Consumed by Good Things

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Revelation 2:2-4

I had done it again! I was utterly exhausted. I had enjoyed a wonderful weekend with family and friends, but I was also playing the role of “super mom”, “super host”, and “super wife” all at the same time. Now I was super spent. I had nothing left! As I reflected on the events of the weekend, I knew that I was busy doing good things: hosting friends from Fort Lauderdale (who were great house guests by the way), cooking, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, cleaning up after the kids, cooking again, cleaning again, meeting friends at the park, going to a birthday party, doing laundry, paying bills, etc. Feel tired yet? I am.

Every day life as a mom can be exhausting and so can the Christmas season. Think not? Well how about: buying gifts, going to holiday parties, making gifts, making cookies, going to Christmas tree lightings, practicing for the play at church, going to see Santa at the mall, taking Christmas photos, preparing Christmas cards, mailing Christmas cards, putting up a tree, hanging lights outside the house, driving around the neighborhood to look at lights, planning the holiday meal, decorating the house, etc. Ooooh boy (deep breath), I love Christmas time, but I am getting exhausted just thinking about it. But why?

Christmas is all about the love of the Father for us—a perfect Creator coming into a fallen world to redeem a sinful people. A Creator who loves us so much that he let his own creation put him up on the cross so that we may have eternal life. Whooo! That is some serious love! So how is it that we forget to prepare our hearts more than we prepare our (you fill in the blank): homes, Christmas parties, cards, gifts, etc.?

I hope I am not sounding harsh. I am really preaching to myself! I had become so consumed with “good things” that my quiet time with the Lord was starting to suffer, and I was feeling agitated. I felt on the verge of tears over little things (I am going to partly blame hormones for this flux of emotion), and I needed to have a date with Jesus. I did not need to check more things off of my to-do list; I needed Him and the peace and perspective that only He can give.

You see, I did have some reasons for missing my quiet time: the guests needed clean sheets, my sweet (yet teething) baby was waking up numerous times during the middle of the night, etc. BUT, I was forgetting to make time. The truth is that I needed to say “NO” to a few things. I needed to put things in proper perspective. I needed to prioritize.

On paper I know my priorities. My relationship with God is first, then my husband, and then my kids, etc. You get the drift. Yet somehow, I was managing to put keeping a tidy house and other non-essentials at the top of the list. I was forgetting my quiet time, falling asleep on my husband, and constantly telling Mikey that I would read to him, play with him, and cuddle with him “in just a moment”. The truth is that “in just a moment”, I found myself doing some other non-essential task…something that could wait until later.

In fact, just before I settled down to right this blog, my sweet husband prayed for me. He said two things that really resonated with me:

1. Lord, please help my wife to prioritize.
2. Please help her to be concise and not long-winded. LOL 

I needed that loving encouragement! Let’s learn to prioritize what is most important and learn to be concise with everything else. Someone once told me a story that really blessed me. She said that a teacher gave her students an empty aquarium, a bag of large rocks, and a sack of sand. The teacher instructed the students to fill the aquarium with all the rocks and all the sand. The young class quickly became frustrated because they could not get all of the contents to fit. They thought their teacher had given them an impossible task. After a while, she stood before the class and quickly demonstrated how to successfully complete the assignment: fill the aquarium with the big rocks first (the most important things) and then pour the sand (all the less important stuff) in to fill in the holes and spaces between the rocks. How simple, yet profound!

So as we prepare for this Christmas, let us prepare our hearts more than our homes. And let us be more excited about the celebrating the birth of Jesus than about our plays, decorations, and holiday parties.

Dear Father,

You are so patient and loving towards us. You give us gentle reminders to put you first above all else. Thank you for this wonderful and joyous Christmas season where we get to celebrate the most spectacular event in all of history—the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Help us to prioritize you and keep things in proper perspective. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Verses to ponder:

“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” Psalm 119: 15-16

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40

Have a wonderful, God-centered day, ladies!
In His love,
Teresa