This weekend Kary and I went Christmas hunting (I don’t call it shopping, cuz I want to bag my presents and get home). I so enjoyed the time with my wife, but I would have enjoyed it more if there would not have been so many people around. I wanted so badly to have a horn on my shopping cart, and tell people to get out of my way. But, I have to remember that they have a right to shop also. So as I plowed my way through the stores, I attempted to do three things, which I would like to explore this week a bit:
1. Gain the right focus: I needed to remember that I was spending time with my wife, and purchasing gifts to remind my family and friends that I love them.
2. Guard the right focus: I need to remember the blessings of the year, and not allow the pressures of today, lead me to loose focus on what I am really doing.
3. Give the right focus: I need to maintain the right attitude so that those around me are not seen as obstacles but as people who are caught up in the press of the holiday season also.
Scripture for this is coming, so stay tuned for more to come, but for today, consider what we read in Luke 2:19 after the shepherds left Mary, it says that, “She kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” We need to ponder the blessings of God in our lives, and keep them close to us in the days that lay ahead, and remember that Jesus came to demonstrate His love for us. Rest in that today.