Figuring out the order of it all

One week from today I will be on a midnight train to Georgia.
Well, it will actually be on a plane.
And it won't be at midnight.
But I will be going to Georgia!

This will be my second year attending the Pursuit 31 Conference at the Winshape Conference Center.
You can read about last year's experience here.

I have been so challenged lately to really start taking things to a new level when it comes to my business, and well...my whole life, actually.

Remember the post I wrote about having a BHAG?
I absolutely want to have big huge goals.
I absolutely want to be pushing myself to be better.

But.
Here's where I want to make sure I am being really careful to not trade the truth of God with a lie.

What would that actually look like in real life?

I think it looks really dangerously close to what I have the tendency to do!
I can see myself sitting at this conference watching women like Katelyn James and Lara Casey
and starting to think..ok. I need to get more clients, I need to have a better website, I need to make more money.
Which is fine- Maybe I do.

But what is the truth?
The truth is that I need to seek God first. (Matt. 6:33)
The truth is that I need to be careful to not love or crave money. (1 Tim. 6:10)
The truth is, the place I have the most time and money invested is where my heart will be. (Matt. 6:19-21)
The truth is that I was created to do good works. (Eph. 2:10)
The truth is that I can not boast in anything I do, or earn but only in that I understand God. (Jer.9:23)

The opposite of those things looks like
*I am spending more time on my business than I am on my relationship with God.
*I start to get fixed and focused on how much money I can make
*I have all my time filled up with business, with little to none left for family/ministry.
*I am so busy "working" that I don't even have time to do things for people simply as a "good work"
*I start feeling all big-time because I have succeeded.

Do you see how they can be really close to each other, and how I can so easily go from one side of the line to the next almost without realizing it?

My challenge to you...especially to my photographer friends...who are in the middle of a constant struggle to find balance between everything vying for attention in their lives, is this:

Make a list of what you are spending your time and your money on.
Because remember the truth? Where your treasure is, that is where your heart is.

I work best when I see it spelled out for me...
If I have the best part of my day spent seeking God - my foundation - then I will have time and energy to go to the next level.
My husband.
If I am putting my husband after God and before my kids, then I am able to have the support I need to put my kids next.
If I have my relationship with God strong, my family secure, then I am able to focus on my ministry the way I need to.
When I have all those things in the right order, I am able to have the strength and energy I need to put into my business.
When all those things are running smoothly, and God is blessing, I have time for everything else.
See how it all works?

But when I am sitting too long in the business category? I find myself stressing out and snapping at my kids.
When I am spending too much time (comparatively speaking) in the kids category? I find myself getting irritated with my husband.
When I forget to spend enough quality time in the big foundational God category? I find myself stressing out in every.other.category.

And so. A simple chart will help it all.
I really hope that as I write, and as I talk to people, that this never becomes a platform for me to spew out all my busy, crazy life as if I have all this on my plate and no one else in the world even has a plate.
I am aware. That we are all busy.
We are all in the middle of sorting out our lives, and trying to make it all work.
My life is no different than yours, other than my plate is a different shape and color as yours.
That's it.
And that's why God gives us a one-size-fits-all kind of teaching.
We all need to work out this chart in the same order.
Putting God first needs to be at all of our foundations.
Putting husband before kids, kids before ministry, ministry before business, business before pleasure.




Listen, I want to do more than just get by in life.
Dude...if God says I can have ABUNDANT life?
Then for the love of all that is good...I am going to get me some abundant life!

It's up to me.
Am I going to just try to get by?
Am I going to start trading the truth of God with the lies of the enemy?
Am I going to get everything all out of order and then whine and complain because God isn't blessing me the way I think he should be?
That would be crazy.
I'm going to keep the order of it all...
well...in order!

And I am going to have fun while I'm doing it!
I hope you do the same.