Do you ever feel like everything around you is on fire? Lately, I’ve had the feeling that no matter how fast I go or how hard I work, I will not be able to put out all the fires around me.

So many things demand my attention. Most of them are necessary and they all are good. We homeschool our seven year old Kayla. I try to be very involved in Rebekah’s schooling. I have several appointments every week that I drive Rebekah to therapy. We just got a dog. Everyone in the house prefers to wear clean clothes and eat from clean dishes, so doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen isn’t optional. We carpool with another family for our homeschool co-op. I coordinate seven ladies for our MOPS discussion group leaders.  So many other phone calls and chores to do every day.  Then there’s things like the fact that I’d love to call my sisters and mom more often.

Last Friday at MOPS we had a woman come speak to us.  She had a clear message from God for me…  Abide in Christ.  She spoke from experience and wanted to clearly show us John 15:5.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

I wrote down several things that she said.  One thing that I really liked was that she told us it’s all about “making Him our favorite.”  I thought that was a really neat way to put it. You see we were created for a relationship.  Mary (the mother of Jesus) said to God “Let it be to me according to Your Word.”  She knew that God had a plan and that the best place for her was in the center of that plan.

Mrs. Charlotte told us that to the degree that we put effort into our relationship with Christ, this will be the degree it will bless our relationships with others.  Isn’t that amazing how that works.  I’ve seen it happen personally!

When I abide in Christ (instead of trying to be the family fire-man.) it produces four things in me; love and security, wisdom, attributes, and focus.

• Love and security – I have a high calling to be His.  He has also called me to be a mother.
• Wisdom – Whatever I am ingesting spiritually, I’ll pass on to my other relationships.  If I am not feasting on the Word, I have nothing to pass on.
• Attributes – My children are watching and mirroring.  Deuteronomy 6:7 “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
• Focus – Our priorities must be in line.  He must be my priority Mt 6:33, 22:37

I am asking for a hunger for relationship and for His Word.

Jeremiah 15:16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.

Ps 107:9 “for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

I am so thankful that God knows what is going on in my life and heart, that He desires my time and attention, and that He has set a longing in my soul for Him.