I was thinking about how life is busy and sometimes it is hard to squeeze in God. God should never be squeezed in, yet we do look at it that way sometimes don't we? God should come first but in a world where we must pay bills, complete assignments, manage the lives of children etc etc, sometimes we find God being something we schedule in.
This is what I do:
1. Gospel music. I had a few CD's before but I bought a Mahalia Jackson double CD and a mixed group CD and I listen to Gospel music daily. It is in the CD player in our Kitchen which is where I spend a lot of my time. Gospel music keeps me thankful and focussed on the Lord. Mahalia Jackson is an incredible woman who remained very focussed on the Lord all of her life so listening to her reminds me my need for focus.
2. I listen to Hymns modernized while I work. I have some CD's in my office and I listen to them while I work on my computer. They have achieved what we behavior analysts refer to as stimulus control... if I put on those cd's I can remain focussed on my work and pound out my ideas on the keyboard with incredible speed.
3. I listen to uplifting Christian music in the car... sensing a theme here? Lately I've been listening to Praise radio a lot but I also listen to Hillsongs, Third Day and my zillions of mixed CD's. This helps me to remain calm while driving, uplifted when I am tired and gives me pockets of time where I can think about my faith.
4. My job. I believe that I was led by God (kicking and screaming at times) to my line of work. I find God in my daily work and feel very blessed by that. I work with and for many Christians and this is also inspiring. I get to spend time in Christian classrooms where people openly pray, where children talk about their love for God and where the Bible is regularly read. And I see His work every day, which is very inspiring.
5. I think about God while I clean... too bad I don't clean more often. sigh. I learned this habit at the first women's retreat I ever went on. It helps to get through things like scrubbing toilets.
What I do not do enough of:
Pray regularly. I try to. I pray little prayers throughout the day but I am REALLY bad about dedicating time for it. Really bad.
Read. I don't read anything these days let alone my bible. Gee that sounds so unintellectual of me. Its not that I am not a good reader or that I don't enjoy reading -I was an avid reader all of my life. But these days by the time I go to bed I can barely focus. Not a very good excuse. I'm thinking of getting some Christian books and even the bible on CD though and listening to them in the car. I'm not sure how well this work because I can't stand having people talking on the radio while I drive - I am that crazy person who pushes buttons madly hoping to avoid the talk radio stuff.
Make time to attend a study group. I used to. This year I brought home the brochure and looked at all of the time slots and then crossed off those I could not attend due to scheduling. I crossed off almost every single one. The only one that was possible was a College and Careers one. Ummm, not going to work. Even the Sunday morning one was out. DH laughed when he saw my cross offs... of course that was during my internship so my life is less crazy now. I think that if I am going to attend a group I need to start one myself. In my spare time. Hmmmm.... therein lies the problem.
How do you make ways for him to remain first in your life?
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2 comments:
The month before we got our house we would pray together as a family before we left for school. Sadly, now that we are in our house we haven't made the same effort. I think it's a challenge for everyone to make the necessary time needed to truly seek God in our everyday life.
Double double,
I forgot to tell you that while I didn't get to the gym I've started attending the adult intermediate ballet class so public shame did have a slight effect! I didn't even think of online bible studies... that is a good idea!
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