The important things

Personal Photo: This was the first day we arrived this year in Canada. The weather forecasted rain all day, but we ended up getting out on the water, and we were greeted with a lovely sky. This lake is special to me, and I never fail to leave there feeling closer to God, and wanting to remember how I felt while I was there.

For my entire life, my family has gone on a vacation north to Rice Lake, Ontario, Canada to fish. It has been a tradition for most of my mom's life and one that has also helped shape mine. Every summer we could look forward to family time, good catching and eating, and time away from our normal routines. Growing up, the cabin we stayed at lacked wifi, television, and any sort of technological connection. We did not have phones, we were simply together. We spent the rainy days playing poker with pretzels instead of chips, and eating more than we were wagering. The sunny days we were in the boat with each other, talking, squinting in the sunlight, and reeling in whatever we could catch. A bit has changed since I first began going; our phones keep their service, we no longer go for two weeks but only one, and since my brothers and I have all gotten married, we have not gotten a trip with everyone in attendance. However, even though we have encountered changes, one thing never seems to waver: the freedom.

The freedom found on the lake, with my loved ones, has always brought my restless mind some peace and my stress levels down a notch. I even took a break last week from writing an article. The most valuable lesson I learned this year while I was on vacation was to focus on the important things. However obvious it may seem, I found myself missing the memo. For me, I was in a whirlwind of work. Everything I talked about with Clay or with my family was work; the people at work, the stuff I was working on, the things that upset me during my day, etc. I had let it take over everything. Shockingly, while I was gone for the week, my emails did not need to be answered and the work that needed to be done got done. I needed the break from it all to realize that everything important in my life has absolutely nothing to do with work. All of the things that define who I am, what I am, and where I want to go, are all outside of my job.

For you, it might be something other than work, but regardless of what it is that is taking up the most space in your mind, in your evenings before you sleep, it is critical that it is one of the important things in life. When I say this, I mean first and foremost that faith should be number one. When our faith is on top of all the other things that encompass who we are, and the base for which they all stand upon, we find strength, balance, and peace. I had allowed work to grow so big in my life that I was not dedicating the time to God in order to have a healthy relationship. I am working on this. Some examples of important things that can be built upon our faith include our loved ones, pets, hobbies, the things that make your heart fly and make you belly laugh. Those are the pieces of our lives that should take up space, should be given room to grow, should be allowed to define you. It begins with our relationship with God. Romans 12:2 tells us "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will." When we evaluate what the important things are in our lives, we can remember this verse. It directly tells us the impact of putting faith first. When we abandon what the world thinks of us, and we focus on God, we are then able to see everything with a different perspective. It allows us to seek things that are pleasing to God and therefore build important pieces of our lives upon the most important foundation.

As critical as it is to recognize the important things to us, it is just as vital to identify what is not. This list includes what we should set boundaries for, keep it in a place, and remind ourselves that we should not give it more power than it is worth. I used the example of work. Other examples include other people's opinions of us, school and schoolmates, our mistakes, etc. These are all things that we encounter, that we handle, but not things that define who we are. And I can say this with complete confidence because our focus is on how God sees us, how we appear in His eyes, not in the eyes of others. In this way, we can recognize why we repent, why we strive to be like Jesus daily, and seek new ways to grow closer to our Lord. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 is a great reference for us. It states "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." The end of this verse hits pretty hard, doesn't it? With God, we are able to make every single thought obedient to Christ. This reinforces the concept I mentioned above. Even though we can often find ourselves wrapped up in the things that we allow to grow that truly do not define us, when we return to our foundation of faith, when we focus on the important things, we are able to keep our priorities in line.

When we consider who we are, we are first children of God. This is the single most important thing to us. As soon as we take our focus off of the world, off of what the world is telling us, off of what the world is demanding from us, we are able to take a step back and recognize that we may have been giving it too much space and time. It does not mean that things like work, school, and our peers are not important, but rather that they do not define our character, they do not hold power over us, and unacceptance or mistakes in these areas of life are simply chances for us to turn from the world and seek God's forgiveness and His acceptance. While I might be really outlining some of the important things and some of the not so important things, I really want the concept of focus to take center stage of this article. Our focus is really the key to everything I am explaining above; we can either focus on God or focus on the world. And the amount of distractions we find in this world can make it quite challenging to listen for the Holy Spirit's voice above all else. It is no easy task, and the difficulty is acknowledged in Hebrews 12:1-2, which reads " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." These verses highlight not only the incredible strength and courage of Christ, but also how difficult it is to completely and utterly focus on Jesus when we have so many things vying for our attention, taking up so much of our limited time. I appreciate this part of Hebrews because it is so relatable. With that being said, it is also quite inspiring to consider how Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of faith and that He walks with each one of us, encouraging and strengthening us. He is not so far away that we cannot see Him, but rather it is quite the contrary. He is there, He is available to us, and we can refocus on Him every single day. Additionally, these verses emphasize that it is worth it to focus on the Lord. It mentions what Jesus went through and that He did it for the joy afterward. It is no different with us. When we focus on God, make every thought obedient to Him, and pay attention to the important things that He blesses us with, we are able to persevere to Heaven.

My time fishing, at the lake that watched me grow up year after year, never fails to bring my feet back to the ground, help me refocus on God, and appreciate the person He has made me to be. My entire perspective has shifted since I have returned, and I am making a conscious effort to set boundaries for my thoughts and conversations around work, to give attention to the important things in my life, and to thank God for the Holy Spirit's guidance and patience with me as I work on this adjustment. Philippians 4:8 tells us "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." This verse tells us directly what we should be thinking about, what we should be focusing on. It reinforces how our foundation of faith helps us direct every single thought toward something that is pleasing to Him. It is worth remembering, especially when we find ourselves caught up in the web of life. I hope that you will join me in working on making our thoughts obedient to Christ, focusing on the important things in our lives, and remembering that we are above all children of God!