2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:2 (NIV)

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard sometimes to put God consistently at the forefront of my mind.  I feel like I’m being tugged in a million different directions a day.  Each of my kids wants my undivided attention.  They have their own ideas about how the day will unfold while I have mine.  Lindsay wants me to help her practice writing her name, wants me to read to her while she turns the pages, and wants me to watch her sing “Let It Go” for the millionth time.  Matthew wants me to play dinosaurs with him, take him on a bike ride, or chase him around the house playing tickle.  I just want to soak in a warm bubble bath with my kindle in one hand and a piece of dark chocolate in the other and not here my name called once for a solid hour.  Or okay, 20 minutes?  When my husband gets home he has ideas about relaxing, unwinding, and watching the latest game (any sport will do) while I’ve been waiting for an adult to use the other half of my 20,000 words for the day, when he’s already used his 7,000.  Now I’m craving his attention.

My own wants and ideas about what I think I need, or the time I think I’m entitled to interfere with my emotions and attitude.  All the while our American culture is shouting that I deserve more than what I have, when in reality, don’t I already have everything I could possibly need or want?  I can’t trust my own mind or voice to tell me how I should be spending my day.  Instead, I need to lean on Him to help lead me through each moment. But the distractions that come with being wife, mom, & me quickly make my mind wander from God’s intentions back to my own.  Sometimes I feel like in order to put God first I have to disconnect from everything the world is offering, including my own selfish desires, and focus all that I have on Him.   Like I heard at church one time, I want to breathe me out and breathe Him in.

30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[a]
John 3:30

I want to close my eyes
So I can see You more clearly.
I want to quiet my mind
So I can focus on Your thoughts.

I want to become deaf to noise
So I can hear Your whisper.
I want to mute my voice
So I can listen to You speak.

I want to shut the world out, Lord
So I can let You in.
I want to become lost in You, Father
So I can find myself again.

I want to let go of Satan’s lies
So I can hold on to Your truths.
I want my heart to be broken
So I can have it mended, God, by You.

I want to slow my feet
So I can step more deliberately.
I want to submit to Your will
So I can truly be set free.

I want to shut the world out, Lord
So I can let You in.
I want to become lost in You, Father
So I can find myself again.

I want to empty my hands, God
So I can lift them up in praise.
I want to be blinded to the world’s attractions
So I can look upon Your face.