Focus

Several thoughts/ideas have been ruminating in my mind recently....and they are starting to run together so I wanted to write and sort them out.

I'm surrounded by some pretty incredibly talented folks...family, friends, people I happen to cross paths with.  And often, it gets me thinking...what am I doing that's significant?? What else can I do/how else can I contribute to something bigger and better than me?  I have four young kids and am homeschooling and I know I'm investing in something of eternal worth:  their souls.  I KNOW that is important....but I can't deny that I often daydream of what could have been and might be someday.  It's not that I am not thankful for what I have or that I want to change what I have - I am very aware of how blessed I truly am; I'm completely at peace with our decision regarding how we 'do' family.  It's just that in my heart of hearts, I know that some of the gifts and passions God has given me aren't used to their full potential right now.  And I'm learning that that is okay.

As I've been turning this over in my mind, I read a blog post yesterday by Ann Voskamp about the destructiveness of comparison.  I think girls are way more susceptible to comparing themselves to each other, but I'm sure everyone suffers from it to some degree.  Her blog resonated with me in every way - how it's destructive both for the comparer and the compared.  And it got me thinking.... so what is the cure?? I KNOW that comparison is not only the 'thief of joy', but that it goes a step further and destroys...relationships.  It's b.a.d.  But what do we do to avoid it?  How do we get around it?  How do we prevent it?  What is the cure???

And then God renewed for me the passage in 1 Samuel 16 about the choosing of David as the next King.  When Samuel is led by God to anoint David, guess what David was doing???  Tending sheep.  Yep...sheep.  I'm not a bible scholar, but I'm pretty sure the prestigious job of the day was not tending sheep.  I'm guessing that David didn't think to himself 'whew, I'm doing some seriously important work here...my sheep tending (shepherding??) is changing the world!"and I'm pretty sure he wasn't comparing his flock to others.  "Man, John's sheep are SO much better behaved than mine....and Sam's sheep are SO smart... and Ezekial's sheep are SO athletic....and so on.."  Instead, (here's where God really spoke to me) he was just focused on his job at hand.  And it was taking care of the sheep.  Just plain ol' sheep.  In the same way, the only thing I need to do right now is FOCUS on my job at hand.  It's when I start day dreaming about other jobs and wondering how much better other folks are doing this job of raising their families, homeschooling, juggling careers, etc., that I get terribly distracted and fall prey to the effects of comparison.  All I need to do is focus on my current assignment and God will take care of the rest.  He has promised it.