Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie and The Purpose Driven Life

This morning, I read the chapter "what matters most" and these excerpts really stood out, "The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide to others, but how much we give of ourselves."  and  "The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolate. It is focused attention." Wow, what a powerful message, and it couldn't be more relevant in life. What do you think about these statements?

I thought I did a good job of spending quality time with people that matter most to me; however, the more I think about it, the more I realize that this is an area that really needs a lot of work.

My husband and I have a limited amount of time to share together with busy schedules, a 5 month old, and my husband in law school, which consumes his life. I realized after reading this how I associate “quality time” with time where we can be affectionate, tune out the world and just be together, or talk about feelings J There is no better feeling of love than when my husband gives me his devoted attention. I also realized that maybe I needed to reanalyze my interpretation of “quality time” and ways that I could improve the time we do have together, even with the mundane day to day tasks.

So this morning instead of doing my normal routine of getting ready (since when I am home with Bradley even showering can be impossible), I decided to give my husband my full attention before he headed off to work and school and listened as he talked about “the law”. I rarely understand what he is talking about, just like when I go on and on about intubations, central lines, angiograms, and ballon pumps; however, after reading today’s message in the Purpose Driven Life, I realized that when I give my husband my devoted attention as he talks about something that is important to him, I am showing him love. It turned out that my husband and I really enjoyed this morning and sharing that conversation together and it was a great start to the day.

I have often thought that I do a good job of giving people my complete attention and being present in the moment, but in reality, it’s an area that could use a lot of work. Sometimes, I need a wake-up call, which today’s reading provided, to put my focus back into what matters most, my relationships. After all, you can never get back time.

So today, think about how you use your time and how you can be present in the moment with the people you share it with.

Are your relationships honestly your priority, and how can you ensure that they are?