway, that's just a small example. The point is, I can't compensate for all the wrong stuff that goes on in the world. I can hate it. I can work really hard to overcome my sins through the power of God's spirit. I can teach my children. I can speak the truth in love. But I can't, can't, CAN'T by the greatest stretch of my will and strength change one single thing about any other person.

So here's to being an inspiration and encouragement to others by being the best that I can be, and having the faith that God will deal with everything else ... perfectly!