I’ve come to realize, regardless of my energy level, how organized I am, I am only 1 person and I can only do a few things well.  Multi-tasking is awesome, but it will only take me so far.  I fully believe in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  But I don’t believe we are meant to do all the things, all the time, in all seasons.

So, once again, before diving into nuts and bolts and curriculum… let’s take a moment to reflect… What are my big rocks this year?  Build relationships? Invest in a dream? Serve my community? Just survive?

Stephen Covey tells a story about a professor who shows his class how to fit various sizes of rocks, stones, pebbles and water into a glass jar?  He was able to fit everything in ONLY because he started with putting in the big rocks first.  What are your big rocks?  If we don’t start there, sadly our big, most important rocks will be the ones left out.  They just won’t fit.  

For us, family time, guiding our children spiritually and emotionally is one of our big rocks. Living with a “God First, I am Second” philosophy is a big rock.  If we had a family motto, it would be simply, “Love God and Love Others”.  That’s our big rock.  So how do we make it a priority? One thing, we try to start our day with morning devotionals.  It’s short, 5-10 minutes, sometimes individually, sometimes together.  Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.  But if everything goes south the rest of the day… at least we’ve started the day putting our days in God’s hands.  

We’ve used lots of different books over the years, but right now, I’m loving this book. I was so excited when it came out last year. Ruth Chou Simons is an inspiring author, artist and speaker and mom to 6 boys!  In the past, I envisioned a perfect little family time with all of us cuddled on the couch, ready to share about our day, with a clean kitchen, because of course, everyone pitched in to clean it after dinner.  HA!  For us, it has never worked.  Life happens. So now… we do it whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself.  It could be evening, morning, weekdays or weekends… a few days in a row or once a week.  But I’m committing to pursuing this year and not giving up on it. It’s a big rock.

What are your big rocks?  Commit to them. It’s important.