Only The Best

This past Labor Day, I got to spend most of the day working on painting our living room and kitchen. My mom and dad came over to give us a hand with the project and to of course see Emily. This turned out to be a productive but draining day since we worked almost non-stop. By the time I climbed into bed around 1:45am, I was physically sore and ready to sleep. You may be wondering why I would spend a national holiday working instead of taking it easy. For one, this was the first day that my mom and dad could help with the project when I too was free. We have been wanting to paint ever since we moved in last December, but time seems to fly by so fast these days and here we are almost a year later before finally getting to paint. I also like the look and feel a new paint job does for your house and for your soul. I always want to give everything only the best I have to offer, and this includes my home. Not only does the new paint really make our living room and kitchen look great, but it makes me feel good about all of the hard work I did. Since I am a homeowner, I feel that it is my responsibility and right to take care of my house. As a husband and a dad, I have a great level of responsibility to provide the best environment I possibly can for my family. That is why I didn't mind working on my extra day off this week and why I felt pretty good about the day when I started seeing an end in sight. I still have a few places to fill in and some spots to re-touch, but it is all downhill from here. Of course, we still have the rest of the house to work on, but this is a great start.

With the work done from Monday fresh on my mind, I was reminded again of the importance of giving God only our best. For the past two weeks, we have been looking at Acts 2:42-47 to better understand the makeup of the first century church. As you read through these few verses, I believe that these first followers of Christ understood the importance of give everything to God. Too many times we tend to give God our "leftovers" and that is not what He deserves. From waiting until the last moments of the day to say a quick prayer to putting off reading His word, He doesn't always get my best. Some of the very first opening words from The Purpose Driven Life teach us the life is not about us and is all about God. He is the reason we are here on planet Earth and He is the reason we live and move and breath. When our focus is shifted from ourselves and making our name great to making His name great, we can only long to give God our best. I know that this sounds easy to do, but for me this will be a lifelong journey that is worth working towards. May we all strive to give God our best in all that we do.