some things I am not willing to ever live without

It's been a while!  Goodness, it has been a whirlwind of a week, but I sort of think that this is my new normal, for whatever reason.  I feel like I have so much to write about, but some of it is not mine to tell, so for that reason, I'll stick with this little idea the Lord gave me today.

I thought I would share about some things that I will NEVER live without.  I'll include reasons why, and I pray that it encourages you.

I saw this several months ago, and I "found" it again on my phone last night.  Priorities are important, and almost every single day, I have quiet time in the morning.  I don't necessarily wake up and have this time anymore, because I found that I'm not awake enough at four or five a.m. to read through some verses that aren't always the easiest to process.  So I allow myself time to "wake up", then I pray and read the word of God. 

I said that I do this almost every day, because that is the case.  Yes, I prefer to have this time with the Lord every single day, but life just happens sometimes, and you get a text saying your best friend is in labor, and well, your mind turns to mush until you are able to get there and see her and pray with her.  (True story.  That was my Tuesday.)  Missing every once in a while is to be expected.  I will say this, though: don't miss too many days in a row.  First off, for me, I turn into a monster when I don't spend time with God in prayer and in His word.  Also, too many days missing this time turns it into a habit, and before we know it, it's hard to get back into the better habit of spending time with Him everyday.

I encourage you to make this a priority in your life.  If you don't enjoy this, pray and ask God to help you LONG for Him and for time alone with Him.  That's what I did a very long time ago, and He answered that prayer by drawing me to His word.  Ask Him to help you crave it more than you crave water or food.  We need our daily bread, and He is Living Water and Bread of Life.

Lately I've fallen back into the habit of just getting a sheet of paper and writing out what the Lord showed me in my reading that day.  (I just started reading through Romans again this week, and it is so good!  The Lord is teaching me even more than He already has in the past, because I have some people and some situations that I am praying about, and when I opened up this book on Monday, it pertained to what is going on right now in our life.)

This is where I attend worship services each week.  I will never neglect going, because quite honestly, life is hard all the time, and I need someone ahead of me in the faith to pour into my life.  My pastor is that person.  He is a wonderful preacher and shepherd to his flock.  I miss it when I don't go (I had to miss one day a couple weeks ago) and I miss him when he's not there.  We need fellowship with a body of believers, and most of my friends have come from the family I attend worship services with.  It's been that way ever sine my boys were little bitty.  (We did not faithfully attend services for a few years.)  There is such a sweetness that comes from worshiping with a body of believers.  I have no other thing in my life that can compare with that.  (Thankfully we can watch the service on livestream through our website, but it's just not the same.)

(I have been loving my chronological bible reading this week!  I made a couple of verse images on the YouVersion bible app.) 

(It was equally as wonderful today and I wrote a whole page of things that jumped out at me.)

See?  All these verses are so good, and so encouraging!  I know context is a thing, but all these things still are true today, about God.  His word says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I have so many things that are so important to me, in my life.  My relationship with the Lord is the greatest.  I love Him so much, and I love spending time with Him.  My family comes next, in the order of my husband being first, then my sons.  Everything and everyone else comes after the five of them.  I love spending time with our extended families.  I love spending time with my friends.  My husband's hobby (and second unpaid "job") is working with the sheriff's department, and my hobbies include time with friends, reading, and watching shows or movies on Netflix and Hulu. 

All of these things are things I always want to make time for.  Sometimes life does get too busy, and before I know it, a couple of weeks will have gone by without quality time with my husband.  We do our best to remedy that quickly, though.  I try to talk to my sons regularly about life and what is going on with them.  I love singling them out and taking one with me to do something.  I love spending time with all our parents.  I get to run errands a lot with my mom, and I swim with my mom in love in the summer months, and on Fridays, I see my dad.  I love teenage girls, and I try to make time to pour into some of them.  That can happen in community group or in a pool playing marco polo with them and unintentionally almost drowning my best friend.  (That happened.  Sorry, Missy.)  I have a new opportunity coming in the coming months that I am excited about, that will allow me to help disciple younger women within our church family.  I also have a dear lady ahead of me in life, and I've been meeting with her every other week, getting to know her, and her getting to know me, and we just sit and talk and encourage each other in our faith. 

I live a pretty simple life, and I do not work outside of my home, so I have time to do these things.  A list like this can look different for different people, but the point is this: spend time on what is important in your life, but make God first, if you're a believer.  Get a notebook or a planner and just write the plans out.  Sometimes it helps just to get it on a calendar.  I keep up with everything on a paper calendar that stays open to the week on the desk in the living room. 

And then, just get started.  Jump in, wherever you're at in life.   I used to love to wait and start fresh at a new week, or a new month, but now that I'm older, I have discovered that there is just no time like the present.  So if it's Thursday and you're reading this, just start today. 

I can talk about this all day, but if you would like to know more, reach out.  My email is allboys@gmail.com.  I am on Instagram as jenlloydgoodwin.  Comment on here.  I'd love to share more with you. 

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.