Did you get your Create in Me a Clean Heart devotion read Sunday? I did, but am just now getting to journaling here about it! We had two Sabbaths in a row this weekend,the weekly sabbath on Saturday and Shavuot on Sunday, where we went to a gellowship celebration an hour or so away. So Monday was spent playing catch up. I’m glad I read the devotion on Sunday though…here’s why.
Confirmation.
You know, when Yahweh starts bringing a certain theme or task into sharper focus for you and you see or hear references to it repeatedly. You know, you just know, that is what you need to do!
Sunday, June 8 2014
Today’s verse is about how the Father is not a god of chaos, but of order and peace. As I look around, I’m pleased (and slightly surprised, to be honest) to find that my home is orderly. And peaceful. We haven’t lived here long (just over a month), so that helps. We also have less stuff and more space, which really helps. Part of me feels like I don’t need this devotional since I seem to have gotten it together recently!
But then I realize that now the chaos lies in the area of time management. Schedules, routines, priorities – all easily upset by those dreaded Shiny Squirrels. Wait, what schedules? What routines? I’ve never been able to really pull off either of those. My schedule/routine is…wake up, keep the kids alive, go to sleep, repeat. Those pesky details in between, well, those are whatever whim hits at the time.
Priorities.
That’s the word of the week for me. What are my priorities, anyway? They are reflected in how I spend my time, for sure, but are those priorities really priorities? Or are they just what I want to do? Father, please help me get my priorities straight this week! Managing my time has to start there, for if I fill my day with the less important tasks, there is no room for the important ones. The ones that should be priorities.
The message Sunday at our fellowship celebration was on…you guessed it – PRIORITIES. Complete with that neat object lesson of filling a jar with sand and then trying to put big rocks in it. Won’t work. But when you put the big rocks in first (the important stuff), the sand flows around and fills in the cracks. And, even when the jar seems full, there is still room to pour in a pitcher of water. All because you had your priorities straight.
Yesterday, I got a lot accomplished. I started by praying about what my priorities should be for the day. I spent time with Yahweh and in the word first. I got my VA work done for the day, then I worked with my children to get the housework done, spent time with them and even was able to take a nap (which I desperately needed since I didn’t get enough sleep the night before). That almost never happens. In the evening, I spent time with my daughter in law getting pampered (if you need a Mary Kay consultant, let me know and I’ll get you connected with her!) and even though I got home late, spent time with each of the kids unhurriedly reading bedtime stories and saying prayers. I felt like I got more done in those 24 hours than I have in a while.
Today’s priorities are a little different, but it started with prayer. And, my prayer is that each of us will continue to seek the Father’s will for our day first, and then all those other things will fall into place.
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