New Year, Time to Refocus

A couple of weeks ago my mother was in a car accident – a fender bender. She said it was her fault; she was distracted and wasn’t paying close attention. The accident really made her think – yes, she was distracted, not just in her driving, but also in her life and her walk with God. It’s like God was saying, “Pay attention!”

I get distracted too – by the daily demands of motherhood, household responsibilities, work and whatever else! I’ve been thinking lately that I don’t do a good job keeping God in the center of my life and my priorities. And then I wonder why my son doesn’t display as much spiritual interest as I’d like. Hmm. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?

I felt convicted at church last week, when our speaker talked about putting Christ in the center of our lives. Oh, He is a part of my life, but sometimes I try to keep Him on the shelf and just take Him out when I need Him. How can I put Christ at the center? How do I make Him my priority and allow Him to fit the rest of the pieces of my life together?

First of all, I have to make the decision that I want to and I’m going to “refocus” my life. I can do this anytime, but right now at the beginning of the year seems like a good time. This year I want to “Turn my eyes upon Jesus” (words we sang at church!). I want to “Fix [my] eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of [my] faith,” (Hebrews 12:2).

It might mean giving up control. Gulp! That’s hard for me! Maybe before I make my to-do list today, I should pray, “God, what do YOU want me to do today?”

It means, asking myself, “How do I model for my children what being a Christian looks like?” Do they see me going to church on Sunday, but losing my temper on Monday? Do they ever see me reading the Bible? Do they see me obeying God or am I modeling disobedience, or even indifference?

One thing we just started doing as a family is a weekly memory and application verse. Here’s our first verse:

And whatever you do in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Colossians 3:17)

My husband talked about going to work with a better attitude. I talked about doing cleaning and other chores as if I was cleaning the house for Jesus. We want to very honestly share with our kids that we are trying our best to follow Christ, and we don’t always get it right, but we keep trying! Our hope is that our children will follow our example.

(written by Heidi Songer for the Westwood MOPS January 2011 newsletter)