The Peace of Right Priorities | Raspberry Patch Utah

For the past year or so I’ve been trying to get rid of stress in my life. I realized a while back that I am often choosing my stress. Now, with five kids (including twins) life can get stressful pretty quickly with just the normal day-to-day things! Even so, I’ve been trying to get at the root of my stress. It’s not good for my body, my family, or my walk with the Lord. After many months of examining, I believe the root of most of my stress comes when my priorities aren’t right.

I choose stress over my kids when I desire a clean house over interacting with them, or when I’m upset something doesn’t go as planned instead of remembering it’s for them, not me. I choose stress over my husband when I am frustrated with him over not serving me instead of looking to serve him, or when I’d rather focus on the kids than put hard work into our marriage. I choose stress over the Lord when I look at my to-do list first instead of seeking the Him for what is most important, or when I put too much pressure on myself to serve and do things when He just wants my heart. I choose stress instead of thankfulness and worship. I choose stress when I am frustrated instead of grateful. It really all boils down to when my priorities are out of order. Jesus must come first, my husband second, my children third, ministry and others fourth, and anything else falls last.

I’m finding that everything changes when I turn my heart by asking, “How can I love You in this moment, Lord? How can I love and serve my husband today? How can I be a blessing to my children right now? What opportunities do I have to love others today, Lord?” Maybe I need to let a few things go or allow them to wait, but most of the time all I need is to shift my heart.

In retrospect, I can see how hard it was to understand my priorities in the early stages of my motherhood. I went from serving at church alongside my husband and running my own business to suddenly having a little person who suddenly took more priority. It was hard to push all of that further down the line of importance when that was my life before she came. I’m one who loves work and loves to serve and create, so it was hard for me. I missed getting to serve in the ways I was able to before. God so graciously stripped all of that away for a season and has now given me even more little ones! Funny enough, He has also given me back ministry and my work again too. It’s just different now. It comes after I have my priorities right. I am so grateful for the lessons He taught me in letting all my “extra” go, so I could learn to love my true priorities in a deeper way. Truly, everything “extra” I get to do pales in comparison to the joy and fulfillment of loving and serving my Lord and my family. (Does it always feel like that? No! But mostly? Yes.) I’m also always still growing in putting Jesus first. I don’t think I’ll ever get it perfectly, but I’m grateful I know He will keep leading me and teaching me.

When the baby cries again after the third nap attempt and not much sleep the night before, I remember they are more important than any other “job” I can do. When I’m itching to get to my projects and leftover work in the evenings, I remember spending time with my husband is my better priority. When I’m cooking dinner and would rather zone out, I remember this is time I can spend worshipping Jesus. When I finally have nap time and can get to other things besides the kid’s needs, I remember taking time with Jesus and reading His Word is the most important thing I can do. When I am worried about what the future holds, I remember that I have to put the Lord first - above my fears. When I’m worn down and cleaning up the millionth mess, I can thank God for the honor of serving Him by serving my family. Everything else, truly everything, comes out of the overflow of my heart for these priorities. I’m finding God is so faithful to give me the opportunities I long for to get to share about Him with others, be with friends, serve in ministry, and work again, but those things can never come above my top priorities. I may drop everything to help a friend or run late on dinner because an opportunity came up, but my heart must be to serve Jesus and the ones He’s put in my care first. In fact, the Bible says , “You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.” ( Isaiah 26:3) When Jesus comes first, He is my peace regardless of my circumstances. Stress comes in every single time when I mess up the order.

Maybe this seems like such a simple thing, but it’s changing my life in the best of ways. When stress comes, I can simply ask, “Are my priorities in order?” Most of the time, they aren’t and I need to change my heart. Every single day and moment by moment I need His Spirit to help me in my weakness because I will always get it wrong on my own. Heartache and trials are still hard, as are many things in everyday life, but choosing to turn my heart towards Jesus first, then to my husband and children, always brings a deeper peace than I could ever have otherwise. His ways truly are best, and He truly is the Prince of Peace.

All images taken with the Fuji x100S