Focus on the family

2 February 2010

Father I glorify You! Amen.  Jesus I worship You! Amen.  Holy Spirit I honour You! Amen.

Dear reader, can you believe it that it is less than 11 months before Christmas again?  Yes, we are already one month into 2010 and I am excited about this year.  Normally by December/January each year, I receive word from God about what the focus for the next year will be.  However, during 2009, I already received word by October that the focus for 2010 must be on the family.  Although I received this word for my family, I also believe that by sharing it with you, it might also be something that you might think about for your own family.

We often get so over involved in the daily routine of our lives and we then forget where our priorities lie.  When I reflect back on our programme for last year, I realise that my programme at work often required me to work overtime.  Furthermore, we ministered at old age homes and as being part of Modern Woman, I also took on community projects.  In all this, my schedule was overloaded and that meant that something had to be compromised to make room for something else.  Well, by the end of the year I was beyond tired.  I was irritated, my health was affected, I hardly slept at all and to top it all off, I neglected time with my husband and children.  This in turn created a great amount of stress in my life and when I think back, it was all a choice, my choice.

You see dear reader, everything I did; I did to the glory of God.  But God also expects us to choose.  He does not expect from us to say yes to everything and in the process we create more chaos.  It is human nature to think that the harder we work, the more impact we will make, but to the cost of what and whom?  What are we after?  More money, acknowledgement, being noticed?  Whatever it is, remember that God expects us to first get our house in order before we move outside.  Yes, He expects us to serve other, but never forget that there must be a healthy balance.  In our lives, we were caring for friends, family, and the elderly and doing fundraising and in this process our children received the little that was left of us.  Hence, this had a negative influence on the relationships in our house.

I ask you today dear reader to think about your life.  Firstly, where are you in God?  Think about your partner and children.  Where are your priorities?  It is the beginning of 2010 and the perfect time to decide what your focus for this year will be.  Ever wondered why it is chaos in your house or why it feels that your kids are getting out of hand and does not want to spend time at home?  Do you know what is really going on in the hearts of your partner and children?  Are you purely in a survival mode and feel that there is no way out?  Well, there is a way out of all of this, but it starts with YOU!  God does expect us to work and provide for our families.  He does expect from us to serve the community, to care for the young, old and poor.  All of this is important, but He firstly seeks your heart and your time as it says in Matthew 6:33 “but seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Secondly, God wants you to have a relationship with your partner and children.  You need to make time for your family.  It does not mean you have to be with them all the time, but at least spend some time during the evening finding out about their achievements, fears and dreams.  Eat supper together, and although it might feel strange in the beginning, persist in this as God WILL create the room for an awesome conversation, building a relationship.  God also expects from us to love and care for our parents, especially at their old age.

The bible gives us clear guidelines on how we must focus on our family and some of the scriptures in the new testament are 1 Ti 3:4, 1 Ti 5:4,8, Eph 4:17-32, Eph 5:1-33 and Eph 6:1-20.

Dear reader, if we get our focus right by first having a relationship with Jesus, everything else in our home, at work and what we do in our community will fall into place.  Let’s listen more, pray more and give more of ourselves to our family.  Remember, satan hates love and works every day towards breaking up families and therefore, let’s not give him ammunition.  Moms and dads, anoint your children and each other.  Pray God’s protection over each other and stand on the word of God.  Is all of this possible?  Yes it is, but it starts with you and me having to make the right choices.  I have made my choice, what about you?

With lots of love in Jesus Name

Princess K