It’s a Priority

Wow!  This has been a super-busy week and I have not been able to write as I had hoped.  Too many other things pushed this out of the priority list.  I know that many of my friends use an actual, written to-do list but I have a running list that I keep on a conveyor belt in my mind.  I am constantly moving tasks by priority as I complete others.  More often than not, the tasks that I think are the most important get pushed to the end of the list as something at my children’s school or some other unplanned for event needs to jump in with priority.  It’s a vicious cycle that is usually a lose-lose situation.  Most definitely, there is not much me time.  Long gone are the days of bubble baths, girl’s night out or all-day shopping fests.  These have been replaced by laundry, cooking, cleaning, car pool and the list goes on and on and on, ad nauseum.  This afternoon’s priority was to help my husband in the yard.  He jokes that he never gets any help and sadly, he’s right.  So, I determined that I would indeed help today and make a priority.  You probably can guess how this task went….wickedly HOT afternoon, mosquitoes, and overall waning enthusiasm tanked my great intentions.  I quickly became a silent observer and practice some back seat driving (mowing, in this case).  What I did get to experience though was actually quite special.  As my husband worked on trimming some straggling branches to better frame our deck view, we heard some frantic screeching.  In a flurry of red, a family of cardinals came flying at break-neck speed out of the tree and did a quick fly-by as if to order construction on their home to cease.  Not quite picking up on this hint, my husband proceeded to finish the task.  The fly-around repeated in an even louder display of earnest fear and frustration.  What was not a priority for me, quickly became a priority for a family of red birds who had previously been enjoying a quiet and leisurely day.  Isn’t funny how priorities change?  It struck me as a gentle reminder as to how parents will do anything to keep their children safe and their home secure.  I can only imagine if a wrecking ball approached the window of one of my sons, how I would be running out of the door in a hot minute to put a stop to the impending destruction.  Psalm 55:22 tells us to “cast our cares on the Lord and He will sustain us; He will never let the righteous be shaken.”  Isn’t it great to know that no matter who comes to remodel our house, shake our foundation or disrupt our serenity that we have a Father who will never let us be shaken!  The hand that created the universe is the very same hand that holds me tightly in His palm.  I am forever safe and can rest in complete peace knowing that He watches over me.  I may never get all of my priorities aligned or completed and it is quite doubtful that I will ever be much help to my husband in the yard, but it is a fact that I am a priority to my heavenly Father and He always completes what He starts!