finding what’s important

Did you ever find yourself stuck at a place where you are wondering what’s most important? I’m in the middle of one of these moments right now. It’s not a pivotal time where I am trying to figure out the greater meaning of life or seek some deep theological truth. It is just pausing in a season of busyness to refocus and determine my next steps. 

I’m great at underestimation. It’s like the candy filled guessing jars at a family reunion. Someone takes the time to count all those little pieces before they toss them in a jar. Then what happens? Everyone tries to guess, except I can never tell if there are 50 pieces of candy or 753 pieces. My guess is always way too low. That’s what I did with summer. Did you?

436 Peanut Butter M&Ms

Summer has three long months. That is plenty of time to remodel a kitchen, run a business, plan a wedding, and do all the fun things that summer brings like spending time outdoors and taking vacations. Except it is not long enough! 

So, this week, I find myself remembering last week’s blog post where I commented, “Life happened, which it does to all of us at some point and what was important today isn’t nearly as important tomorrow.” That’s true right now. 

It is also good perspective to have as we near the end of summer and another season of life. But even more significant is that what’s important today impacts tomorrow, or next month, or next year. What are we doing right now, on this very day, that will change someone’s future? 

It reminds me in the Bible of Joseph when he became a trusted leader in Egypt and interpreted Pharaoh's dream. 

Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. - Genesis 41:29-31

Joseph spent seven years of his life storing and saving food so that when famine came people could live. Ultimately, this even affected his family’s ability to survive when his brother’s came to Egypt to buy this same food that Joseph had worked so hard to prepare. 

Our everyday choices may not be physical life and death decisions like Joseph faced, but they still impact those we love and with whom we live. 

For me, my choice today is to minimize the other responsibilities in my life so I can take the wedding planning pressure off of my daughter, Jael. I want her to experience the joy of her wedding day without some of the preparation chaos that precedes it. Will she remember all or any of my effort? No, probably not. And it doesn’t matter because I’m investing in her tomorrow. 

What’s important today, may not even be remembered tomorrow, but it doesn’t change our need to focus on what is important today so that tomorrow can be better for us or someone else. Whatever we choose that to be, an influential message, a daily task, a simple favor, or a promise. If we focus our attention on what is most important, it is our chance to do that well and impact the legacy we leave. 

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody