Discover Your Essentials

Just like that we are headed into week two of July. Time sure is going fast. At least it sure seems that way.

One of the things I am holding dear this month and beyond is being intentional about how I spend my time. As I told you last week I had quite a few things planned for my time off. As it turns out, some of it got done and some of it didn’t. That’s how it goes and I’m okay with it.

Remember when I said that God knew the ambitious plans I had mapped out? I also knew He wouldn’t want me to be controlled by them. Thankfully I listened and obeyed.

PLANS CHANGE

As it happened, I actually worked in some much needed fun. I got to catch up with several close friends, visit a new coffee shop I didn’t even know existed in my own hometown (I’m sorry I don’t drink coffee, but I did have a wonderful cup of hot chocolate and a delicious slice of quiche while there.) I also set aside time to work on a project near and dear to my heart, cooked a couple of new recipes for my sweet man to try, (I’ll share them on one of our Wednesday’s this month) and I was working on finishing up this devotional when I realized I needed to go a slightly different direction.

You see an email from a colleague, Pernille Ripp, popped up in my inbox and it said this. ‘We’re always pursuing something new to try. We plan more, juggle one hundred things, and add in extra whenever we see a need, and then come back and do the same the next day.’  

And then she added, ‘We know in our hearts that we can’t sustain this kind of schedule, so what can we do?’

WE MUST DISCOVER OUR ESSENTIALS, that’s what. She was referring of course to the teaching profession and the overworked, overwhelmed parts of wanting to do it all. While I am guilty of this too, I started thinking about it from a different perspective. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 ESV

WHAT DO YOU HOLD SACRED?

It finally came down to this. What are my essentials and what do I hold most sacred? In my Christian walk, with my family, and in my work? Notice the order of my list. That’s how God wants it. He wants me to honor and follow Him first, take time, love big, and tend to my family, and do my best and most passionate work in my calling.

So I’m moving forward with a different outlook. I’m going to write three goals for the remainder of the 2017 that allow me to do the best of what I do. I’m going to eliminate the unnecessary things I no longer need or that no longer support my quest for intentional living. Then I can truly rejoice at what God has put before me.

What changes do you want to make in your life and what do you hold most sacred? I would love to hear from you.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” Ephesians 5:15

I’ll be praying for you this week.

And don’t forget to take a look at the weekly book recommendations below. Check them out! I only recommend products that I love and believe will bring you value. If you purchase through the affiliate link below I will earn a small percentage to go towards creating the free content I offer to my readers and continue this ministry. Thank you for your support. 

Evie Blackwell’s reputation as a top investigator for the Illinois State Police has landed her an appointment to the governor’s new Missing Persons Task Force. This elite investigative team is launched with plenty of public fanfare. The governor has made this initiative a high priority, so they will have to produce results–and quickly.Evie and her new partner, David Marshal, are assigned to a pair of unrelated cases in suburban Chicago, and while both involve persons now missing for several years, the cases couldn’t be more different. While Evie opens old wounds in a close-knit neighborhood to find a missing college student, David searches for a private investigator working for a high-powered client.

With a deep conviction that “justice for all” truly matters, Evie and David are unrelenting in their search for the truth. But Evie must also find answers to the questions that lie just beneath the surface in her personal life.

Every woman struggles with times of waiting—for a spouse, a child, a job. In Wait and See, Wendy Pope guides readers to focus on the Person of their faith rather than the object of their wait. Pope draws on the story of King David, who was anointed king nearly twenty years before he took his throne.

This hands-on guidebook invites readers to record their own waiting discoveries. With practical suggestions and real-life stories, Pope shows readers how they can be active in the present as they hope for the future.