Thinking…

This pictures says peaceful to me and because I’ve been in a reflective and contemplative mood this week I thought it was appropriate.

I haven’t really felt like blogging much this week.  I’ve been thinking and working on other projects during the day and trying to keep up with my kids in the evening.  Our middle son started soccer this week which means extra practices in the morning and a game one night a week.  We don’t like to commit ourselves or our children to too many activities so I’m starting to question whether it was a good idea for him to be on the team – especially since he seems to have a lot more homework this year – but we’re committed for now so we’ll stick it out for this season.

Our pastor has been doing a really amazing message series on living a simple life which is really resonating with me.  It’s a topic I feel like God has been speaking to me about for a little more than a year and one that he continues to remind me about.  This past Sunday the theme was about how we really need to live every day in the moment with God rather than allowing ourselves to get too busy, too distracted and too stressed.  We talked about the fact that most of us get ourselves into busyness because we are “hungry” – “hungry for achieving and acquiring and success.  It’s because none of us want to get to the end of our lives and die in mediocrity.  It’s the reason we push our kids academically or sign them up for so many activities.  We’re all looking for validation … that we matter … that we are worth something and can accomplish something.  Our pastor said something along the lines of … as parents, it’s very easy to slip into the mindset that if our kids are successful, then we’re successful because we must be doing something right to get them to that point.  I thought that was a really profound statement of truth but I also felt that my toes had been stepped on a bit!  How much am I trying to live vicariously through my children?  How much pride do I feel when my kids do something really great and how much of that pride is coming from a place in my heart that is yearning for some validation on my own life?  Hmmm…

Anyway, it’s really got me thinking.  Do I want to be considered successful and valuable by the world’s standards or by God’s standards?  If I’m really interested in following Jesus with my whole heart and if I want to teach my kids about what truly matters in life, then I have to be willing to make some decisions that might not be popular with society.

And if I’m truly learning to live in the moment with God, then I’m probably going to be living a more inactive life – at least by the world’s standards.  But the more I keep my eyes focused on the things that matter eternally, the less I’ll be hungry for success and achievement and acquiring more of whatever.

It does sound simpler and very appealing.

So that’s why the blog has been silent the past few days.  I’ve just had stuff on my mind.  What do you think?  What kinds of things do you do to keep your life simpler?