What are things that distract us, frustrate us, and make us look at our circumstances?

• Husbands – how many of you notice a distinct shift in your focus when you are married?
• Children – this was a very hard one for me when my kids were little, for sure.  How many of us have almost worshipped our kids?  We want them to succeed so badly and feel good about themselves, we will literally do anything.  
• Work – many of us work outside the home. There is so much to do at work, and so much to do at home.  How can we balance it all?  
• Volunteer and church work — here’s another area many of us struggle with.  We want to serve and be helpful and be faithful to it all.  
• Friends –we all have friends who need us, ask too much of us, and there are also times when we are desperate for a coffee date with an old friend.  

Can you say “Calgon, take me away”?

The very first step in our developing a passionate relationship with Christ is to turn our focus to Him.

Psalm 105:4 says, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”

How many of you have practiced this with your kids?  One time, my family and I were in a tornado…the wind and the hail were awful.  We were in a cellar with a metal door.  My 18 month son was terrified.  It was dark, loud, and overwhelming.  I turned is little face right to mine and started to sing “This Little Light of Mine”.  Then…he held up his light. 

How many of you have told your kids, “look right here, right at me”?

I love the mountains, particularly with my family.  I have said to my husband, “there is time and then there is mountain time”.  Time just moves slower in the mountains.

Recently on a trip to the mountains, my family and I went on a hike.  It started out that we were going to go until we got tired and then it turned into “we are going to go all the way!”  Well, the longer we walked, the hotter we got, and before long, I was staring down at the trail as we walked.  We came to a meadow and sat down to have lunch and my family started to talk about all the things they had seen on the trail.  I had not seen much of what they described.  The Lord immediately impressed on me to LOOK UP and enjoy the beauty around me–stop focusing on the difficulty of the journey.  Looking up made the time pass so much faster, it made the journey so much more enjoyable, and I was able to appreciate all the beauty of the Lord around me.

Take the time to look for Him…you will find Him.

Psalm 34:5 “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” 

Join me next week…I’ll be talking about Pressing In and Stepping Out.  :) 

Looking up today,