For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
~ Matthew 6:21 & Luke 12:34
I know I shouldn’t be amazed at how quickly time flies, but I am. It feels like just yesterday when Caroline was beginning high school. It wasn’t that long ago when Vicki and I married. But one thing I’ve learned is that time will pass regardless of what we do. The question is how and where we will spend it.
A few years ago, Vicki and I were feeling overwhelmed, out of control and as if life was tossing us around like a sock in the drier. Vicki found a book called “The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family” and we worked on this together. The questions are:
What makes your family unique?
What’s your family’s top priority – rallying cry – right now?
How do you talk about and use the answers to these questions?
One exercise challenges families to develop a list of their “core values.” I know that sounds kind of business-y, but the conversation is invaluable as you narrow down and articulate what you’re about. For the Wilsons, we said our core values are: generosity, kindness, faith and work ethic. These values don’t make us a perfect family, but they do help to focus what we do and how we act. What would you say are your values? Take a moment and write those below:
- __________________
- __________________
- __________________
- __________________
The fall is just around the corner. Whether or not you have children at home, the fall moves us into another gear. So, taking some time now to consider your and your family’s values can help you approach the fall taking actions and making decisions that are less re-active and more pro-active as you live out your own values as opposed to reacting to circumstances that present themselves as perhaps more important or urgent than they really are.
Our core values reflect where our hearts are or, at least, where we would like them to be. This is the wisdom of this verse found in both in Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels: “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This verse is about money, time and anything else we value. This verse can work both ways: (1) where your treasure is can confirm where your values are, and (2) putting your treasure where you want your values to be will eventually cause your actual values to follow.
I encourage you regardless of your age or family circumstances to take a moment to do these exercises. Think, pray, write. You may find that there are changes you would like to make, activities you would like to shed, others you would like to take on.
God’s blessings to you as we prepare to enter the fall together.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Click on the links below for more from Bethel’s website:
Epicurious Lutheran 