The Three P's

Rick and I were listening to a message given by Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hills Church in Seattle. He talked about remembering the 3 P's in your life. It spoke to me and I'm still pondering it so I thought I'd share.

1. Plate
2. Priorities
3. Prune

1. He says that #1 we need to remember our plate size. Some of us have dinner roll sized plates and some have platter size plates. The key is to know the size of your own plate and not to over fill it or under fill it! Do just what God made for you to do. I have recently come to realize that my plate is not as big as some of my friends or family. I need to stop trying to compare my plate and just fill my plate but not overfill it!

2. We need to know our priorities. Then fill the plate only with those things that fit into our priorities. My priorities are 1. God (seeking Him and His plan for me daily!) 2. Rick (knowing how to meet his needs and wants and making life good for him) 3. the kids (home school both kids, teach them the ways of the LORD, keep them safe and clean) 4. my home (the one I hate the most...clean, cook, plan, prepare, run things here) 5. my extended family (my parents and in-laws, my siblings, my nieces and nephews...pray for them, check in with them, love on them) 6. ministry (worship team, prayer team, nursery).

3. Pruning. This is a new one to me. We need to take the plate, look at the priorities and see what is falling off the plate. If I spend too much time on #6 and not enough on #1 I need to cut some things on #6! Also, he mentioned that each season has a different pruning. While the kids are little they demand a lot of attention and sometimes my time with God and Rick suffers. I just need to be more diligent that other things don't take over. And one day the kids wont need as much attention and I'll have more free time to do more ministry or whatever else the LORD has opened up for me. I am often asked to do things at church or Katie's home school group and I need to say no. It may be a good thing. It may be a fun thing. It may even be a godly thing. But if it over fills my plate, I need to say no or I need to prune something else to make room. Because an over filled plate means nothing is being done well.

This is something that is running through my head. I am really wanting to keep my P's in order. Because when I get to heaven I want to see a smile on God's face!