Keep The Main Thing, The Main Thing

And what is the main thing for us Moms?  
I think it is raising happy, healthy, and godly children, but we so often get side-tracked.  I thought of this today when one of the pastors of our church was speaking. He was using the example of a lion tamer that he saw in a circus.  He said that the reason they hold chairs up to a lion to keep them at bay, is because the lion cannot focus on the four legs of the chair.  Normally a lion focuses on one thing and pounces on its prey or enemy, but with the four legs of the chair in its face, it cannot focus.  And so a 500 pound lion that could normally crush the little man, is brought under control.  He likened this to us humans. We try to focus on so many things that we are basically "frozen" and unable to either do nothing, as the lion, or do nothing well.  I thought about the 4 things that we as Moms try to focus on:


1. Our family-children and husbands
2. Our careers or vocations
3. Our ministry or volunteer work
4. Ourselves-staying in shape, looking good, keeping our house beautiful, etc.


Now, we all should focus on the Lord of course, but what has He given us to do?  What of the 4 things above should we really be focusing on? There is no way we will be able to do it all, or do all things well, but in the season of life when we have small children at home our focus should be on our family.  That is our ministry.  That is our vocation.  And as we focus on the Lord and what He has called us to do, I really believe He will take care of us so we don't need to worry too much about taking care of ourselves. Remember, "No" is a holy word and we must be able to say no to things that are just distractions. Our children will be young such a short time and we must love them, and instill in them godly training and character traits.  I think we need to ask the Lord to help us cut out everything in our life that is not essential, and keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing! And I'm preaching to myself here : )