Its not our children. They are a gift from God; they teach us patience, love, grace, discipline, humor, joy, and more patience – we wouldn’t trade them for anything. I love that my wife is an athlete and enjoys running; it’s a major stress reliever for her and helps keep her sane, especially after countless hours taking care of the kids. The Navy is a good job; my son LOVES coming to the ship, my wife is an amazing patriot when it comes to serving our country as a Navy Spouse (extremely difficult job - especially when I'm deployed), and I work with incredible people who love our country. Finally, we enjoy and benefit from fellowship which we prioritize along with the Bible and prayer as critical parts of our walk with God.
But all this has caused my wife and I to have spent many sleepless nights over the years discussing (or even arguing about) the absolute necessity of simplifying our lives, yet life has yet to become more simple.
Most of us feel this way more often than we care to admit. We get tired, frustrated, annoyed, and sometimes cynical when we stretch ourselves thin day-after-day, year-after-year. Right about the time we settle into a rhythm or some sort of seemingly sustainable stride in life, something changes We either move, get sick, deploy, over commit ourselves to social engagements, or have some other obligation that makes us get burned out. Many of us know what its like for it to be late and the kids are still not in bed, we are too tired to run in the morning, work hours just got extended due to another urgent problem, and it seems like it will never end.
Obviously, something has to give. But what? And how much?
What if the answer is nothing? Bear with me. The Bible says that each of these endeavors are good (Children: Psalm 127:3-5, Work: Ecclesiastes 9:10, Hobbies: 1 Corinthians 10:31, Health: Proverbs 31:17, Fellowship: 1 John 1:7 ). And good things, as long as they do not become idols, are still good things. However, the minute they become idols, our lives become misaligned and this leads to everything feeling way too crazy. We become enslaved to our misaligned priorities and miss the blessings that those things were designed to bring into our lives.
Here are some practical somethings that have to give to realign your life:
1-Raising children without boundaries; children can become idols, and when they do, you know it because they consume your marriage intimacy and derail your personal time with the Lord. Love them as Christ loves them and raise them to cherish and appreciate boundaries and discipline.
2-Toiling in vain; work requirements cannot trump the stewardship of your family or your focus on eternal things (you will not bring your 401K or hard-earned pickup truck to heaven with you, but your family MUST accompany you).
3-Hobbies without restraint; enjoyment will be lost if the hobby brings family stress or the goals become idols. Turn the football game off without hesitation when your daughter wants you to help change her doll’s diaper or your wife could use some help getting the kids’ dinner going. Slow your pace or walk a bit to enjoy the outside air and say a prayer.
4-Fellowship without boundaries; too many social engagements can make you tired when the most important social engagements at home may in fact be garage time with your son or a glass of wine on the couch with your bride after the kids are in bed. Trust me, your friends will understand some day.
Take the things in life that have eternal value and evaluate your boundaries to determine the sufficiency of your eternal perspective. Do you have one? Do you need to change your profession or redefine your boundaries at work or with your kids? Do you need to hire a babysitter more often or set a limit to social engagements each month in order to free up time for time with the Lord, rest, or intimacy? Do you have a hobby? If not, get one. Maybe you need to pull back on a hobby in order to reestablish a spiritual rhythm with your spouse or maybe just trade a few of those hobby minutes for more time with the Lord in prayer or scripture?
If you answer these questions honestly, you’ll know what has to give. How much simpler would your life be if you intentionally made the effort to realign your life in even one of these areas?
Written by: GB, March 14, 2016
To ensure you don't miss future posts, subscribe by entering your email address into the block labeled "follow by email" on the top right hand side of this page.
Did you miss these recent posts:
WHY WHAT YOU SAY MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK
ARE YOU MAKING THE WRONG LIFE CHOICES?
WHY YOU SHOULDN'T ARGUE WITH 12 YEAR OLDS
HAVE YOU SCHEDULED YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH GOD?
WHY WHAT YOU SAY MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK
ARE YOU MAKING THE WRONG LIFE CHOICES?
WHY YOU SHOULDN'T ARGUE WITH 12 YEAR OLDS
HAVE YOU SCHEDULED YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH GOD?
Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
No comments:
Post a Comment