July Faith Challenge

I know, it's basically August and I'm just now getting around to the July faith challenge. But, packing up our home in El Paso and moving to Tucson pretty much put everything else on the back burner. Now that we're semi-settled, I have a chance to think about how I need to focus my faith. One thing I learned in moving with a toddler is that you can't get anything done when you want to get it done or how you want to get it done. Her schedule becomes my schedule, unless I can pop in a movie that transfixes her or work like a crazy person during her nap time. Even then, this pregnancy and it's complications haven't allowed me to work as diligently as I'd like to, even during my few rare opportunities. And being a type-A person, this becomes rather frustrating!

But through all this, I think God is trying to teach me a lesson: it's not the to-do list that matters, it's the people. Being a woman, a wife, a mother, and list-loving person often leads me to complete a task before meeting the needs of my family. I don't know why, but I HAVE to hang that curtain, or wash the dishes, or vacuum the floor, or organize the shelf, or move the furniture around for the fifth time before I can allow myself to intentionally focus on my husband or my daughter. I feel like I can't give my full attention without having completed my checklist. During this seventh military related move in the last five years, I've learned that the list will never be checked off for good. There promises to always be more that has to get done, but I'm not promised forevermore with my family. I wonder how I can ever forget this message after my husband experienced two near-death deployments in Afghanistan, yet it's something I need to constantly remind myself when we're back in the humdrum of everyday life. I must cherish this time I have with them, and put the chores aside. When my days come to an end, I'll not wish that I'd spent more time making and crossing off lists, but that I'd fully embraced every opportunity to love on my loved ones.