Keeping it in your Hand

I needed to give someone a check in church yesterday. They were collecting money for someone, and I had forgotten to give it to her the week before. I wrote the check on the drive to church. Folded it. Put it in my hand.

I did not dare put it in my purse. I did not dare set it down. I left it in my hand.

I had to remember to deliver this check safely.

As I went through the service, you may think I would not be able to concentrate – so focused on the check I needed to deliver. But I could concentrate  — holding something in my hand did not prevent me from hearing. In fact, I wonder if maybe having it in my hand helped relax my mind so that I could concentrate on the service. If I had put it in my pocket or purse I would have had to keep remembering it. In my hand, I knew I wouldn’t forget.

After safely delivering the check I realized… this is a a lot like real life. This is even a lot like homeschooling.

As parents, we have a lot of pressures — decisions, inflation, jobs… with children the pressure increases — character training, schooling, pointing them to Jesus, the LONG bedtime routine… the pressure is high.

It is quite easy to lose focus on what really matters. It is quite easy to forget the purpose behind what we are doing. It is quite easy to miss the big picture and get so stuck in the daily hours that seem to last forever. It is so easy to forget what the goal is today.

Yikes! I am not saying my only goal for going to church yesterday was to deliver that check. But this check thing reminded me that in life it is easy to forget the main thing.

Figuratively speaking, we need to keep a reminder in our hand.

1. So we do not forget.

I have a goal of not getting distracted by other things during school hours — how to I keep that reminder in my hand? Perhaps I need to write a note and carry it in my hand during school hours. Or maybe it is simpler than that. Perhaps it is as simple as a routine of leaving my phone in the other room. Perhaps it is moving to a different area of the house, so I remember the main thing right now is school.

2. So we do not lose it.

The check could have easily got lost in my purse. Keeping it in my hand allowed me to have it when I needed it. Same in life. Put reminders of your big purpose out where you can see it. Perhaps you needed a daily reminder of why you do this homeschool thing. Or why you point your kids to Jesus. Put a reminder somewhere so you don’t lose it. Perhaps a sign for your wall. Perhaps a Bible verse on your fridge. If you don’t love visual clutter tape a paper on the inside of your kitchen cupboard.

3. Actually accomplish it.

I knew, if I did not keep the check in my hand, I would go through another week forgetting. I would not have accomplished it. When we keep the main thing in our hand (figuratively speaking) we tend to accomplish it. When the pressures of life come up and we have a main goal picked out, we tend to accomplish it.  Perhaps we have a goal of having supper as a family, or going to church on Sunday — when we have that main thing “in our hand” — we tend to accomplish it.

Yes, the check is LITTLE compared to everyone of the big things in our life. However, this little lesson is way more about life than about a check delivered one Sunday. . . It is about the big things. The things God has called us to —  things like raising warriors, building solid foundations, and pointing our kids to Jesus.

Keep those things in your hand. When you keep it in your hand — you will remember, keep it, and by the Grace of God, actually accomplish it.