The Coupon Clippers

Monday, February 7, 2011

Hang on...this is gonna be a bumpy ride!

Um...WOW!! That is all I can say! I have been sitting here this morning looking at my calendar and regretting how full my calendar is getting. :( Some people crave busy-ness, but I am DEFINITELY not one of those people. From the outside, my life may look busy with three kids in sports, a part time job and a house to run. My little secret is...it's not all that busy anymore.

I spent many years trying to keep up with a frantic pace of busy because that is what I thought was expected of me. I came to realize that it was the busy that prevented me from stopping and taking time to focus on what God really had planned for me. I almost missed one of those times of focus yesterday, in the frantic pace of a busy Sunday.

After church yesterday, before we even got out of the parking lot, my oldest asks a profound question. Now, granted, I think he saw an angle in it for him to get out of something that most kids think is a colossal waste of time anyway, BUT it was a great teachable moment for all of us in the car.

Alex asked if school was in the Bible. :) After a stunned few seconds of silence, he continued by pointing out how many distractions there were for a young christian and how hard it was to stay focused on God's plan for his life in that environment.

As my mind started racing with ways to answer him without giving him permission to drop out of school, I think God took over my mouth and proceeded to give him an answer that even preached to me. Yes, school is a place with MANY distractions and is probably the hardest time that many of us face in life because of all the temptations that we have to face and overcome in the short time that we are there.
Unfortunately, that part of life really never gets any easier. Even as adults, we are faced with distractions that we allow to get in the way of our relationship with God. We have to set our priorities right and truly commit to putting God at the beginning of EVERYTHING. It's not an easy thing to do, but the results are SO powerful!

Now the task of tackling whether or not school was in the Bible. YES, school was in the Bible!! Even Jesus studied! Jesus laid out that model for us. The kind of learning that Jesus did wasn't exactly like the learning of today, but it had to be similar. Jesus was HUMAN when he came to earth. As a child, he couldn't have been a carpenter without Math, he couldn't have studied in the synagogue without learning his language and how to communicate with others. All of the learning that Jesus did in his youth in the synagogues prepared Him for the calling that God had for His life. So, YES, school is important! It is necessary in today's society to prepare you for the calling that God has on your life. The world need's Christian doctors and lawyers and teachers and builders, etc. Satan knows that and puts EVERY OBSTACLE IN HIS ARSENAL in your path when you are a young Christian to keep you from fulfilling your calling.

It was a truly incredible conversation that I am so grateful we were able to have. I need those moments of reminder every once in a while that I'm not the only one that feels like I'm under attack sometimes and feels like I'm not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Even kids feel that way. :)
Thank you God for those teachable moments that allow me to stop and readjust my focus on what is truly important!

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