one focus

FROM "A LESSON LEARNED"
I love a good TV show! Sure, I love comedic sitcoms and I'll even admit that I find myself addicted to reality shows but what I REALLY love is an addictive drama!! I just can't get enough!! I love courtroom dramas, I love mysteries and I love sci-fi. If there is a smart show that's well written and keeps me guessing until the series finale then you can bet I'm watching it. My DVR works overtime on weekday evenings and my Saturdays are full of me playing TV show catch up!! Brandon likes TV too but he's not as addicted as me. If Brandon is addicted to anything it's work. He works non-stop during both office hours and while he's at home. There's only been a couple of TV shows throughout our marriage that we've actually watched together. Now, that's probably because there's few shows that we both really get addicted to (we have different tastes...) but it's also because if I waited for Brandon to drop everything and watch shows with me our DVR would always be full and we'd never catch up on anything. Brandon just can't seem to put down his laptop and focus on anything but graphic design and video production. Recently, I started watching (and am already ADDICTED to...) a new show called The Firm!! It's SO good!! It's very smart and mysterious. It blindsides you with shocking twists and turns and almost always leaves you hanging at the end of each episode. Don't you just HATE that!? Ha!! But it certainly keeps me coming back for more week after week!! Each week, as I've watched another gripping episode of The Firm, Brandon is generally sitting in the living room with me but, of course, he's on his computer working away. He'll look up every now and then to glance at what's happening on the screen, especially when the sounds of the show change and he thinks something interesting might be going on. But with each short visual Brandon gets of this show it only makes him more confused. He can't keep up with all the twists and turns of the plot by just hearing it and glancing up every now and then. Brandon is notorious for thinking (and often succeeding!) at "watching" shows with his ears. He can work on his laptop and basically listen his way through a show. He gets enough of the show to understand what's happening but doesn't care to go any deeper...but with The Firm that's just not possible. Things come up on the screen that you have to read or a split second camera shot of a box in a police evidence room will break an entire episode wide open! It's so good...and Brandon is missing it all by trying to listen his way through the confusing drama.

Lesson Learned? Your eyes can only be looking ONE place at a time. Brandon is working and that's fine. It's important work and it has to be done but because of his work he's missing out on an intriguing and suspenseful drama. And why is he missing it? Because his eyes can ONLY be looking ONE place at a time. Brandon does his best to listen to The Firm and he is able to grasp bits and pieces of what is going on but he is never able to fully understand the plot of the show. In life and in our Christian walk with the Lord we so often do the very same thing. We're busy. We're working hard. We're working on things that are important and that we have been called to do BUT chances are we are missing something very exciting and possibly important because our eyes are so very focused on the thing we think is the most important. We devote 100% of our time and attention to the very thing God has called us to do. We feel like we're doing the right thing and when it comes down to it we are...we're moving forward in the direction that God has called us to move. BUT there's still life happening around us. Life is moving and we are missing it. We're trying to "listen" our way through life. And unfortunately we think we're doing a great job at it. Sure we hear enough of life to understand the basics of what is happening. We even look up every now and then to catch the highlights but we're still missing out. We're missing out on those moments that don't seem as loud and interesting but that tie the entire episode together. The short visual that gives us that "Aha!" moment and makes us excited for the coming week. God HAS called you to do what you're doing. God IS pleased that you are a hard worker and that you are willing to give 100% day in and day out but God also wants us to catch the little things. He wants us to make memories and enjoy the tiny snippets of life he sends our way. It may only last a second but it's still important. Take time to breathe. Take time to look up from your busy schedule and see the cliff hanger of this weeks episode of life. It may seem silly and insignificant. It may seem like your "work" is more important and that you're missing out on important progress if you look up for even a moment but if you really make an effort to put your ever important "calling" aside for just an hour and truly focus on the life moving and progressing around you, you won't be sorry! You will not only HEAR life but you'll SEE it too. You can only LOOK at ONE thing at a time. What are you focusing on?