Values-Driven

I haven’t done a “Works for me Wednesday” in a while–though I’m sure Shannon hasn’t noticed ;). Honestly, I don’t have time for a long post right now, since my wee ones will be waking up from afternoon naps soon AND I have some cookies to make for a “play date” tomorrow AND I still don’t even know WHAT I’m making for supper! Not only that, but we’ve been busy with various things, including Cindy Rushton’s ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOL EXPO! (Can you tell we’re excited about it? If you homeschool and you haven’t checked it out, you really should–it’s an amazing VIRTUAL conference with tons of awesome workshops and lots of FREEBIES–my favorite!)

…ANYWAY…

I did have something on my heart that I wanted to write about–something that WORKS FOR ME today! It’s all about perspective.

If you’re anything like me, sometimes you get focused on the wrong stuff. Life gets busy and you just need to get the laundry done. Just want the kids to “behave.” Have to DO all the stuff on your to-do list…BUT it often seems like the harder you try, the more stumbling blocks you find in your path. Why? Personally, that happens to me when I am focused on what *I* want, think, or feel. Difficulties and challenges are often just gentle reminders that GOD may have other plans.

Or, it may be that I just need a new perspective. It’s not that those “things” don’t NEED to get done. Or that God doesn’t want me to do them. But He wants me to do what needs doing, with the right HEART ATTITUDE. And sometimes I don’t have that. I get going on a project or start off moving in a certain direction and I get tunnel vision…sort of like a hound dog with his nose to the ground following a trail. He’d probably bump his head into a brick wall because he failed to look up. And sometimes, I fail to look “up,” too! Do you?

What has really been working for me lately is to try to keep the proper perspective on things. It can be tough to do in the busyness of life, but it’s a necessary effort. I’m continually reminding myself that it’s not so much about what we’re doing as about how we’re doing it. And I got a nice reminder on that this morning from my boys, so I wanted to share it.

Yesterday, the boys had gone outside with the assignment of cleaning the yard. (If your kids are anything like mine, they have lots of outdoor toys, do projects, and just leave stuff laying around until we let them know that it’s just not acceptable). Anyway, they started off working pretty hard but it was SO nice. And there was this tree house project that they had been working on, which they could return to, if only their work was done. So in the end, I think the effort was pretty half-hearted. Certainly not the diligent work that I’d have liked to see. It became painfully obvious to me only after looking out over the yard from my bedroom window this morning–and I could see many, many things still littering the lawn. But, they didn’t have the benefit of my perspective. We have a big yard, and they are relatively little people. They got tired of traipsing all over the place. And, yes, they did want to play. Mostly, though, I just don’t think they could “see” everything that I saw from my vantage point at the window.

So this morning, I sent them upstairs to look out of my window. I wanted them to see where all the “stuff” was, and then go out and take care of it. They did a MUCH better job. And it was all about perspective, they agreed.

It was just one more reminder to me that I need to have the right perspective on all of my “doings.” It’s not about me, it’s about God. It’s not about my plans, but His. And we may be in agreement about what needs to be done, but He also wants it done with the right heart-attitude. Outlook is everything.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9, NIV)

To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36, NIV)