All for You

Last week ended very well, and the weekend was fantastic. Thank You for that.

Right now, I'm facing a challenge that seems to come and go throughout my life. It's not a bad thing, and I'm not complaining. What I'm saying is come help me deal with this. Throughout my everyday life, I've got things that I'm responsible for. And I want them to go well. Classes, tennis, Exodus, a marriage, a family, things like these. I don't think there is any way in which success in these areas is a bad thing.

But sometimes, my desire for success in these areas takes me away from You. For example, this weekend my wife and I got away. Went up to Michigan, stayed at a Bed and Breakfast, enjoyed one another's company and relaxed. It was a really great weekend to focus on the relationship that we have with one another, and it went really well. But I didn't focus on my relationship with You very well.

I can hear Your answer loud and clear, and it would have been awesome to have this conversation before I went away with my wife. Integrate You into these other desires. When focusing on my wife, we probably both could have focused on You. It would have sharpened our connection with one another even more. I mean, we prayed together, but think about what couples devotions or even just talking about our relationships with You would have done to bring us closer.

Of course, You are kind of an awkward topic to just bring up. And if things aren't going well, or one of us is feeling distant from You then... it is really hard to talk about. And that's with my wife. What happens when I try to integrate You into the tennis team, and no one cares.

But I know how You work. I've seen it before. If I ask You to be there, You will be there. You are always looking to be with us, make Yourself known. You are scary powerful, and so I pray that You enter these situations and show us Your favor. But right now, before I forget or do anything else, I want You to be the focus of these specific desires of mine, these areas of my life. I want them to be all for You, and then You can define what success means within them as You work among us.

1. My marriage.
2. My family.
3. Exodus.
4. Bethany Christian Tennis.
5. My classes.

Be the center of each of those areas. Be my affirmation and my end goal. Take these things of my life and "let them be ever, only, all for Thee."