Hustle and Bustle...

  I read a devotional today that really hit home for me! We fill up our lives with all the things that we HAVE TO do, yet in the hustle and bustle of life, we do not leave room for the things that create real, pure, SIMPLE joy! I make time to fix my coffee in the morning (for those of you who do not know me...it is a serious addiction :), to go to school every day, to spend an abundant amount of time doing work for school (life of an OCD perfectionist-oops), to watch that TV show that I absolutely cannot miss, laundry, cook, etc! For each one of us, the "have to's'' are different but for each one of us, they fill our days! 

  What about the things that make me ME, that sweeten my life, that put a smile on my face, and that create in me a rich lifestyle. How often do I leave my cup of "have to's" to full to fit  in those things! One of my absolute favorite things to do is giggle! I cannot tell you the last time that I just sat with my friends and really, i mean REALLY, enjoyed them! Didn't worry about what I had to do next, what needed to be done instead of what I was doing and really just laughing and loving them! I love to read and I do make time for that, but most of the time, I am thinking--I should really be doing this instead of reading. We need these things that we really enjoy to recharge ourselves and give us a new kind of energy! Time with Jesus-goodness if that is not convicting to me...it is so often that spending time in the Word is the very first thing I give up in my day! My source of true joy, light, life, and energy is going to come from that sweet time spent with the Savior. I am blessed beyond belief but more often than not I am in a selfish mindset thinking of what I NEED rather than thinking of what I can do, through the gifts the Lord has blessed me with, to make some one else's day! And doing it selflessly...I am reminded of a verse in Philippians 2 that says "Do NOTHING out of selfish ambition..." Everything that I do, every day should be done not for my will, nor for my own glory but for the glory of the Lord! Surrendering myself to God's will instead of going my own way! 

  All these things that get I give up are things that I have to really be intentionally about making the action happen? Leaving room in my life for the things that will give me abundant energy, life, love, and joy! Will you be intentional in what you fill your day with? 

Philippians 2:13 "For it is God who works in YOU to will and to act in order to fulfill HIS good purpose!"