Finding a Focus

My good friend Betty just posted about focus in life and it really got me thinking.

Too often I fall into the trap of doing things just because they have to get done. The things pile up and all of a sudden it’s Monday again. Time to start over.

I’ve never wanted to live my life that way and it’s a battle I constantly fight. One of my favorite songs ever is “Be My Escape” by Relient K because it talks about falling into a rut and begging Christ to pull you out of it. Best line of the song: “The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.”

Now let’s combine that with my favorite book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by my favorite author Don Miller. The premise of the book is that the Bible is written as a story -- the story of redemption, the overarching story of what God is doing, the story of individuals – and that our lives can be looked at similarly. Instead of falling into the mundane of day-to-day, you are a character who wants something and overcomes an obstacle to get it. So make what you want worth the story. Don’t live a boring story.

So, this concept is something I’m passionate about.

In light of this, at this point in my life, here is what I want to focus on. These will help write the story of my life. I hope it’s a story worth telling some day.

1. My family I want to be a good mom, wife, sister, daughter, daughter-in-law. I want to make family time special and choose to love even when it’s hard.

2. My work for God Right now that’s taking the shape of being a youth leader in our church’s student ministry Alpha Omega. It’s been a tough first year and I know I can do a much better job than I have so far.

3. My students Please note that I didn’t say my job. My students. I am in the middle of a love/hate relationship with my job. I love my students and feel privileged to be used in their lives. I hate the politics of it all and mostly want out. I love them too much.

4. Signature, Ink. My fledgling business has taken up a LOT of my efforts, lately. I feel like it could be something big, something special. I want to take it to the next level, but I’m not sure what that looks like yet. All I know is that I, maybe more than other people, need an outlet to create. Signature, Ink. gives me that.

5. Opening my home Dustin and I have talked a lot about what we want to do with our new house. We bought it so we could open it to others and need to figure out how that’s all going to work. We want to provide a place where people can be loved first and foremost. Second priority? Have a really good time enjoying the lake, boat and pool.

I know that there are obstacles to each of these. Sometimes they war with each other for time. I ordered them intentionally, though and need to learn to stick to that.

I think too often we don’t remember what we’re here for or that life is short. I don’t want to look back and wonder what happened to my life. Just like when we “backwards plan” our year in yearbook, I want to do better at starting with the end goal and arranging everything else to make that happen.