Focus

Wow, do I ever feel "busy." Life seems to be sprinting along at a whirlwind pace, and I am somewhat bouncing along behind trying to catch my breath (picture one of those pop cans tied to the back of a wedding getaway car - that's how I feel). And I don't even have a job or kids. Here's some of what's going on/coming up in our lives:

- We're trying really hard to focus and get our adoption paperwork sent in. Ugh - we're so slow!
- I have (of course) procrastinated the homework for the class I am taking this fall. It's now due in 2.5 weeks, by mail, and I am working in overdrive.
- I was just asked to coach the volleyball team that I coached last year. This will likely start around the end of October, as it runs during what is usually the high school basketball season.
- We are still training for our marathon, which is a week and a half away. We are both battling injuries, and our training has not gone as planned, so I feel like we're actually starting to lose shape a little, and at this point I think I'll be happy if we finish. I would say we're probably in shape to run a race in the 18-20 mile range, so 26.2 will be pushing it.
- Taj's test for therapy dog is in Nov sometime. I never trained him, and I'm thinking about just winging the test. We'll see how he does. We did work with them as puppies quite a bit, but I don't know a lot about the specifics of this test.
- Narasimha and I were asked to be 2 of the 4 leads in our church's Christmas play (Joseph and Mary). Narasimha's part includes a vocal solo. He has a nice singing voice, but has never had any instruction ever at all whatsoever. Never. Not even like little kid music class in elementary school. So, I get to teach him how to sing. By December. And I'm certainly no master myself.
- We're planning a trip this fall to the east coast to visit family.
- I have been praying to be more involved in our church. It is happening, in many ways, all at once.
- And, once our adoption paperwork is sent in, we will be doing a homestudy, so trying to be more prepared for that.
- Our social engagements have been increasing in number and frequency (friends, family, church, N's work, etc.).
- Not to mention, we're still in the middle of some home improvement projects, so I am trying to keep up with the regular housework, continue to unpack, and do the things like painting and finishing things up.

As you can see, we've got a full plate (although it doesn't look as bad in list form as I feel when I run it all through my head!). And I'm so happy; I wouldn't have it any other way. I am excited for everything that's on our list. But it all adds up, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed and tired just thinking about it.

I have also been very convicted while working on the homework for my class. Especially today. My God is a jealous God, and even things that are good in and of themselves become bad when they are put in a higher position than God in my life. I have tried to meditate on this truth today: Anything and everything I do, no matter what it is, should be done with the primary purpose of pleasing God. Whether its laundry, going for a run, going over lines for a Christmas play, or spending some relaxing time with my hubby - there is a way to do all of these things, and all of the things in my list, and still be pleasing to my Savior. I find it's easy to get distracted, and to forget my goal. Easy to lose focus. So I will focus on not losing focus on what really matters in my everyday life - from the mundane to the extraordinary. If God comes first then it's still worth doing.