Lead us not into temptation . . .

Tonight's message at the church I was visiting was based on the temptation of Christ. After the main piece of the sermon, we were asked to write down on a blank 3 X 5 card the main temptation or thing that holds us back from a full and complete relationship with Jesus Christ.

As I stopped to reflect on this and pray for God to really do some work in my heart; to bring something to my attention that I'm too busy to realize is a temptation - or a roadblock between true intimacy with Him, there wasn't one thing that came to mind. I saw everyone else writing down their vices, temptations, roadblocks . . . and, still, there wasn't a specific thing that came to mind. Some people deal with temptations that have to do with an addiction or sexual sin, some struggle with peer pressure or anger. But for me, there wasn't a specific sin that came to mind - nothing obvious.

This isn't to say I'm perfect, because anyone who knows me knows I'm not. But the sins I deal with are the tricky ones - the ones that hide themselves undercover as really good things. You know what I'm talking about. On the surface they look like great things - even holy things: teaching Sunday school, work, extra curricular activities. But underneath it all, things sometimes get ugly. I get so busy doing good things but many times I end up having a crappy attitude about it all. I run from doing one good thing to doing another good thing . . . and wear myself out doing it. I forget the purpose behind them. I start to focus on me, and how busy I am, instead of the fact that I'm doing all of this for the Lord.

It wasn't until I got home and sat down to organize my thoughts on all this, that I realized that my main sin/temptation/roadblock that keeps me from intimacy with God is BUSYNESS. Duh!

I guess I'm a slow learner.

My goal this week is to slow down - to be more disciplined - to be more intentional about how I use my time - to focus on why I'm doing what I'm doing - and to remember that it's not about me! It's all about HIM!

A Great Pic!

This picture was taken on Macinaw Island! Mike set the camera on an old log, set the self timer, and wa-la! We never take pictures of adults anymore - especially ourselves! It's always the girls. That's why this rare one of 'just us' is a treasure to me!

Me? A Blogger?

Here's the deal: I've recently discovered the 'blog craze' as many of my family members and friends have kicked theirs off. My sister's boyfriend, Kent, introduced me to his blog, and shortly thereafter my sister-in-law Michelle started one. My initial thought was, "These people have way too much time on their hands!" (no offense guys) But, as more and more people introduced their blogs, I found myself addicted! My favorites list just keeps getting longer and longer!

My husband will probably scold me when he finds out I'm doing this, because the truth is, I have so much going already, I really don't have time to keep up a blog. However, the more I thought about it, the more I felt compelled to do this.

You see, the crazy stage of life I'm in has brought me to the point where I don't even know who "me" is! I feel like I am constantly doing something, going somewhere, hustling here, bustling there, feeding the kids, cleaning the house, trying to get some work done, doing laundry, feeding the kids again, cleaning the house again - you get the picture.

I think this blogging thing will be good for me. It will force me to take time to reflect on things, to contemplate things, to wax poetic. It will allow me time to get to know myself again.

So, although I'm glad you all are willing to read and get a glimpse of my life, this is really all about me! Ha ha! This is all in the name of Sonny's sanity!