priorities

when God wants me to hear Him, i find that He is often repeating Himself to me through various circumstances. this week, He's asked me to reexamine my priorities. on tuesday, i asked nat for prayer in regards to getting my priorities straight: child of God first, wife second, mother third. it was hard to verbally acknowledge that i had reordered my priorities for the past months--mother first, God and wife second (a far second). it was good for me to recognize that this was happening. yesterday, God reminded me again when two friends, within an hour, asked how things were going. i told them both about my struggle with my priorities. then, this morning, i read this post from my friend jaime; God was reminding me yet again.

i've thought about what my priorities should by using Scripture to answer why this should be the case.

priority 1: daughter of God.
the first commandment of the 10 commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me", exodus 20:3. that means nothing should come before God, not sean, not nat, not myself, not money, not my comfort; no one or no thing should come between me and God. God is very clear on this case, and Jesus reiterates it when He said in matthew 22:37-38, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."

priority 2: wife of nat.
mark 10:7-9, "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." when nat and i became married, it was not just a covenant between the two of us, but it was a covenant between God, nat, and i. nat and i are no longer two entities, but one, and nothing should separate us--this means not even our children.

priority 3: mother of sean.
psalm 127:3, "Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." children are a blessing and gift from the Lord, and i need to remember to treat my children as such.

so why has it been so hard to put these things in the right order? i think jaime's post bring a lot of insight to the reason. as soon as sean was born, i was put into mom mode. as a mom, you are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year. most of my day is spent caring for sean--whether it's feeding him, playing with him, or protecting him. when sean goes to bed at night, i just want to relax and take some time for myself. but, if i continue down this path, i know that my relationship with nat and God will suffer. in fact, i know that it actually benefits sean to see that i put God and nat first rather than sean. this requires me to be more deliberate in my relationship with nat and God. i have to remind myself that it doesn't mean that i'll compromise my care for sean, but rather will enhance my care and love for him. i'm not sure how i'm going to do this, but a few thoughts have come across my mind--be in constant prayer throughout the day, read the Word to sean, go on dates with nat, be consistent at having our (nat and i) Bible studies, pray for sean and nat. i praise God that He will sustain me during this time, and as i seek His face, He will answer my prayers and change my heart so i have the right priorities.