PRESSING PAUSE

Today you will be blessed by my friend Stephanie Garneau. We have grown in friendship since our first meeting at She Speaks Conference in July 2009. Her heart for the Lord is beautiful and her desire to please Him is unwavering. Her passion is mentoring women and sharing the heart of Titus 2. May her thoughts regarding "pausing" encourage you today as you seek the Lord.

Take time to visit Stephanie's website and blog and please consider supporting the ministry God has given her towards women. Her material is very timely as the church needs more women to step up and mentor others. Please join her.

A few weeks ago, I felt led to press the pause button in my life.

I paused from Blogger.

I paused from Facebook.

I paused from Twitter.

And {gasp} ... I even paused from ministry.

I quickly realized how busy my life had become from seemingly good things. I want my blog to bless others. I consider it a privilege to edify and encourage women through words painted on a page. Facebook allows me to share Jesus on a daily basis with unbelievers and has become an effective witnessing tool in my life. Twitter enables me to connect with almost 1000 people simultaneously. And my ministry stirs my soul to dream big and believe God for infinitely and abundantly more than I could ever ask or imagine.

But when these seemingly good things shift my focus away from my two best things, I am in grave danger of losing my peace and perspective. And I've been teetering on the edge of "losing" for quite some time.

You see, I often take my two greatest gifts- God and my husband- for granted. Because I know they'll still be there when I'm done with the good things.

God will never leave me or forsake me. And most likely, neither will my husband. He's the rock-solid type ... a Mr. Steady through and through.

God patiently waits for me ... to spend time with me, to chat a while. So does my husband, but he often has to compete with the aforementioned "good" things in my life.

As I've paused these past few weeks, God has convicted me of just one thing- it's so easy to lose focus.

I'm called to love God first- to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness- and then to love my husband. To make my life about completing his. To be his helpmeet. His lover. His best friend.

It's really so simple. But in our busy world that beckons us to trade our true calling in for a fraudulent one, it's increasingly complex to be the woman God's called us to be. We need to hold tight to the truth that our love for our husbands should reflect the church's love for Christ.

I'm amazed at the peace that has flooded my life since I've pressed "pause". Maybe today you need to join me. I hope you'll comment and share what you feel God is asking you pause from so you can return to the two men eagerly awaiting you.